Tag: FBI

OPINION: Merrick Garland On A Mission

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OPINION: Merrick Garland On A Mission

OPINION: Merrick Garland On A Mission

By Dani Davis

High Profile Prosecutor

The 86th Attorney General of the United States is Merrick Brian Garland. Garland was born November 13, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Harvard law and in 1989 began his illustrious career as a federal prosecutor. His first headline grabbing case was that of lead prosecutor in the cocaine possession case against former Washington D.C. Mayor, Marion Barry. Garland became Deputy Assistant AG during Bill Clinton’s tenure.  The two biggest trials of the decade, that of Ted Kaczynski, the “Unabomber,” and Eric Rudolph, the 1996 Olympic Games bomber, were led by Merrick Garland. In 1997, Bill Clinton nominated Garland to the D.C. Circuit. He served on that court from 1997-2020, the last seven years as chief judge.

Disgusting Mitch

In 2016, then president Obama nominated Merrick Garland to fill the associate justice seat on the Supreme Court vacated by the death of Antonin Scalia. The obstructionist right-wing GOP controlled Senate, led by Mitch McConnell, refused to even take up Merrick Garland’s nomination. Unheard of behavior. This obstructionist activity continued until Garland’s nomination expired in January 2017 when Obama left the WH. McConnell’s despicable conduct opened the door for Donald Trump to make an alarming three (Federalist Society) appointments to the Supreme Court in four years; the first, EPA hater, Neil Gorsuch, the second, beer boozing Brett Kavanaugh, and finally, the perpetually pregnant, Amy Cony Barrett.

The Ex Guy

It seems pretty clear ‘The Ex’ and his allies attempted to overturn the 2020 election. Sedition is very serious stuff and any hint of it must be investigated. If there has been criminal wrongdoing it must be punished. I can barely keep up with all the Trump plots. In Georgia, I guess Trump just wanted 11,780 more votes to corruptly appear. In Arizona it was about fake electors replacing the legitimate ones. On 1/6/21, afraid that the other plots might fail Trump dispatched armed rioters to the Capitol to terrorize elected officials; and prevent them from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. These things didn’t just randomly happen, someone was pulling the strings, someone was paying expenses, it looks like at least one of those someone(s) was Donald John Trump.

January 6th

Putting everything else aside, Donald Trump’s actions on January 6th are easy to document and present in a pretty package for a jury. He and his minions called militias to D.C. with a promise of something ‘wild’ going to happen. Trump, Mo Brooks, Rudy, and others whipped up an armed and already agitated crowd and pointed them to the Capitol. While VP Pence and other elected officials were running for their lives,  Donald Trump was in the West Wing cheering on the rioters, calling them patriots.

Refusal To Act

For 187 minutes, Trump refused to call off the mob or reach out to law enforcement or military leaders to try to stop the violence. Without a doubt a dereliction of duty. Trump’s refusal to act in the face of an insurrectionist mob makes him culpable for those who were injured and those who lost their lives that horrible day. Using violence and intimidation Donald Trump attempted to stop the peaceful  transfer of power. That must be investigated and Merrick Garland has promised us that. Our AG was recently quoted  “We intend to hold everyone, anyone, who was criminally responsible for the events surrounding January 6th…accountable.”

White Hot

You would think with all this going on in Trump’s life he wouldn’t be setting any more fires, but you would be wrong. It turns out that for the last 18 months Donald Trump has been holding government documents, many marked top secret, in unsecure boxes at his beach club in Florida.  It’s been nearly three weeks since U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland approved the search and seizure of documents being held illegally by former president, Donald J. Trump, at Mar-a-Lago. While multiple stories were forthcoming from the ex-president, once the dust settled none of Trump’s bombast made any sense.

Off The Deep End

In full battle formation, the Republican Party now demands we defund the FBI, squash the IRS, impeach both AG Garland and President Biden. Kevin McCarthy is sending notice that when he takes over as Speaker of the House, he will start investigations into everyone in the Biden administration. In fact, Marjorie Taylor Greene has already gone so far as to file articles of impeachment against our Attorney General. Such waste of paper,  will go nowhere as long as Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House. This is a big reason to prevent the Republicans from winning the 2022 general election. At this point the American people need to take to the polls like never before. It will take a blue wave of extraordinary proportions to overcome historical trends, state directed gerrymandering, voter suppression, and unethical behavior by the MAGA extremists.

From The Sidelines

Lindsey Graham has been warning of riots in the streets if Trump is indicted under the Espionage Act for theft of government documents.  Graham has yet to make the same threats if the EX-Prez is indicted for wire fraud and other crimes related to ripping off his donors with his SAVE AMERICA PAC.  After paying for Trump’s legal fees to defend against multiple crimes the RNC has said they will not pay Trump’s legal fees for defending his theft of government documents. It seems that even the RNC has established limits when it comes to defending Trump’s corruption. According to multiple sources the RNC has had enough, and has told the former guy that he needs to pay his own legal bills when it comes to the investigation of stolen government records that Trump has had stored at his club in Florida since leaving office, eighteen months ago.

Paper Packin’ Librarians

I believe Merrick Garland will hold steady to his promise to make wrong doers accountable, no matter their station or, former title. Meanwhile the Republican Party has declared AG Garland, the FBI, the DOJ, the IRS, and of course the paper-packing librarians at the National Archives, to be their newest targets of hate. I accidentally landed on FoxNews the other night and listened to an earful of propaganda. Move over Dr. Fauci, you have competition for the Public Enemy Number One Spot.

Conclusion

I believe Mr. Garland will fearlessly pilot the Justice Department’s examination of Trump’s involvement into the 1/6 riot, his theft of government documents, his rip-off of his own donors with his SaveAmericaPac, and numerous other sketchy actions by the ex-president. I say, let the chips fall where they may, “No one is above the law.”

 

Serial Killer Saudi Prince: The Death of Jamal Khashoggi

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The Death of Jamal Khashoggi

By Michael Leonard Douglas & D.S. Mitchell

Who was He?

Probably one of the most talked about stories of 2018 was that of  Jamal Khashoggi. His story is one tragedy that no one saw coming. At the age of 59, Jamal Khashoggi was a well-known Washington Post journalist. His career spanned more than 35 years, back to the 1980’s.

Early Years

Jamal Khashoggi was born on 10/13/1958 in Medina, Saudi Arabia. He was born to a well-connected Saudi family. Jamal was the nephew of notorious Iran-Contra arms dealer, Adnan Khashoggi who had an estimated wealth in 1984 of over $4B US. His first cousin, Dodi Fayed made headlines in 1997 when he was romantically linked to Princess Diana. Fayed and Diana were both killed in a car accident in Paris that same year. Jamal Khashoggi’s grandfather had been the personal physician to King Abdulaziz Al Saud, the founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Education

Khashoggi attended elementary and high school in Saudi Arabia. He came to the United States for his college education and went to Indiana State University, graduating in 1982 with a Bachelor of Business Administration. He married his first wife while in college and they later would have four children. Two of the children are American citizens.

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“Mr. Trump is a racist, a con-man and a cheat”

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MICHAEL COHEN:

“Mr. Trump is a racist, a con-man and a cheat”

By D. S. Mitchell

It Was Jaw Dropping

Michael Cohen had his time in front of the American people today and it was jaw dropping. He came to Capital Hill to testify before the House Oversight Committee chaired by the Honorable Elijah Cummings. Cohen started his testimony with the provocative statement, “Mr. Trump is a racist, a con-man, and a cheat”. He went on to implicate President Donald Trump in bank fraud, election fraud, insurance fraud, tax evasion, lying, suborning perjury and more. I could hardly tear myself away from the testimony to grab a fresh cup of coffee. Cohen was captivating. For close to seven hours Mr. Cohen gave testimony that lit the hair of viewers on fire. At the end of his testimony I finally closed my mouth and uttered a hushed, “Wow”.

A Web of Lies

There were moments when I truly empathized with Mr. Cohen. He said, he like most of us, is complex. Cohen admitted he was mesmerized by the heady world of Donald Trump. He was quickly swept into the Trump web of lies and misdeeds. A world where lies are twisted and manipulated for Trump’s advantage. A world where Trump uses code to give instructions. I could see it happening. The normalizing of criminal activity, they were all wearing suits and ties. Right? Nothing they were doing was that bad, was it? Now everything looks different. Now he realizes he was under the spell of Mr. Trump and he did a variety of illegal things that benefited only Mr. Trump. In the end the normalizing of those white-collar crimes and blind loyalty to a criminal kingpin have taken Michael Cohen to a guilty plea and a three-year sentence in federal prison.

Racketeering and Corruption

I have watched the GOP sink into a swamp of corruption over the last several years. Michael Cohen accused the Republican members of the committee of having fallen into the Trump quagmire. And it does seem as if at least two of Trump’s attack dogs in Congress, Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan seem to have become entangled in the Trump web of racketeering and corruption.

White Knuckled Attacks

Otherwise, why all the red-faced screaming and white knuckled paper waving attacks against Mr. Cohen personally? It looked bad. The Republicans on the Oversight Committee did themselves no favors by their ugly display today. Despite the outrage and the effort to stop the hearing with objection after objection, Chairman Cummings steered the hearing to a mind-blowing conclusion.  At least two news commentators took noted that no congressman defended Trump, or spoke to his sterling character.

On Speaker Phone

Do I think Cohen would have had his conversion if the FBI had not raided his offices and home and seized incriminating evidence?  It wasn’t until Jesus was passed in front of his face that Cohen had his Damascus moment. My ears perked up as Michael Cohen described a call that Trump received from Roger Stone. Cohen’s disclosure described Roger Stone, on speaker phone with Trump. During the conversation Stone allegedly told Donald Trump that Wikileaks was about to release an email dump. Cohen’s testimony brings us closer to evidence that Donald Trump was aware of the upcoming email release of stolen DNC emails. Is it proof that Donald Trump was in co-ordination with their release. No, but it smells really bad for Stone and Trump.

Back In Time

After hearing the Michael Cohen testimony tying Trump and Stone to Wikileaks prior to the email release I thought www.calamitypolitics.com should dig around the YouTube treasure chest and find some of those old Roger Stone tapes from InfoWars say, and show them again. The following is actually from a CNN segment related to Stone bragging about his insider information and his “dinner with Assange”. I’m sure it will bring back memories.  Please note that Wikileaks, Julian Assange and Roger Stone have issued precisely worded denials of Mr. Cohen’s depiction of events.

 

Trump Attacks The FBI

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The FBI is a world-famous crime fighting organization. It is synonymous with solid professionalism. I have never heard anyone say they didn’t want the FBI working their case after a crime has been committed.

The FBI is like all organizations, imperfect. In the post 9/11 era, its anti-terrorism focus was at times thought to be overzealous, generating complaints from multiple sources including minority communities, and civil libertarians. The fast and loose ways of the J.Edgar Hoover FBI are long gone. The infamous founder of the crime fighting agency was famous for pursuing personal vendettas and agendas. But since FBI Associate Director, Mark Felt was discovered to be “Deep Throat”, the secret source for the Washington’s Post’s insight into the corrupt Nixon administration, a large majority of Americans have viewed the FBI as an honest and neutral bulwark against criminals of all kinds, inside and outside of the government.

Last weekend, in a rush of tweets Trump took aim at targets old and new. Trump criticized the FBI and raised questions about the special prosecutor’s investigation into Russian election meddling and the possible ties to the Trump campaign.

In that storm of tweets, more than a dozen–came after his former NSA, Mike Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. In one of his posts Trump once again denied that he had asked former FBI Director James Comey for a loyalty pledge, or directed him to stop investigating Flynn. Trump called the nation’s top law enforcement agency a biased institution whose reputation was “in Tatters–worst in History!” and urged FBI Director Chris Wray to “clean house.” Trump personally promised in his tweet meltdown to “bring it back to greatness.”

Eric Holder, former FBI Director, tweeted in response, “Nope. Not letting this go. The FBI’s reputation is not in ‘tatters.’ It’s composed of the same dedicated men and women who have always worked there and who do a great, apolitical job. You’ll find integrity and honesty at FBI headquarters and not at 1600 Penn Avenue right now.”

Trump had seized on reports that a veteran FBI counterintelligence agent, Peter Strzok was removed by special counsel Mueller last summer after the discovery of an exchange of text messages that were viewed as potentially anti-Trump. The agent, had also worked on the investigation of Democrat Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

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10 Simple Ways To Protect Against Computer Viruses

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10 Simple Tricks To Protect Against Computer Viruses

D. S. Mitchell

The massive hacker attack on Equifax has unnerved many of us. According to reports, half of the American adult population was compromised by the attack. I was one of those who had their information stolen. If you haven’t frozen your accounts, or registered with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, you should do that immediately.  If you want to deal first with Equifax their website for this event is: Equifaxsecurity2017.com, or you can call, 1-866-447-7559 . Experts are advising that you freeze your credit at all three credit bureaus.

Equifax is a huge company that has failed to protect our most sensitive information. We can’t do anything about that, accept call or write Congress, but it highlights our need to take whatever steps we can to protect ourselves and our crucial information. The bulk of that security, must naturally, be directed at our personal computers, the storehouse of all our life information. In January 13, 2013 MoneyTalksNews published an article on ways to block computer viruses. The Sept/Oct 2017 AARP magazine supported those suggestions with its article, “7 Ways To Block Computer Viruses”.

Don’t forget the WannaCry virus that in the spring of 2017 wrested control of over 200,000 computers across 150 countries in one of the most vicious international cyber attacks in history.  The saddest part of the WannaCry episode is that Microsoft had, previous to the attack, issued a routine update to the Windows operating system that would have blocked the virus.  Anyone that had downloaded the Microsoft update was spared the misery of the massive hack.  This incident was a reminder that we must be vigilant and follow some common sense rules to protect our PC from outside attacks.

The FBI recently issued a warning to the public about a computer scam that starts with a phone call. This scam involved the scammers calling people, claiming their company worked with a major software company.  The caller would tell the mark that his computer was sending error messages to them over the web and through that communication had identified a virus.  “No problem” the scammer tells his target, “Just pay a small fee, and we will fix the problem remotely by installing our anti-virus software.”

Once the telephone scammer has your fee, your credit card number, and computer access, they don’t stop viruses they install them. It seems hard to imagine that something like this would work, but apparently in the case of thousands of people, it sounded good. There is a list below that gives you 10 time-tested means to protect yourself.  However, the most important thing we can all do to protect ourselves, is use some common sense. Shred all sensitive documents. Don’t give information to unknown callers and:

  • Strong password: Try a short phrase. “Cute_*shoes!” Definitely avoid the most common passwords, 123456, or its closest competitor, 234567.
  • Buy legitimate software and Register it:   In the case of the WannaCry virus only versions of Windows that had been purchased from a licensed retailer and registered with Microsoft received the upgrade that blocked WannaCry. The reason that so many systems outside the U.S. were affected is that they were running on bootlegged or borrowed versions of Windows.
  • Regular backups:  The easiest way to recover from any malware attack is to restore a recent backup of your files.
  • Run pop-up blocker: Google Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge include pop-up blockers that keep potentially dangerous ads from appearing on your PC.
  • Be sure all software is up to date:  Set your system to automatically download and install updates from trusted software providers.
  • Use a reputable anti-virus program and keep it updated: Many anti-virus companies release new products as attacks occur. **Many excellent free protection systems exist, such as Microsoft Security Essentials.
  • Firewall: Mac’s and PC’s have built-in firewall software. Be sure to enable your system.
  • Minimize Downloads: Be sure that your web browser security settings are high enough to detect unauthorized downloads. With Internet Explorer medium security is the lowest level to use.
  • Instantly leave websites you have been routed to without your consent: If you are on the site, DO NOT click on anything, doing so could trigger a malware download to your PC.
  • DO NOT click on links or open attachments from email addresses you do not know: Just remember John Podesta, and what happened to him after opening an unfamiliar email. According to AARP, “one of the biggest sources of malware is fraudulent emails, called spam.  Seeking information from you via spam is called phishing.  Delete unsolicited emails from unfamiliar people or companies”.

Hope this cobbled together list helps you protect your information. We cannot protect ourselves from the hackers going after the huge depositories of personal information held at such giant companies as Equifax, but we can take these simple common sense steps that should help us sleep better at night.

Calamity Politics is a news magazine with an outspoken voice for the progressive agenda and we show that mission with pride. Join, me mostly daily, for news, comment and opinion on the state of the Union.

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Scratching My Head

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Scratching My Head

D. S. Mitchell

Calamity politics’ mission is to share political opinions and comments on the urgent news of the day.  Our goal is to empower and connect people with a forward looking progressive agenda. I admit I often use the blog to release my own pent up emotions. It isn’t a crime, but it should at least be acknowledged.  Furthermore, I want it understood that I am a fervent  anti-Trump voice  and supporter of the Resistance. That said, today I am going to disrespect DonaldJ. Trump Jr. What the hell? Is this guy so attention starved that he wanted to bring a bunch of Russian tricksters and propagandists into the 2016 Presidential campaign to smear Hillary Clinton and impress Daddy? Is he so greedy for power that he would sell out the most sacred element of our Democracy, our vote, to a foreign power? Is he so stupid he needs help because he can’t tie his own shoe laces? Is he so used to operating outside the law that calling the FBI to report the intent of a foreign government to interfere in the US election didn’t even occur to him or the other attendees at this recently uncovered meeting. This whole story that is emerging about Donald, jr, and the lady Russian lawyer has me and most of the world scratching our heads.

The confirmed 6/9/2016 meeting, was between Trump, jr, Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner and a Russian attorney at Trump Tower and is the first known meeting between members of the Trump inner circle, both family and campaign staffers. The emerging story is grim and depressing when viewed as a family joined together to betray the United States; and in effect, mount a successful coup of the government; aided and abetted by a foreign adversary.

I am not surprised, but as more information is being brought to light my anger keeps mounting. How the fuck off kilter do you have to be to sell your country out? Too fucking immoral  and fucking disgusting to be anywhere close to the White House and the role of President of the United States, in my opinion. Trump must be impeached immediately along with his Vice President, Mike Pence.  OMG my hair is on fire.

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White Supremacist Kills Two And Wounds Third

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White Supremacist Kills Two & Wounds Third

D. S. Mitchell

It was a sunny 80 degrees in Portland, Oregon on May 26, 2017 and three heroes emerged from the many on the Max Green Line that afternoon. It was 4:30 pm and the Line #3 train was headed East from downtown, crowded with homeward bound passengers. These people were just riding a train home and without warning, they were caught up in an American tragedy.

Two teenagers, one black girl, and one Muslim girl who was wearing the traditional head covering hijab became the target of a man using abusive language. A witness, identified as Evelin Hernandez 38, reported that the man became quite agitated and began yelling racial slurs at the two young women. According to Hernandez, the two young women tried to move to the back of the train, while the man continued his rant of insults.

As the teenagers moved away, the insults became more virulent and the situation appeared to quickly escalate. It was at this point, according to witnesses that two men, Best and Namkai-Mechi attempted to intervene and quiet the rowdy man. The agitator continued yelling “hate speech” at the retreating teens. In the midst of the man’s ranting and raving he pulled a knife, turned on the Good Samaritans and viciously stabbed and slashed the two men, slicing each of their necks. A third young man, Micah David-Cole Fletcher stepped in and attempted to stop the carnage, at which time the assailant turned his rage on Fletcher, who was also stabbed, and his throat slashed.

During the assault several passengers called 911 and police were dispatched to the scene. After the attack the perpetrator attempted to flee the scene. After running from the Hollywood Transit Station where the train had stopped, he was apprehended in a neighborhood close to Providence Medical Center, said Portland Police spokesman, Sgt Pete Simpson.

In a prepared statement Simpson identified the alleged killer as Jeremy Joseph Christian, a 35 year old professed white supremacist with a long history of criminal activity, including felony robbery, kidnapping and weapons conviction. Christian served eight years in prison related to the armed robbery of a convenience store when he was 20. During that robbery Jeremy Christian was shot in the face by a Portland police officer during that arrest.

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Tentacles of the Kremlin

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Tentacles Of The Kremlin

D. S. Mitchell

An Irritation

I’m here to tell you it is colder than hell here at the beach. But, the U.S. political news scene is hot. Really, really hot. The political shenanigans that went on during the 2016 Presidential campaign are a constant lingering pimple on the ass of the President of the United States. We all know it is weird. I mean, have you ever heard so many Russian names in your whole freaking life? Well, whatever you just answered, I didn’t hear it. Speaking for myself, in 70 plus years I have never heard so many Russian names.

Lobbying For Putin

The tentacles of Putin’s Kremlin are pervasive. It seems Russia has penetrated the highest levels of the U.S. government. Russian interests are actively engaged in U.S. policy.  The Russian government and Russian special interest groups, have spent millions of dollars contracting with American lobbying firms. Their goals are specific. 

Kremlin Motives

First and foremost, the Kremlin wants a softening, of Obama era sanctions. The first round of sanctions came as punishment for Russia’s annexation of Crimea.  Those sanctions were intensified because of Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.  The second target aimed at reducing fracking in the U.S. The fracking process has produced abundant oil supplies. With abundant product has come plunging oil prices. The dip in prices have devastated the Russian economy.  The third major lobbying target has been the financial sanctions. Sberbank and VTB Capital have faced severe cash shortages due to plunging oil prices and the U.S. sanctions.

Web Of Corruption

The FBI and the Justice Department are conducting an investigation into possible links between the corrupt former Ukrainian pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych and former Trump campaign manager, Paul Manafort. In a Hot Air article, John Sexton wrote that the Democratic super lobbying firm, The Podesta Group, LLC is under investigation.  John Podesta was Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager.  John denies recent involvement with the group he helped found.  I don’t know if we  will ever know the full extent of this web of corruption.  It looks like it is world-wide.

Corruption

Rick Gates, a Paul Manafort deputy, hired The Podesta Group, reported HotAir. The FBI is attempting to discover if any U.S. companies and financial system were used to aid illegal activities and corruption by the party of former president Viktor Yanukovych. By reports, The Podesta Group did not register their work as agents for a foreign government as required by law.  Buzzfeed says that PG has lawyered up.  PG was listed on lobbying disclosure forms, however.  The Podesta Group reported receiving $24 million in fees in 2016, mostly from foreign governments.

Money Flying

The Democratic super lobbyist Podesta Group, got $170,000 over 6 months from Sberbank to lobby for lifting sanctions on Russian banks. Records show Sberbank met with State Department officials twice accompanied by a Podesta representative. The PG did not at any time register as an agent of a foreign power during this time. The Podesta Group represented Sberbank and its subsidiaries, Troika Dialog Group.  Interestingly, “Troika Dialog” was related to Klein Ltd, a Cayman Island organization. Klein Ltd is known to have funneled tens of millions of dollars to environmental groups to oppose low-cost fracking in U.S.” said Richard Pollock, Daily Caller.

Democratic Ties

Two other big lobby groups, best known for their Democratic ties have also become entangled with the Russians.  Manatos & Manatos, known backers of Carter and LBJ, represented VTB Capital at the tune of $17,500 monthly to lobby for sanction lifting. VTB and Sberbank are known to have spent at least $700,000 in 2016 to end financial sanctions.

Conclusion

My concern here is of course, that even without meddling in the election, the Kremlin is actively undermining many aspects of our lives.

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