Fake News NWDC edition - too appalled to even shake my head

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is Podesta's taste in art unconventional? Yes. Is it always possible that pictures of children on social media could be stolen by unsavory characters? Sure. Should small business owners think about how their social media presence reflects their brand? Definitely.

All of the above has ZERO to do with Russia hacking the emails of high-level political figures, and crazy/malevolent people creating a conspiracy theory that you are enslaving children, drinking their blood, and digging a network of pedo tunnels under Connecticut Ave.

You would've done a better job with your post lamenting conspiracies if you stuck to the facts yourself. There isn't conclusive proof that the Russians were the culprits for hacking Podesta's emails. (Wasn't his password some variation of the word "password"? A random teenager on a phishing expedition could've figured that out.)

Based on this article:

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/how-hackers-broke-into-john-podesta-and-colin-powells-gmail-accounts

Podesta was a victim of spear phishing. His password could have been quite strong, but he was tricked into divulging it. The source of the spear phishing, according to the article was a "a group of hackers that security researchers, as well as the US government, believe are spies working for the Russian government." The article provides considerable evidence to support this allegation.

I'm not saying it wasn't the Russians. I'm saying we haven't seen conclusive proof. And anyone who is complaining about conspiracies would be wise to stick to proven facts. The article you cite even states that there's no smoking gun. (Also, as an aside, who the hell discloses their password? How do you not immediately assume something is fishy if you get an email like that?)

more false equivalencies. there may not be conclusive proof it was Russia but high level intelligence officials and security experts think so. That has zero equivalence with the insane pizzagate theories.

also why are you soooo defensive about pinning the hack on russia?

[Anonymous]

Jeff, you asked for examples of possible code, so I'm sharing this email exchange that I found weird. I have never heard of a handkerchief with a pizza-related map of it. What would that even look like?

To be clear, I'm not trying to spread false information, and I do NOT believe there was any pedophilia ring.

https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/32795

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no excuse for the gunman at Comet pizza. And, the conspiracy theories are disturbing. However, here were things mentioned in the emails that contributed to this:

1. The invitation to staffers and (I think) HRC to come to Podesta's house for "spirit cooking" with Marina. There is no question that Marina ( a performance artist) used gross materials in one of her performances that was called "Spirit cooking". Very likely, Podesta was using the term as an inside joke--but the fact that Marina was there does beg the question that led to speculation.

2. I don't believe they were running a pedophila ring--but they were talking in code in several emails. I don't know what they were talking about, but I suspect it was not wholesome. Couple that with the mention of children at a pool party, this also encouraged speculation. Pretty sure there was coded talk in that email, as well. (Lots of emails discussed "hot dogs" and "pizza" when it was pretty clear they meant something else--maybe they meant margaritas and martinis--but it was certainly odd.)

3. References to Comet Pizza along with the pictures that were posted were also questionable. I'd never heard of Comet Pizza--and I did not know about the photos until yesterday. I found them odd. My kids sure would not have been laughing had I taped down their hands. Peculiar sense o humor.

4. The artwork posted on this thread is also disturbing.

Frankly, I never thought there was anything to this conspiracy, but I do find these people disturbed. Obviously, they have way too much time and money on their hands.

I also don't believe Comet Pizza ever did anything wrong, nor do I believe there was a peadophilia ring involved.

Nevertheless, you raise several valid points:


- Podesta's emails clearly employed some sort of code. Campaigns are entitled to confidentiality; Watergate established that beyond all doubt. However - Podesta had enough confidence in the privacy of his email to openly discuss campaign strategy in the emails, yet something prompted them to use code words to protect it. What was so private, so potentially damaging, so damning, that it was even more important than the very success of the campaign??

I honestly do not know to what the code words referred. But it seems highly suspect.

I also agree it's possible they were making tongue-in-cheek references to mock republicans who they view as puritanical. However, the two women central to Hillary's campaign are both married to men with serious, long-standing womanizing issues; in the case of Anthony Weiner, his issues are under investigation for possible paedophilia as one of his philandering targets was an underage girl. How careless, how crass, how, frankly, stupid must one be to joke about such things in written form, even in private? It defies comprehension - which sadly feeds into speculation that something far more nefarious was afoot than how to cheat Bernie Sanders out of a primary win or send agents provocateurs to start fights at Trump rallies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jeff, you asked for examples of possible code, so I'm sharing this email exchange that I found weird. I have never heard of a handkerchief with a pizza-related map of it. What would that even look like?

To be clear, I'm not trying to spread false information, and I do NOT believe there was any pedophilia ring.

https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/32795

CP...cheese pizza, Comet PingPong, child porn. It's almost like they have to use a code for all the nefarious things they're into.

[Anonymous]

I can't believe half of the posts I've read in this thread. So many of them start, "this is crazy, but..." No Buts! This conspiracy theory is insane and you're defending it. This is unrelated to Podesta's treatment of Bernie, the time to demonized Hillary is over. This is about some malevolent characters who made up this story and the naive (at best) people who spread these lies. Facebook and all other social media platforms need to be accountable.

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/12/5/13842258/pizzagate-comet-ping-pong-fake-news

[Anonymous]

Hankerchief is a hankerchief
Pizza is a pizza.

WTF.

[Anonymous]

Squeaky Fromme.

There has always been stupid and silly stories. Long before the Intertubes.

Crazy happens anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jeff, you asked for examples of possible code, so I'm sharing this email exchange that I found weird. I have never heard of a handkerchief with a pizza-related map of it. What would that even look like?

To be clear, I'm not trying to spread false information, and I do NOT believe there was any pedophilia ring.

https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/32795

They were staying in a rental house, grabbed the closest thing to draw a map to a pizza place on - a handkerchief - because if you've ever stayed in a vacation rental you'd know there's rarely scrap paper around. In between the email from the realtor and the email to Podesta almost 8 hours had passed - in that time Susan Sandler either had another email exchange or phone call with the realtor regarding where to send the pillows and in that conversation the fact it had a map regarding pizza on it came up. See, that's not so hard.

That's what happens when you read another person's personal email account with no context - you can come up with all these crazy stories to fill in the gaps. Especially when the people who're filling in the gaps have no friends and never do anything besides watch Fox News and read crazy shit on the internet all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jeff, you asked for examples of possible code, so I'm sharing this email exchange that I found weird. I have never heard of a handkerchief with a pizza-related map of it. What would that even look like?

To be clear, I'm not trying to spread false information, and I do NOT believe there was any pedophilia ring.

https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/32795

If you google "handkerchief map" you can see that such things exist. Rand McNally even sells them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff, you asked for examples of possible code, so I'm sharing this email exchange that I found weird. I have never heard of a handkerchief with a pizza-related map of it. What would that even look like?

To be clear, I'm not trying to spread false information, and I do NOT believe there was any pedophilia ring.

https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/32795

CP...cheese pizza, Comet PingPong, child porn. It's almost like they have to use a code for all the nefarious things they're into.

Capitol Police
Cleveland Park
Communist Party
Central Park
Canadian Pacific

My God, where does it end?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff, you asked for examples of possible code, so I'm sharing this email exchange that I found weird. I have never heard of a handkerchief with a pizza-related map of it. What would that even look like?

To be clear, I'm not trying to spread false information, and I do NOT believe there was any pedophilia ring.

https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/32795

They were staying in a rental house, grabbed the closest thing to draw a map to a pizza place on - a handkerchief - because if you've ever stayed in a vacation rental you'd know there's rarely scrap paper around. In between the email from the realtor and the email to Podesta almost 8 hours had passed - in that time Susan Sandler either had another email exchange or phone call with the realtor regarding where to send the pillows and in that conversation the fact it had a map regarding pizza on it came up. See, that's not so hard.

That's what happens when you read another person's personal email account with no context - you can come up with all these crazy stories to fill in the gaps. Especially when the people who're filling in the gaps have no friends and never do anything besides watch Fox News and read crazy shit on the internet all day.

Exactly. People are letting their imaginations run wild. It would be funny if it weren't provoking the sort of thing that occurred yesterday.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

Frankly, I never thought there was anything to this conspiracy, but I do find these people disturbed. Obviously, they have way too much time and money on their hands.


Well, if you get nearly all the facts about someone wrong, it is not a surprise that you also arrive at the wrong conclusion about them.

Sorry. I guess you disagree. But, I find the artwork and references to "spirit cooking" anything but amusing. I guess art is in the eye of the beholder.

Let's be clear. Let's say that I plan to sacrifice a goat in my backyard and I want to invite you, but I know you are very busy and I might have trouble getting in touch with you. So, I contact your friend or relative and ask them to invite you to my goat sacrifice. As it happens, you have no interest in a goat sacrifice and don't even respond to the invitation. Later, your friend or relative relays news to you about the goat sacrifice. Would it be far for posters on DCUM to discuss your involvement with goat sacrifices? That's exactly what your doing here (though it wasn't a goat sacrifice, of course).

[Anonymous]

I think this does a good job of explaining 4chan (the site where the rumor started.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/09/25/absolutely-everything-you-need-to-know-to-understand-4chan-the-internets-own-bogeyman/?utm_term=.7ba613c4578c

First, 4chan is the original incubator for a huge number of memes and behaviors that we now consider central to mainstream Internet culture. Second, 4chan is responsible for some of the largest hoaxes, cyberbullying incidents and Internet pranks of the past five years. Third, Anonymous got its start on 4chan — and the hacktivist collective is an increasingly important player in news events from Ferguson to the Steubenville rape. In short, the full list of things 4chan has given the Internet would be pretty extensive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff, you asked for examples of possible code, so I'm sharing this email exchange that I found weird. I have never heard of a handkerchief with a pizza-related map of it. What would that even look like?

To be clear, I'm not trying to spread false information, and I do NOT believe there was any pedophilia ring.

https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/32795

If you google "handkerchief map" you can see that such things exist. Rand McNally even sells them.

Do you mind including a link to the pizza-related one? Just having a hard time visualizing it.

[Anonymous]

This is going to go down as the Salem Witch Hunt of the 21st century. So much hysteria and paranoia.