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Who Were Those Gullible People Who Believed Donald Trump’s Bullsh*t?

His campaign promises, from peace in Ukraine to “beautiful” tariffs, were truly unbelievable. And yet, somehow many people believed him. So Russia proposed an Easter ceasefire in Ukraine and then promptly ignored its own proposal. Vladimir Putin announced around 4 p.m. local time Saturday afternoon that a ceasefire to honor the risen savior would commence at 6 p.m. By noon Sunday, according to The New York Times, Russia had fired 445 rounds of artillery and launched 300 drones and 45 infantry assaults. (Russia says Ukraine violated the ceasefire first.) Surprised? After what Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday, why should we be? He told reporters that if the United States can’t get a peace deal very soon, we’ll just wash our hands of the whole affair and “move on.” How do you think that was heard in the Kremlin? Green light, baby! Do whatever you want, Vlad. Rubio’s eh-whatever statement that “it’s not our war” will live in infamy next to James Baker’s unprincipled 1995 avowal, with respect to the Serbs’ war on Bosnia, that “we don’t have a dog in that fight.” (Why is it always tough-talking Republicans who hand democratic regimes to authoritarian ones on a silver platter?) But as I watched Rubio speak Friday, and then rewatched since, one thought keeps popping back into my head: Who were these people who were gullible enough to believe Donald Trump’s bullshit? How many times did Trump say he’d end that war on the first day of his presidency? It had to have been hundreds. I saw a lot of those clips on cable news over the weekend, as you may have. He did not mean it figuratively. You know, in the way people will say, “I’ll change that from Day One,” and you know they don’t literally mean Day One, but they do mean fast. (…) Again: Who on earth believed his nonsense? Four days before the election, Trump campaigned in Dearborn, Michigan. Obviously, one can understand the anger Arab Americans felt toward the Biden administration and Kamala Harris over Israel’s destruction of Gaza, and Harris handled the whole matter in a craven fashion. But did anyone seriously think Trump was going to be better? The war, after a very brief respite, is back on; there’s the usual finger-pointing about who’s to blame, but the fact remains that Israel cut off humanitarian supplies and started bombing again. Since Israel broke the ceasefire on March 18, about 1,800 Palestinians have been killed. Israel has Trump’s full backing in this. How full? This full: “There was no need for a green light because Trump gave us the option to open the gates of hell,” an Israeli source told The Jerusalem Post. Again I ask: Who ever believed otherwise? Trump is the biggest liar in the history of American politics. And no, I don’t know the precise extent to which Millard Fillmore or Benjamin Harrison was prone to prevarication. And yet, I write that sentence with serene confidence, because I know enough about Fillmore and Harrison and the whole lot of them to know that, while many of them were mediocrities and some operated according to a rather elastic ethical scale, none of them was an outright sociopath. But Donald Trump is. He will say anything to anyone at any time with utterly no thought of consequences or ever being held accountable. When the moment of accountability comes, he just tells another lie. When he was just a sleazy real-estate grifter, this was merely annoying. But now that he’s the president, and he has an army of propagandists behind him insisting that he is American history’s great truth-teller, it’s sick and it’s dangerous.

via newrepublic: Who Were Those Gullible People Who Believed Donald Trump’s Bullsh*t?

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Confusion surrounds disappearance of popular anonymous Telegram channel ‘VChK-OGPU,’ known for scoops on Russia’s intelligence agencies and police

One of Telegram’s most popular anonymous news channels mysteriously disappeared overnight. “VChK-OGPU” (short for “All-Russian Extraordinary Commission Joint State Political Directorate”) had more than 1.1 million subscribers before it was deleted in the early morning hours of April 7. The channel wrote extensively about Russia’s law enforcement and intelligence communities. It’s unclear why the channel was shut down. Telegram’s press service told the outlet Mediazona that VChK-OGPU “was deleted by its owner, possibly as a result of unauthorized access,” though the channel’s founder told journalists at Dossier Center that Telegram administrators blocked the account he used to create the channel and then deleted the channel itself. The source argued that Telegram has apparently started enforcing government takedown orders, referring to the Russian authorities demanding last December that Telegram delete VChK-OGPU and several other popular channels. Meanwhile, another source linked to VChK-OGPU told BBC Russia that there was no unauthorized access to the channel, though the SIM card used in the account that registered the channel is now apparently blocked. Another BBC source suggested that the deletion may be related to an attack on a journalist affiliated with the channel, Alexander Shvarev, whom Latvian national police summoned and warned several months ago of a possible attempt on his life by Russian intelligence.

via meduza: Confusion surrounds disappearance of popular anonymous Telegram channel ‘VChK-OGPU,’ known for scoops on Russia’s intelligence agencies and police

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#VIDEOKAMERAS : Große #Sicherheitslücke bei Überwachungsgeräten der #Polizei – #polizeiproblem

Polizeibehörden in zahlreichen Ländern nutzen mobile Sender der Firma Infodraw. Doch die hochgeladenen Daten sind nicht ausreichend gesichert. Von Software und Geräten, die die Sicherheitsbehörden und Politiker nutzen, erwartet man eigentlich besonders hohe Sicherheitsstandards. Sonst kann es, wie im Falle der Trump-Regierung, unerwünschte Mitleser geben. Dass unsichere Systeme auch bei europäischen Behörden im Einsatz sind, hat der Sicherheitsexperte Tim Schäfers in den vergangenen Monaten aufgedeckt. Betroffen sind Systeme des israelischen Anbieters Infodraw, mit denen Audio- und Videoaufzeichnungen übertragen werden. Schäfers stellte seine Ergebnisse am 19. April 2025 auf dem Easterhegg des Chaos Computer Club (CCC) in Hamburg vor. Details finden sich zudem in einem Blogbeitrag. Aufmerksam auf den Hersteller wurde der Sicherheitsexperte durch Angaben der Bundesregierung zum Einsatz digitaler Überwachungsmethoden bei Polizeien und Geheimdiensten des Bundes. Zuletzt tauchte darin (PDF) im Jahr 2014 der Anbieter Vidit Systems auf. Zu dessen Kunden zählen aktuell die Polizeibehörden sämtlicher Bundesländer sowie die Bundespolizei und die Bereitschaftspolizeien der Länder. Auf der Webseite von Vidit wird unter dem Menüpunkt Mobile kabellose Bildübertragung Infodraw genannt. Die batteriebetriebenen Sender verfügen über Video- und Audioeingänge, beispielsweise für Bodycams von Mohoc oder Gopro. Aber auch an Drohnen und Fahrzeugen lassen sich solche Überwachungssysteme befestigen.

via golem: VIDEOKAMERAS : Große Sicherheitslücke bei Überwachungsgeräten der Polizei

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Leaked: #Palantir’s Plan to Help ICE Deport People

Internal Palantir Slack chats and message boards obtained by 404 Media show the contracting giant is helping find the location of people flagged for deportation, that Palantir is now a “more mature partner to ICE,” and how Palantir is addressing employee concerns with discussion groups on ethics. Palantir, the surveillance giant, is taking on an increased role with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including finding the physical location of people who are marked for deportation, according to Palantir Slacks and other internal messages obtained by 404 Media. The leak shows that Palantir’s work with ICE includes producing leads for law enforcement to find people to deport and keeping track of the logistics of Trump’s mass deportation effort, and provides concrete insight into the Trump administration’s wish to leverage data to enforce its immigration agenda. The internal communications also show Palantir leadership preparing for a potential backlash from employees or outsiders, with them writing FAQs that can be sent to friends or family that start to ask about Palantir’s work with ICE.

via 404: Leaked: Palantir’s Plan to Help ICE Deport People

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Druck auf Hegseth steigt: US-Verteidigungsminister teilte Militärpläne offenbar auch in Chat mit Ehefrau

Die Chat-Affäre der US-Regierung weitet sich aus. Trumps Pentagon-Chef soll sensible Militärinformationen auch an seine Frau gesendet haben. Die US-Demokraten fordern seine Entlassung. US-Verteidigungsminister Pete Hegseth soll laut Medienberichten Militärpläne in einem weiteren Gruppenchat auch mit seiner Ehefrau geteilt haben. Die „New York Times“ berichtete unter Berufung auf mehrere mit der Sache vertraute Personen, in dem privaten Chat bei der kommerziellen Kommunikationsapp Signal habe der Politiker detaillierte Informationen über Angriffe im Jemen Mitte März verbreitet. Die Ehefrau arbeitet demnach nicht im Verteidigungsministerium. Hegseth sieht sich durch den Medienbericht neuer Kritik ausgesetzt und der Druck auf ihn steigt. Der Minderheitsführer der Demokraten im US-Senat, Chuck Schumer, schrieb auf X: „Pete Hegseth muss gefeuert werden.“ Erst vor Wochen hatte eine Affäre um einen Gruppen-Chat ranghoher Regierungsvertreter, darunter Hegseth, sehr hohe Wellen geschlagen. Auch Hegseths Bruder war im Chat Pentagon-Sprecher Sean Parnell sprang dem Verteidigungsminister bei und postete auf X, „die Trump-hassenden Medien“ seien weiter davon besessen, jeden zu vernichten, der sich für die Agenda von US-Präsident Donald Trump einsetze. (…) Der Fall folgt auf die Affäre um einen geheimen Gruppenchat hochrangiger Regierungsmitglieder. Ende März hatte das US-Magazin „The Atlantic“ die Inhalte des Chats öffentlich gemacht, nachdem dessen Chefredakteur – vermutlich versehentlich – vom Nationalen Sicherheitsberater Mike Waltz in die Signal-Gruppe eingeladen worden war. Zu diesem Chat läuft bereits eine Untersuchung durch die interne Aufsicht des US-Verteidigungsministeriums.

via tagesspiegel: Druck auf Hegseth steigt: US-Verteidigungsminister teilte Militärpläne offenbar auch in Chat mit Ehefrau

siehe auch: Skandal um Trump-Minister Hegseth: Angriffspläne in Chat an Ehefrau geschickt – Entlassung gefordert. Das Signal-Gate der US-Politik um Angriffspläne gegen die Huthi-Miliz im Jemen sorgte vor einigen Wochen für ordentlich Wirbel in den Reihen der Trump-Administration. Zur Erinnerung: Ende März hatte das US-Magazin The Atlantic die Inhalte eines Chats öffentlich gemacht. Zuvor war dessen Chefredakteur vom Nationalen Sicherheitsberater Mike Waltz in die Signal-Gruppe eingeladen worden. In diesem hatten hochrangige Regierungsmitglieder einen Militärschlag gegen die Huthi-Rebellen diskutiert. Medienberichten zufolge könnte der Skandal der US-Politik nun noch größer sein: US-Verteidigungsminister Pete Hegseth soll Militärpläne in einem weiteren Gruppenchat auch mit seiner Ehefrau geteilt haben. (…) Wie die New York Times weiterschreibt, soll es bei dem nun zweiten bekanntgewordenen Chatverlauf ebenfalls um Militärpläne in diesem Kontext gegangen sein. Hegseth soll demnach den zweiten Chat selbst erstellt haben

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‘The #bomber’s words sound mainstream. Like he won!’ #Oklahoma City’s tragedy in the time of #Trump – #terror

Revulsion at deadly Oklahoma City explosion in 1995 has faded. But echoes of the blast, and its perpetrator, Timothy McVeigh, are heard today as far-right ideas storm the US. The world’s first reaction to the young military veteran and far-right radical who blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City 30 years ago this month was near-universal revulsion at the carnage he created and at the ideology that inspired it. A crowd yelled “baby killer” – and worse – as 26-year-old Timothy McVeigh was led away in chains from a courthouse in rural Oklahoma where the FBI caught up with him two days after the bombing. He had the same crew cut he’d sported in his army days and stone cold eyes. An hour and a half’s drive to the south, 168 people lay dead, most of them office workers who had been providing government services, along with 19 young children in a day care centre directly above the spot where McVeigh parked his moving truck packed with ammonium nitrate and other explosives. The children were, most likely, his prime target. (…) Fast-forward those 30 years, and the movement is not only very much revived but has moved from the outer fringes of American politics to the very centre. McVeigh wanted to strike at what he saw as a corrupt, secretive cabal running the US government – what Donald Trump and his acolytes refer to as the Deep State and are now busy dismantling. McVeigh believed the US had no business extending its influence around the world or becoming entangled in foreign wars when white working-class Americans from industrial cities such as Buffalo, his home town, were suffering – an early expression of Trump’s America First ideology, which won him tens of millions of blue-collar votes last November. McVeigh’s favourite book, a white supremacist power fantasy called The Turner Diaries, blamed a cabal of Jews, black people and internationalists for perverting America’s true destiny – a sentiment now finding coded expression in Trump’s twin wars on immigration and on diversity, equity and inclusion. McVeigh believed it was up to ordinary citizens like him to take up arms and fight against a tyrannical ruling order, no matter the cost in innocent lives, because that was what the country’s founders had done during the American civil war. The T-shirt he wore when he was arrested carried a quote from Thomas Jefferson: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” During the Capitol riot on 6 January 2021, the QAnon-friendly Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert expressed much the same sentiment as she cheered on the rioters smashing and bloodying their way past uniformed police officers into the halls of Congress. “Today is 1776,” she tweeted. The parallels have not been lost on political veterans of the 1990s. Clinton himself observed in a recent HBO documentary: “The words [McVeigh] used, the arguments he made, literally sound like the mainstream today. Like he won!” The threat the far right poses to the US government is no longer a physical one – not when it comes to the executive branch, anyway – since the radicals intent on cleaning house now have like-minded leaders such as Trump and Elon Musk doing it from the inside. It’s hard to imagine McVeigh, who was executed by lethal injection in 2001, objecting to the administration’s campaign to hollow out the international aid agency, kick career prosecutors and government watchdogs out of the Department of Justice, or vow to refashion “broken” institutions such as the FBI.

via guardian: ‘The bomber’s words sound mainstream. Like he won!’ Oklahoma City’s tragedy in the time of Trump

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Thousands gather in London to support trans rights following UK ruling over definition of woman

Thousands of trans rights protesters gathered in central London on Saturday, days after the U.K.’s Supreme Court ruled that a woman is someone born biologically female and that transgender women are excluded from that legal definition. With unease growing over what the ruling means for the rights of transgender people, protesters came together for what was billed as an “emergency demonstration” in Parliament Square. Activists demanded “trans liberation” and “trans rights now,” with some waving flags and holding banners. Trans groups are worried that Wednesday’s landmark decision would undermine their rights, even though the U.K.’s highest court said transgender people remain protected from discrimination. The head of Equality and Human Rights Commission said the ruling will mean transgender women will be excluded from women’s toilets, hospital wards and sports teams.

via ap: Thousands gather in London to support trans rights following UK ruling over definition of woman

Thousands of trans rights protesters gathered in central London, days after the U.K.‘s Supreme Court ruled that a woman is someone born biologically female and that transgender women are excluded from that legal definition.

— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) 2025-04-19T23:00:13Z
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