SoylentNews

As we're multiplying, the world's on the brink,
But that's just what the Devil wants you to think,
Don't ever stop shoppin', don't ever give in,
'Cause if we stop shoppin', the terrorists win.

-- The Claypool Lennon Delirium

Domestic Nuclear Shelters

How to Build a Fallout Shelter.

That nice Mr Putin has built many public nuclear shelters in Moscow in recent years.

Patriots who put their own countries first should always be prepared.

The strong are now putting their own countries first. Several countries are now putting themselves first. Obviously, all countries at present are confined to planet Earth. Who will win? What will happen to those who are second and third? Will the patriots be content?

"Racing for power, and all come in last." -- Megadeth.

We all breath the same atmosphere and drink the same water.

Patriots don't need affordable medical care. Only the weak get sick. President Pull-My-Finger is going to see to it that patriots get to keep as much of their own money as possible so that the weak, who drag the country down, are motivated to improve. On this side of the pond, the NHS is getting ready to be sold off cheap to American healthcare corporations when we get our massive trade deal with the USA. TTIP on steroids? The interests of American corporations will trump (see what I did there) our own interests under the law. Michael Gove is a great patriot.

We're also going to be withdrawing from the European Court of Human Rights. Fine, upstanding patriots don't need "Human Rights." Only criminals and deviants need Human Rights. It was a mistake our writing them in the first place.

I'm glad I'm not foreign. Come to think of it, I'm ethnic. I'm Scottish and live in England. Obviously, I can't be a true patriot. This is worrying.

And finally, here's one I made up all by myself:

Hey diddle diddle, Vlad did a piddle,
All over the Whitehouse floor,
The little Trump laughed to see such sport,
And the Brexiters clamored for more.

Christmas is coming, turkeys.

PS. At least patriots have democratically proved that Global Warming is a liberal-fascist Marxist conspiracy to keep the poor down.

PPS. That other great British patriot, Nigel Farage is taking a job with Faux News.

PPPS. UKIP's Eddie Hitler is standing for election to parliament in Stoke Central. Will the great patriots get a second MP?

Pakistan student: 'I was tortured by hardline Islamists'

A Pakistani student has said he was abducted and badly beaten by hardline Islamist students after posting tweets in support of five liberal bloggers who have gone missing. The student said he needed hospital treatment after he was blindfolded for several hours and tortured. No-one at Punjab University responded to his cries for help, he said.

The President of the United States has commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning. She will be released on May 17 of this year, rather than in 2045.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/us/politics/obama-commutes-bulk-of-chelsea-mannings-sentence.html

http://en.spaceengine.org/index/faq/0-29

Q: Will there be a version for Mac and Linux?
A: Yes, this is planned for in the near future.

http://en.spaceengine.org/

The interface can be a little finicky, so be patient with it.

"Settings - View" allows you to turn on/off the procedurally generated galaxies, stars, clusters, nebulae, and planets. I prefer to have most of these off, except for planets. It will be fun to watch the datasets get updated over the next few years, allowing us to have actual depictions of real planets.

Click on objects to select them and get stats like diameter, mass, and distance away from your current position. Selecting an object displays crosshairs on it or an arrow pointing in its angular direction that allow you to find it more easily.

WASD for basic movement. Left click and drag to shift your viewing angle.

Use a scrollwheel to control your velocity. If you collide with a star, planet, asteroid, etc. your velocity gets reset to a low number. As you get closer to objects, you tend to zip past them unless you lower your velocity at the same time as you adjust your angle to approach it head on.

Right click and drag allows you to rotate around the object you're following. Right click on an object to get a menu that allows you to go to the object or follow it.

Magnifying glass icon is the Find Object/"Go to" menu. If you have procedural planets on, try going to "Kraz 7.4" (no quotes). Then right click Kraz 7.4 and select the Parent option.

Try going to:

• Saturn
• Pluto
• Ceres
• Dysnomia
• Psyche
• Pleiades
• HIP 13484 3.D3
• Alnitak
• WOH G64
• HIP 28285 5.S47

Wasserman Schultz confronted Comey about Russian hacking

Uh oh. That Wasserman Schultz, huh?

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who was forced to resign last summer as head of the DNC amid the hacking scandal, told Comey that he should have come to her directly once the FBI was aware of the breach, just as he had done with other hacking victims. Comey, described by lawmakers in the room as unflinching and defiant, retorted that the FBI had properly notified DNC officials of the hacking.

"You let us down!" one Democrat yelled to Comey during the tense exchange, according to one attendee. Another Democrat described the scene: "Essentially Debbie asked, how was it that the FBI knew that the DNC was being hacked and they didn’t tell her? He gave some bulls--t explanation, ‘That’s our standard, we called this one, we called that one’ — [she said] ‘Well, why didn’t you call me?’ ”

And don't forget the guest host list:

The briefers at Friday's meeting included Comey; James Clapper, the director of national intelligence; CIA director John Brennan; and Mike Rogers, head of the National Security Agency.

It's hard to imagine such a small space with so many people to hate inside of it.

Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) took those criticisms a step further, accusing Comey of a double standard that "without question" makes him unfit to keep the position. "I have a great belief that the agency is a good agency, [but] I have a stronger belief that James Comey has done this nation a terrible disservice," he said. "I hope that Donald Trump fires him," Hastings said. "More important, he ought to resign.

Come on, Trump! Fire!

Justice Department inspector general to investigate pre-election actions by department and FBI

I guess I would keep my answers short too, if I were in his position.

The Hill didn't mention this bit:

The hearing took place a day after the Justice Department’s inspector general said it was investigating Mr. Comey’s decision during the campaign to hold a news conference announcing the end of the case — and then, just before the election, inform Congress there was possible new evidence only to say days later that it did not amount to anything.

Mr. Comey “didn’t really answer,” said Representative Jerold Nadler of New York. He dismissively referred to Mr. Comey as “a policeman,” and added, “I don’t remember anything substantive he said.”

Garbage in, garbage out! He should have recorded the meeting.

I, like a few Soylentils, hated Comey some time before he became a household name with the Apple unlock fiasco and election shenanigans. Much like I hate Clapper, Brennan, Rogers, and will have a new list of people to hate soon. What do you think of Comey today?

GOLDEN SHOWER? (NSFW)

Quick version and PDF link to the meat.

Previously, Senator Harry Reid alleged that there were ties between the Russians and the Trump campaign:

In my communications with you and other top officials in the national security community, it has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government — a foreign interest openly hostile to the United States, which Trump praises at every opportunity. The public has a right to know this information. I wrote to you months ago calling for this information to be released to the public. There is no danger to American interests from releasing it. And yet, you continue to resist calls to inform the public of this critical information.

That letter went beyond previous remarks by Reid.

Now, multiple sources are reporting that President Obama and President-elect Trump have been briefed on unsubstantiated allegations of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, and that the Russians have damaging information about Trump:

Two U.S. officials with direct knowledge told NBC News on Tuesday that briefing materials prepared for President-elect Donald Trump included information that initially circulated among Trump opponents and was passed to U.S. intelligence agencies making damaging allegations about his dealings with Russians.

Neither of the officials said the FBI was actively investigating the information, which has not been verified by U.S. agencies.

Politico:

On Tuesday evening, multiple reports attributed to anonymous sources contended that the nation’s four top intelligence chiefs informed President Barack Obama and Trump of allegations that Russia had collected compromising and tawdry personal information about the president-elect. A two-page synopsis also included allegations of a running exchange of information during the campaign between Trump allies and Russian government intermediaries.

After the first report surfaced, BuzzFeed published the longer, unverified document that formed the basis of the two-page synopsis to the official report, which had been classified, that details the kompromat in graphic terms. Sean Spicer, who will serve as Trump's White House press secretary, called BuzzFeed "pathetic" in a tweet Tuesday night, part of a coordinated pushback from allies inside and outside Trump Tower.

Buzzfeed article, and the document (direct PDF link) they published that other media outlets seem reluctant to touch:

Russian regime has been cultivating, supporting and assisting at least 5 years. Aim, endorsed by PUTIN, has been to encourage splits and divisions in western alliance

So far TRUMP has declined various sweetener real estate business deals offered him in Russia in order to further the Kremlin's cultivation of him. However he and his inner circle have accepted a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his Democratic and other political rivals

Former top Russian intelligence officer claims FSB has compromised TRUMP through his activities in Moscow sufficiently to be able to blackmail him. According to several knowledgeable sources, his conduct in Moscow has included perverted sexual acts which have been arranged/ monitored by the FSB

A dossier of compromising material on Hillary CLINTON has been collated by the Russian Intelligence Services over many years and mainly comprises bugged conversations she had on various visits to Russia and intercepted phone calls rather than any embarrassing conduct. The dossier is controlled by Kremlin spokesman, PESKOV, directly on PUTIN's orders. However it has not as yet been distributed abroad, including to TRUMP. Russian intentions for its deployment still unclear

[...] However, there were other aspects to TRUMP's engagement with the Russian authorities. One which had borne fruit for them was to exploit TRUMP's personal obsesslons and sexual perversion in order to obtain suitable 'kompromat' [compromising material] on him. According to Source D, where s/he had been present, TRUMP's (perverted) conduct in Moscow included hiring the presidential suite of the Ritz Carlton Hotel, where he knew President and Mrs OBAMA {whom he hated] had stayed on one of their official trips to Russia, and defiling the bed where they had slept by employing a number of prostitutes to perform a 'golden showers' (urination) show in front of him. The hotel was known to be under FSB control with microphones and concealed cameras in all the main rooms to record anything they wanted to.

[...] PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: FURTHER INDICATIONS OF EXTENSIVE CONSPIRACY BETWEEN CAMPAIGN TEAM AND THE KREMLIN

Summary

- Further evidence of extensive conspiracy between campaign team and Kremlin, sanctioned at highest levels and involving Russian diplomatic staffbased in the US

- TRUMP associate admits Kremlin behind recent appearance of DNC e- mails on WikiLeaks, as means of maintaining plausible deniability

- Agreed exchange of information established in both directions. team using moles within DNC and hackers in the US as well as outside in Russia. PUTIN motivated by fear and hatred of Hillary CLINTON. Russians receiving intel from team on Russian oligarchs and their families in US

- Mechanism for transmitting this intelligence involves ?pension? disbursements to Russian emigres living in US as cover, using consular officials in New York, DC and Miami

- Suggestion from source close to TRUMP and MANAFORT that Republican campaign team happy to have Russia as media bogeyman to mask more extensive corrupt business ties to China and other emerging countries

[...] In terms of the intelligence ?ow from the TRUMP team to Russia, Source reported that much of this concerned the activities of business oligarchs and their families? activities and assets in the US, with which PUTIN and the Kremlin seemed preoccupied.

Trump tweeted: "FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!", presumably in response to the Russia news.

The Trump team is starting to criticize Russia more:

The Trump transition team circulated Tillerson's opening statement to be delivered during his Senate confirmation hearing. In them, he will explain to some extent why Trump has been in favor of a warmer relationship with Moscow, saying Washington needs an open and frank dialogue with Russia on its ambition in order for the United States to chart its own course.

But his rhetoric expressing concern about Russia goes beyond Trump's own frequent expressions of the need for better ties with Russia after what he feels was a bungling of the relationship by outgoing President Barack Obama. "Our NATO allies are right to be alarmed at a resurgent Russia," Tillerson will say. "But it was in the absence of American leadership that this door was left open and unintended signals were sent."

A CES story worth a damn, but not because it can be confused with journalism:

I Dropped Acid and Saw Into the Future: My Surreal First Time At CES

The ‘Hillary for mayor’ story proves that we learn nothing

A fun story in WaPo.

Hipsters Broke My Gaydar

Millennials ruin everything!