QAnon Is Becoming a Republican Dog Whistle

Good to see things getting fixed around here

QAnon may be losing some of its online platforms—but the conspiracy theory is increasingly being enabled by the Republican Party.

This week, TikTok became the latest app to clamp down on QAnon, announcing a ban on content and accounts that promote the conspiracy theory. QAnon, which began in 2017 with an anonymous post on the internet forum 4Chan by someone identifying themselves as “Q” and claiming to have a high-level government security clearance, revolves around the delusion that Democratic Party operatives, Hollywood stars, and members of the “deep state” are running a satanic child trafficking ring, and that President Trump is working to stop them. The ranks of QAnon adherents have grown remarkably this year, spreading misinformation online and inspiring real-world violence. TikTok’s action follows similar attempts by YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter to slow the spread of Q-related disinformation.

But QAnon has already morphed from an online community of amateur detectives to a budding political movement, encompassing a mess of other conspiracist beliefs. Interest in QAnon has ballooned since the beginning of the pandemic and related economic shutdowns when, suddenly, many people had nowhere to go but the Internet. Between March and July membership in ten large QAnon Facebook groups grew by nearly 600 percent. During the same time period, according to a Pew survey, the number of Americans who had heard or read “a lot or a little” about QAnon doubled from 23 percent to 47 percent; 41 percent of Republicans who had heard about QAnon said they thought it was “somewhat” or “very good” for the country. According to another recent poll, a majority of Republicans believe the conspiracy theory about “deep state elites” is at least partly true.

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/qanon-republicans-election/

A new lawsuit targets Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballot deadline

HARRISBURG — A new lawsuit, filed Thursday, is challenging Pennsylvania’s court-ordered deadline to count mail-in ballots that are received up to three days after the Nov. 3 election in the presidential battleground state.

Plaintiffs include a Republican congressional candidate and four registered voters from Somerset County.

The lawsuit comes 12 days before the election and three days after the U.S. Supreme Court, divided 4-4, rejected a Republican plea making a similar argument.

Both sought to block a state Supreme Court ruling that required county election officials to receive and count mailed-in ballots that arrive up until Nov. 6, even if they don’t have a clear postmark, as long as there is not proof it was mailed after the polls closed.

Thursday's lawsuit argues that the deadline extension is unfair to in-person voters and violated the court's authority by exercising a power that is constitutionally vested in Congress and the state Legislature.

With about 2.9 million mail-in ballots requested, registered Democrats have requested about 1.1 million more mail-in ballots than Republicans, or 1.8 million to 700,000, according to state data.

The Democratic majority on the state’s high court had cited warnings that postal service delays could invalidate huge numbers of ballots and surging demand for mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic to invoke the power, used previously by the state’s courts, to extend election deadlines during a disaster emergency.

Posted: October 22, 2020 - 2:05 PM

https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pennsylvania-election-mail-ballots-deadline-lawsuit-20201022.html

>>11215375

NOTABLE

Fort Bend County suspect possessed more than 2K child pornography files, DA's Office alleges

A Missouri City man has been arrested and charged with possession of child pornography after popular file storage and sharing website Dropbox.com reported images allegedly associated with his account.

The Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office arrested Larry Savoy, 28, following a tip from Dropbox, Inc. According to Savoy’s arrest warrant, on May 12, Dropbox, Inc. reported to the National Center for the Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline that one of their users uploaded 2,272 photos and videos of sex crimes against children

The District Attorney’s Office traced the user information to Savoy, and the IP address from his computer matched that of Savoy’s.

Among the files reported by Dropbox, Inc. is a two-minute video depicting the sexual assault of a child between the ages of 1 and 2, the warrant said.

The video is a “hash match” to a file from Savoy’s IP address, the District Attorney’s Office said. A hash match designation indicates that the uploaded file matches the value of an uploaded file reported to the NCMEC like a digital fingerprint.

https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/sugarland/news/article/Fort-Bend-County-suspect-possessed-more-than-2K-15667700.php

Goldman Sachs Agrees to Record $2.9B DOJ Settlement in Embezzlement Scandal

The international investment bank Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $2.9 billion and admit wrongdoing for its involvement in the plundering of an economic development fund meant to benefit Malaysia, under the terms of a settlement announced Thursday by the U.S. Justice Department.

Instead of helping develop Malaysia's economy, the fund's overseers embezzled roughly $4 billion and bought real estate in Beverly Hills and New York, yachts, a jet and works by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet, prosecutors said.

Some of the money, they said, was used to cover gambling debts at Las Vegas casinos and to help finance the hit movie, "The Wolf of Wall Street."

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/goldman-sachs-agrees-to-record-2-9b-doj-settlement-in-embezzlement-scandal/2682751/

>>11215586

o7

House Democrats pass $2.2 trillion stimulus bill over GOP opposition; bipartisan talks continue

House Democrats passed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill Thursday over intense GOP opposition, even as bipartisan talks between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin continued.

The legislation, which passed 214 to 207, has no chance of advancing in the Republican-led Senate and is opposed by the White House. But it’s been nearly five months since the House passed the $3.4 trillion Heroes Act, which also went nowhere in the Senate. So with the House set to recess Friday through the election, Pelosi (D-Calif.) acceded to demands from moderate Democrats who wanted to take new action to address the toll of the coronavirus pandemic before heading home to campaign for reelection.

“This is not just a money debate and a language debate. It’s a values debate. It’s important for people to know that what this fight is about,” Pelosi said on the House floor ahead of the vote. “The people have needs, and we have to meet them.”

Republicans railed against Pelosi for advancing a bill that has no chance of becoming law, accusing her of playing politics instead of trying to strike a bipartisan deal. And even though it was largely pressure from moderate Democrats, some in tough reelection races, that persuaded Pelosi to reverse course and put the bill on the floor, 18 mostly centrist Democrats voted “no” on the legislation Thursday, with some expressing frustration that they were voting on a bill that was headed nowhere instead of an actual deal.

“Today’s package is another partisan exercise that will never become law — just as the Heroes Act never received a single vote in the Senate, let alone reached the President’s desk,” freshman Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) said in a statement. “The American people are exhausted by empty promises and government dysfunction.”

But even as the highly partisan debate was underway on the House floor, behind the scenes Pelosi was, in fact, working to try to strike a bipartisan deal with Mnuchin. The two spent the day trading phone calls and offers, and although Pelosi said they remained far apart on some issues, the negotiations were continuing and appeared to be getting into some granular details, such as specific language on a coronavirus testing plan, and whether and at what level Republicans could agree to a refundable child tax credit sought by Democrats.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/10/01/white-house-democrats-economic-stimulus/

Pressure builds for NBC's Kristen Welker to address Hunter Biden at debate: ‘This is a moment of truth'

The pressure is building for NBC News’ Kristen Welker to address the ongoing scandal surrounding a laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden during Thursday night’s final presidential debate as the mainstream media has essentially dismissed the story.

"This is a moment of truth for Kristen Welker and NBC News, in which they are caught between doing their job or protecting Joe Biden,” Cornell Law School professor and media critic William A. Jacobson told Fox News.

The laptop, which was first reported by the New York Post, is reported to contain emails suggesting Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden had knowledge of, and was allegedly involved in, his son’s foreign business dealings.

But the media has bent over backward to avoid the scandal, with Twitter and Facebook each coming under fire for censoring the Post bombshell and NPR even dismissed it as a waste of time.

The former vice president has snapped at the few reporters who dared to ask him about the scandal and CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS and MSNBC have all taken heat for their lack of coverage. But millions of voters will be tuned in Thursday as Welker moderates the final presidential debate in Nashville, giving her a chance to force the issue with Biden.

“To avoid or downplay the Biden family influence-peddling scandal would both create additional claims of media bias and eliminate Welker as a serious journalist," Jacobson added.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/kristen-welker-hunter-biden-debate-question

Putin: Russia-China military alliance can't be ruled out

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says there is no need for a Russia-China military alliance now, but noted it could be forged in the future.

Putin's statement signaled deepening ties between Moscow and Beijing amid growing tensions in their relations with the United States. The Russian leader also made a strong call for extending the last remaining arms control pact between Moscow and Washington.

Asked during a video conference with international foreign policy experts Thursday if a military union between Moscow and Beijing was possible, Putin replied that “we don't need it, but, theoretically, it’s quite possible to imagine it.”

Russia and China have hailed their “strategic partnership,” but so far rejected any talk about the possibility of their forming a military alliance.

Putin pointed to the war games that the armed forces of China and Russia held as a signal of the countries' burgeoning military cooperation.

Putin also noted that Russia has shared sensitive military technologies that helped significantly boost China's military potential, but didn’t mention any specifics, saying the information was sensitive.

“Without any doubt, our cooperation with China is bolstering the defense capability of China's army," he said, adding that the future could see even closer military ties between the two countries.

“The time will show how it will develop, but we won't exclude it,” the Russian president said.

Russia has sought to develop stronger ties with China as its relations with the West sank to post-Cold War lows over Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea, accusations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and other rifts.

Putin on Thursday emphasized the importance of extending the New START treaty that expires in February, Russia's last arms control pact with the United States.

Earlier this week, the United States and Russia signaled their readiness to accept compromises to salvage the New START treaty just two weeks ahead of the U.S. presidential election in which President Donald Trump faces a strong challenge from former Vice President Joe Biden, whose campaign has accused Trump of being soft on Russia.

New START was signed in 2010 by then-U.S. President Barack Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The pact limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers, and envisages sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Putin-Russia-China-military-alliance-can-t-be-15667694.php