My readers may have noticed this blog has gone a bit quiet. Let me tell you why.
Image ©AmericanLens
I’m now a Co-Founder and the Executive Editor of a news website called American Lens and it is a full time job.
We’re bringing focus to the heart of the story. Come on over and check us out.
Back in November of 2015 I wrote an article about a very special collaboration between a Veteran owned watch company and patriotic “Hacktivist”. For those who may not be familiar with the project, here’s a snippet of that blog post “How Does a Patriot Hacker Tell Time?”
Hacktivists are an interesting brand. They have websites, personal logo’s, unique followers, and are scattered across many social media platforms. Some use their skills for nefarious reasons, however, a select few go after those hell bent on doing harm. They’re “Patriot Hacktivists” and one was the first to take up this mission. Six years ago he became a one man wrecking ball against Jihadist websites & other online entities aiding and abetting enemies of the US. Many know him in cyberspace as The Jester. However, there’s a new “first” in the hacker community and it’s quite a patriotic collaboration.
Yep, that’s right, a very special edition JΞSTΞR ✪ ΔCTUAL watch is being released by Minuteman Watches.
Minuteman began excepting pre-orders for the JΞSTΞR ✪ ΔCTUAL Special Edition watch and in January of 2016 it went into a limited production with the goal of selling 100 of these wonderful wrist porn “tick-tocks”.
To add even further appeal to the project, it was announced on Twitter that another charity would also be benefiting from the sales of this special time piece:
#charity @th3j35t3r is going to donate his portion of the profits from the sale of #JΞSTΞR #Watches to Fisher House! https://t.co/jwWx1EdAIB
— Minuteman Brand (@minutemanco) January 8, 2016
Before I get to the newest update, I’d like to say thank you to Minuteman Watches for personally asking Lady Liberty 1885 Blog and myself to write about this special project. It was a labor of love and my honor to be included.
UPDATE:
It’s been eighteen months since the JΞSTΞR ✪ ΔCTUAL Special Edition Watch went on sale. I am extremely pleased to announce the following update from the Minuteman Facebook page:
To the proud owners of the watch and the countless images they posted on social media, to the thousands of people who RT’d and posted information about the project, and to the awesome #1337 I say KUDO’s to you all. It is because of all of you this milestone has been reached.
To Minuteman Watch Company and Jester, your unwavering support of our United States Military and our Veterans is a shining example of American patriotism. This wonderful collaboration was and is proof of what everyday individuals can accomplish when they work towards a common goal. I look forward to any new project the two of you come up with in the future as I’m sure it will be just as special as this one was for all of us.
It occurred to me that Louise Mensch hasn’t written a book in a while. This is strange considering for over a decade she was prolific in churning out bedside Jackie Collins style books such as Venus Envy, Glitz, Desire and so on.
Honestly, since she became the inside scoop female Jimmy Olsen of the Resistance and Russian collusion poster child, I’m actually surprised no one has written a novel about her or an unauthorized biography at the very least.
What would the title of that novel be? It has to be something catchy that encapsulates the content and topic.. after all, Louise has always been able to come up with outstandingly intelligent titles to her books, for example…Sparkles. (No, really, that is one of her book titles).
Hypothetically, I have a few ideas for a book that would capture her spirit, investigative prowess, and give the reader everything they need to know right on the cover. At this point it’s just a “Working Title” but I do have a few chapters in mind.
Mensch rose to Resistance respect after penning an exclusive article while still with Heat Street. She had the scoop that the FBI had requested FISA warrants to look into whether or not the Trump Campaign had close ties to Russia. It was quite the exclusive and I do give her huge kudos for nailing that one.
Her article was even cited by President Trump when he claimed the Obama Administration had spied on his campaign prior to the election. Other prominent politicians and pundits always gave credit to her.
That one article started her on the path of heroine and inside go to girl for the Never Trump Movement and Resistance. Just don’t ‘Mensch’n it’s really the only exclusive scoop she’s had since. Which brings me to the title of the first chapter of the book:
The Resistance has found their Professor Trelawney in Louise Mensch. Trelawney is a strange but lovable character from the Harry Potter series. If you’ve read the books or seen the movies, you know she made the prediction of Harry’s fate through a prophecy before he was born. After that, she became a professor at Hogwarts. Through out the series she makes wild prophecies of death and doom, but they pretty much keep her around due to the original prediction.
“Sybill Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favourite way of greeting a new class.”—Professor McGonagall, about Trelawney’s predictions.
Sound familiar?
Perhaps the Resistance feels the same of Mensch. Maybe they just feel her important enough to keep her around after the Exclusive FISA warrant article, but frankly, it’s been all smoke from the crystal ball.
Day in and out she spews the future on Twitter and blog posts stating “arrests are any day“, “sealed indictments granted” and everybody is “going to jail“. Those not blocked by Mensch already have a taste of her not so accurate predictions. Everyone from Trump, Paul Ryan, Devin Nunes, Mike Pence, Mike Flynn, (yada yada yada) are all being indicted, arrested soon, and will “die in jail”.
There are hundreds of such predictions, but this is my favorite. All that’s missing is a Carnac the Magnificent hat.
EXCLUSIVE: Marshal of the Supreme Court spoke to Trump over ‘case of impeachment’ https://t.co/uDMOfwKv19
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) May 20, 2017
*You know my comparison really isn’t that far-fetched when left leaning sites like Media-ite even notice the issue in their article “Louise Mensch Wrote One Good Article, But Everything Else Might Be Junk”
When engaging in conversation with Louise, it’s best you not criticize her work, post a contradictory story tagging her, troll her, ignore her, block her or even politely ask she stop mentioning your name in any way, otherwise, you may be a Russian Bot, hacker, agent, partisan or infiltrators.
The wild claims she has made against people are so beyond the pale, it’s damn close to being a drinking game. Grab your Vodka comrades and take a swig each time she states that someone’s a Russian twitter bot, take two swigs if they’re an agent of the FSB, and get ready for all out drunken madness if she claims another Russian infiltration into anything. The list is staggering and distinguished
That’s because you, Russia, funded riots in Ferguson. See 0 hour I have your connections to Trump archived via Schiller and Scavino https://t.co/aTUDlCGkYi
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) April 9, 2017
Russian agent of influence no two ways about it at this point https://t.co/OW1C0pc9Di
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) April 19, 2017
Corbyn is a Russian agent of influence too. And a joke https://t.co/VDcGUYU2PT
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) April 19, 2017
Wrong on this one Nancy, imo. A Russian partisan, Jester, defender of Hostkey and Wikileaks, boasted about a patriot suspended pic.twitter.com/pbWRvfV1OS
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) June 3, 2017
Jester is the enemy as witness his boasting about Broadsword. It’s cool though. He stands with Russia. See acct @broadsword6
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) June 3, 2017
Other campaigns with links to Putin:
Jill Stein
Gary Johnson
and (yes, sorry)
Bernie Sanders https://t.co/3LSsB7lxOs— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) January 25, 2017
The one against JΞSŦΞR ✪ ΔCŦUΔL³³º¹ was after she continued tagging him in every comment she would make, and he politely asked her to stop. Oops, sorry J, now you must be a Russian whatever according to Louise. Join the club, we’re all bots too.
Normally I would not quote Buzzfeed but I am making an exception since reading their article,“Louise Mensch has a List of Suspected Russian Agents.”
Mensch, who sometimes tweets hundreds of times a day, has claimed or implied that targets ranging from top government officials to journalists to teenagers to anonymous Twitter users are in thrall to Vladimir Putin.
Just since Inauguration Day, according to an extensive review of her tweets, the New York–based Mensch has accused at least 210 people and organizations of being under Russian government influence.
At this point if Mensch keeps it up there will be more Russian’s in the US than in the old USSR, only they will reside just in her mind.
Her followers on Twitter eat it up like candy, and regurgitate it out to the masses. The Resistance Party Twitter account has even came out and disavowed her reckless actions and statements.
Our Statement regarding @LouiseMensch #LouiseCalledMeASpy @C_Stroop @olgaNYC1211 @puppymnkey @SheWhoVotes pic.twitter.com/cnIn8X3INc
— The Resistance Party (@ResistanceParty) June 12, 2017
Not one claim has been proven, not one shred of evidence has been given. Her selective attention on Russia really does border on some kind of mania and not in the innocent “I see blue cars all the time after I bought one” kind of way, but in the more invasive “Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon” psychological way.
I’m surprised she hasn’t accused all the grocery chains of collusion because they carry some brand of Russian Dressing.
“Six degrees of separation” is the theory that everyone is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of “a friend of a friend” statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps.-Oxford math Center
I could say I’m connected to the writer Thomas Sowell through only two acquaintances. However, I can’t go around alleging I’m friends with the columnist, even if it is by a distance of two people.
My allegation would have no basis in truth and a good journalist, through research, could separate my words from the actual reality that I am not his friend and we have never met.
The idea is intriguing really to anyone who’s familiar with it. Hell, I even use the cult classic version of 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon when I can’t think of an actor’s name in a movie (seriously it works) but I digress.
This is where Louise and her crazy Russian connections become down right journalistic malpractice.
She has made connections between the Trump administration and every single person working in that admin to Russia. Then turns around and connects damn near everyone who has anything to do with any of those people to Russia and so on.
It’s like the old STD warning about having sex with one, you’re having it with who they had it with, and who they had it with. So hypothetically:
Staffer who now works for The President once worked for the Assistant to the Assistant Deputy of the Attorney Generals office went to the Sochi olympics and photo-bombed a Russian Diplomat while he was shaking hands with the Russian Ambassador and posted that picture on their Facebook and now that Staffer according to Mensch is a Russian Agent.
This is just as ridiculous as it sounds. It also borders on defamation, however, you would never know that Louise really worries or even considers that consequence.
Case in point, this tweet came across her Twitter, not more than a few minutes ago.
EXCLUSIVE: Intel sources: Moscow SIGINT shows Sheriff Clarke Attacked Black Lives Matter on Deripaska’s Orders – https://t.co/IOO2Prn0Tf
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) June 25, 2017
This is where a lesson must be taught. Let me ask a rhetorical question… Just how easy is it to connect people to others even in other countries? All we need is Social Media and a computer.
Let me do a little Six Degrees of Putin on someone Louise hasn’t thought of connecting to Russia…. Louise Mensch herself. By the way, it took me less than an hour to find this information.
So using Mensch logic, she has close Russian friends, her books are very popular with Russians, and the former Boutique Law firm her company Forma Flos Ltd is not only in the same building with a Russian business, but the Law firm is also part of the company itself.
So I have gone from Mensch, to Forma Flos Ltd, to a law firm, to Russia and that’s not even including her FB friend or the nice Russian who reviewed her book.
Hypothetical conclusion:
I have no other basis for that statement. No hard evidence to back it up, and no direct connections to substantiate my conclusion. This is how Mensch Six degree’s everyone else to Russia.
Unlike Mensch, good investigative reporters often utilize the technique, but what keeps their credibility intact is sourcing out the direct connections that relate to their stories content and not jumping to farthest 6th degree or further and claiming it as truth.
Hypothetically that would be akin to writing an article alleging a politician is directly connected to Charles Manson because they met some guy five years ago who married a woman whose cousin met a guy who lived in Berkeley in 1969 who dated a chick that was hanging out with Charley.
Such wild connections being pushed as fact are nothing more than catalysts for conspiracy theories that direct their readers down rabbit holes which only lead to the farthest connections “from the truth”. They are akin to Six Degrees of Separation from Reality.
Look, I’m not saying that there are not some serious problems with this current administration. I admit there are quite a few rabbit holes that have popped up since the election, what I am saying is that Mensch isn’t the Rabbit you should be following down those holes.
There are great investigative journalists out there who have spent their entire careers making sure their reporting matches their credibility. If a book was written about one of them, the title would simply be “Solid”.
So, that’s my idea for an unauthorized book on the mind of Mensch. Frankly, she’s lucky I didn’t go with my first choice for the title…..
Thank you to Grumpy Opinions for Linking the article
Thank you to PumaByDesign001 for linking the article
Thank you to Doug Ross with Director Blue Blogspot for Linking the article
Thank you to boudicabpi2015 for linking the article
Thank you to Evil Blogger Lady for linking the article
Thank you to Kay Flacs with American Lens for re-blogging the article. I love the snippet you added regarding CNN credibility and your article American Pravda? CNN’s Russia Obsession ‘All About Ratings’. Here is the snippet:
“There are great investigative journalists out there who have spent their entire careers making sure their reporting matches their credibility (not at CNN though). If a book was written about one of them, the title would simply be “Solid”.
It’s not often you see your name in lights, and seldom can you see it in shadow -LS
Recognition should be celebrated and it’s humbling when a story you post is received in a positive manner. It’s an affirmation of the hard work and research you put into it, and it’s reflected in the people who follow and respect you.
This blog over the last four years has been recognized nationally on more than a few occasions and I’m truly proud of that. It’s an honor to have a story with one’s name on it be linked, liked, shared across social media and mentioned by respected news sites.
Every journalist should want that type of exposure, however, what if the motives for your name being highlighted are dubious and the reasons discriminatory? This question has been on my mind since it was brought to my attention that my Twitter handle @iamlibertyspeaks is on a list circulating online.
Twitter Shadow Ban List, Part 1 #MAGA pic.twitter.com/WXARlby6j1
— DR JAMES A, PHD™⚖ (@DoRtChristians) March 19, 2017
In case you’re wondering, I’m in the 3rd column towards the bottom and according to the disclaimer one of 124 “notorious accounts“.
As of today there is no proof of where this partial list and the alleged 82 other pages (yet to surface) originated from. I can not confirm its authenticity, nor legitimacy. I reached out to the individual who posted the tweet as to why my handle appears on it and have yet to receive a reply. There are more than a few questions I have regarding this issue. Did it come from someone with in the Twitter ranks or a hack? Is it an accurate list of accounts being targeted or is it just plain made up crap? Either way it’s now floating in the ether of cyberspace.
Let’s discuss some of Twitters latest actions to give some context. When the social media platform rolled out its newest update on Feb 7th, to combat harassment and trolling, many people including myself considered it a form of censorship and silencing of a particular view or opinion. Thousands on-line voiced their dislike, and even the stock market took notice.
HMMM Twitter announces 2 days new “search result changes” that some say is censorship..looks like the market may agree with that sentiment pic.twitter.com/GbesVwHm1e
— Liberty Speaks (@imLibertySpeaks) February 9, 2017
The update was reported on by Buzzfeed, Business Insider, The Verge, and others as a “safety feature” but a rose by any other name just wouldn’t sound as ominous as Shadow Banning.
The Verge explained the term in its article on Twitters Anti-abuse measure as the “oldest trick in the book”
Users have begun getting notices that their tweets are on a kind of time-out. These users are being told that “only your followers can see your activity on Twitter for the amount of time shown below,” followed by a number of hours — the examples seen so far are all 12 hours. It starts when the user clicks a button to “Continue to Twitter.”
Allowing a user to continue to post to a forum but limiting who can actually see those posts is commonly known as a shadow ban or a stealth ban. But it has other names, and it’s one of the oldest moderation tricks in the forum book. In its earlier iterations, vBulletin forum software called it “tachy goes to coventry.”
It wouldn’t be the first time one of Jack Dorsey’s ideas upset those who use his platform. Remember the Trust and Safety Council? YEP, that was a winner. The Council proved to be nothing more than an updated version of the Orwellian Thought Police and Brendan O’Neill explained it best in his Spectator article “Twitters New Safety Council Makes a Mockery of Free Speech”
We’re witnessing the beginning of the end of the glorious experiment in human intellectual exchange that was the Wild West Web.
So who or what is deciding an account should be “shadow banned” for lack of a better term? Is it an algorithm that searches for keywords? Is it based on user reports? Followers? Interactions? TOS violations? Twitter after all is notorious for suspending accounts for TOS violations, yet other accounts doing the exact same thing remain unscathed. I really could go on, but I digress.
So whats the connection between the 124 accounts on the one page released? Are ALL the accounts Conservative, Pro-Trump, Republican, or Verified? Are they ALL seditious, conspiratorial, abusive or nefarious in nature? Do they ALL share the same views, opinions and sentiment? Are they ALL posting violent images, using vulgarity, making threats, or violating Twitters TOS?
The perception online is that ALL these accounts are connected. The perception is we are all the same, and pardon the expression, but perception can be a very fickle bitch. Some are calling the list the ultimate #FF or Friday Follow, a badge of honor, while others are calling it a one stop shop on who to target and report. On a personal level what connection do I have to the other accounts? Many on the list I respect, and was lucky enough to meet during BlogCon 2013. There are award-winning journalists on that list and being counted among them, this notorious group, is a very humbling experience. To be perceived as influential is an honor, but I’ve always striven to just be fair-minded and diplomatic. I try to keep the faith through my writing and my online presence.
Perhaps I should be flattered and not so inflamed, but I went through it once before with Facebook’s “Real Name” policy. Something I can say greatly effected my ability to have a voice in the game.
If this list is 1 of 82 and proves to be legitimate, then perhaps Twitter should be reminded of a 2011 blog post by its co-founder Biz Stone called “The Tweets Must Flow“. The first paragraph says it all.
Our goal is to instantly connect people everywhere to what is most meaningful to them. For this to happen, freedom of expression is essential. Some Tweets may facilitate positive change in a repressed country, some make us laugh, some make us think, some downright anger a vast majority of users. We don’t always agree with the things people choose to tweet, but we keep the information flowing irrespective of any view we may have about the content.
A final note: If society refuses to acknowledge that its a collection of individuals, then it ceases to be a haven for thought and becomes a collective. Our dreams & ideas can’t survive the echo chambers of such a prison, so don’t be surprised when individual thought starts planning it’s escape. -LS
Side Note:
Mike Cernovich of Danger & Play (also on the list) has some interesting insights and quantitative data regarding his own “ShadowBan” on Twitter. Check it out for further reading.
*As new information comes in, the Updates will be posted here.
Thank you to Wow Magazine for linking
Thank you to Grumpy Opinions for linking
Thank you to @PUMABydesign for linking the story on Gab
