DuckDuckGo search engine being infiltrated by Kremlin and white nationalists: UPDATES

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Wednesday April 22, 2020 · 3:05 PM PDT

2020/04/22 · 15:05

So I saw a great chart in a diary sometime earlier this week on the number of coronavirus deaths vs. Iraq, Afthanistan, 9/11 and other significant events in our history (and if anyone can point me to the link, I’d appreciate it). Unfortunately, I didn’t bookmark it so I started searching for it on DuckDuckgo. And that’s when I noticed there was something vawy vawy different about the search results.

Instead of most of the images coming from reliable sources, most were from sites I’d never heard of before. Several were from “freedomfightersofAmerica”, as well as from “veterans today”, “pomo.se”, cns “news”, “newstarget” and “globalresearch.ca”. One was even from a site that had a country code of “.cc”. That turns out to be the Cocos Islands, an Australian territory just over 5 square miles in size with all of 600 inhabitants. So how did these groups get so high up in the search results and who are they?

Well, they have one thing in common — Wikipedia lists most of them as conspiracy theory, white supremacist or actual Kremlin-affiliated websites.

But what was most interesting was when I tried to filter out these propaganda sites.

Notice the “images blocked by safe search”? For comparison, even searching for “adult entertainment” brings up pages full of images (thankfully, safe images for those of us who have safe searches set to moderate).

Since I’m not a programmer, I don’t know if these results are from groups somehow “google-bombing” DuckDuckGo from the outside, or if they’re from programmers inside the company who are manipulating search results. Has anyone else noticed this?

bushbuster

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Monday April 13, 2020 · 9:37 AM PDT

2020/04/13 · 09:37

This pandemic has made it abundantly clear that our federal government is not actually “missing” in action — it’s engaged in a full throttled, whole-of-government quest to take care of those who show fealty to the Disaster-in-Chief only.

FEMA has been “"quietly seizing orders, leaving medical providers across the country in the dark about where the material is going and how they can get what they need to deal with the coronavirus pandemic." The federal government is “not a shipping clerk” as it steals medical supplies ordered by desperate governors trying to protect and care for their citizens. They’re confiscating PPE from France and Germany, engaging in acts that are tantamount to “modern piracy”.

Even the military — in the guise of one Rear Admiral John Polowczyk, director of fleet ordinance and supply at the U.S. Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, VA — has proclaimed that needed supplies are being deliberately (and with great malice aforethought) delivered into the hands of commercial distributors to be sold to the highest bidder. After all, he’s “not here to disrupt that supply chain”:

This is so important for everyone to understand. This explains why Governors say: I'm not getting the supplies I need - yet @POTUS says we are sending tons of supplies: It's going from the federal govt to commercial distributors who then deliver to the highest bidder: states! pic.twitter.com/A9jfmgBDLl
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) April 2, 2020

Back when Obama was running against Romney, I created an ad about Romney turning FEMA into something very, very different. And now … this is where we’re at:

You and I think disaster relief is about saving people's lives. But Prez Putin’s Butthole [Romney] thinks that "corporations are people, my friends". He believes that using FEMA to provide disaster relief for people is immoral. But what he really wants to do is take your very hard-earned tax dollars and donate it to -- you guessed it -- him and his buds.

A lot of people just can't imagine how disastrous (or traitorous) the Bloviated Orange Sphincter’s [Romney’s] administration would be, and what it would mean for them in very real and practical terms.

They’re learning now. Just substitute Prez Traitor for Romney, and everything still *horrifyingly* fits:

YouTube Video

Oh, and DumpsterDive45 is also in charge of sending out federal dollars to your local police department. This might be how he envisons a “new” 911 system:

YouTube Video

Indiana's new law will likely cost lives

bushbuster

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Monday March 30, 2015 · 11:43 PM PDT

2015/03/30 · 23:43

The ever-slimey Gov. Mike "deer caught in headlights" Pence is trying to make the case in his op-ed that his "i hate teh gayz" law is only about the most trivial of minor, teeny weeny, little itty bitty inconveniences:

If I saw a restaurant owner refuse to serve a gay couple, I wouldn’t eat there anymore

But, make no mistake about it -- this law will cost lives. That's because, like many other states, not every public service in Indiana is handled by actual government entities. Many essential government services are now performed by private companies. Think hospitals, ambulances and fire departments, just for a start. More below the fold. Read More

Gov't decisions rule their lives. So why do right wingers oppose GOOD government decisions?

bushbuster

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Friday May 17, 2013 · 3:18 PM PDT

2013/05/17 · 15:18

So, I've been talking to some right wingers about Elizabeth Warren's great bill to charge students the same 0.75% rate that "impoverished" banksters get when they go panhandling at the Fed. I guess it shouldn't have surprised me, but it did - they immediately took the side of the banks.

Their first reaction - the predictable "I don't want government involved because they're the problem". Then they moved on to "but you can't drop the rates because then it wouldn't be worth their while to make any more student loans".

So much for a private market for more competition. The "free market" just happens to be more expensive than the "government solution", yet these people actually prefer to pay more.

And they are paying more. These are people who have student loans, the same loans that are set at rates 5, 10 or maybe even 20 times the paltry 0.75% giveaway to the banksters. These are people who would benefit from lower rates. Yet, they're pre-programmed by the RWNM to reject the same type of government decision that says banksters profit while taxpayers get stiffed.

So maybe it's time to clue them in on a few more "government decisions" that affect them.

bushbuster

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Thursday May 16, 2013 · 11:14 PM PDT

2013/05/16 · 23:14

Is it 3, 5 or more than 50?

Once again, Mr. Family Values has "graced" us with his oh-so-esteemed wisdom on them cheatin' hearts:

"Married men have a tendency to wander. He cheated on you, well, he's a man."

Here's his "secret" for a good marriage:

"Does he provide a home for you to live in," Robertson said. 'Does he provide food for you to eat? Does he provide clothes for you to wear? Is he nice to the children... Is he handsome?"

Somehow, I just don't remember the Bible verse that says, "Blessed are the adulterous husbands. And you wives, just be grateful that he's providing a roof over your head".
Read More

Poll

192 votes Show Results

How many affairs do you think Pat has "wandered" into?

192 votes Vote Now!

How many affairs do you think Pat has "wandered" into?

Oh, he's TOTALLY faithful.

12 votes

No more than 3 or 4.

44 votes

A couple dozen or so.

80 votes

As Carl Sagan would say, "billions and billions and billions ..."

56 votes

Time to reach out & touch "Democratic" pollsters who think Americans want to cut Social Security

bushbuster

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Wednesday May 01, 2013 · 2:48 PM PDT

2013/05/01 · 14:48

-- and let them know that they're WRONG, dead wrong.

Yesterday, kos published a diary in which a Democratic pollster says that he "feels" that most voters actually want to cut entitlements. You know, 'cuz we're all so concerned about the deficit and all. Yeah, when there's not enough money to put food on the table or a roof over your head, the deficit is absolutely THE first thing that people think of when they get up each morning. The only "deficit" that millions of unemployed Americans care about is the jobs deficit, not how many more trillions of dollars will be siphoned off of taxpayers and donated -- yet again -- to predatory banksters to pay off their gambling debts.

Well, maybe it's time to give Pete "Deep Thoughts" Brodnitz some ... personal ... data points that he can reflect upon. Something that will help him when he sees yet another poll showing that Americans want our entitlements left alone - and yet he somehow "gleans" the exact opposite. Maybe if he hears from enough actual Americans, he'll finally be able to "discern" what we mean when we say "keep your greedy mitts off of Social Security".

Here's his contact information, conveniently provided on the "what we do" page of the clueless "strategy group" providing "stratergery" about What Voters Want to our so-called "leaders":

Pete Brodnitz
pbrodnitz@bsgco.com
202.688.1803

Better yet, why not take a moment to let the other principals know how we actual voters "feel":

Mitch Markel
mmarkel@bsgco.com
212.823.0784
Daniel Franklin
dfranklin@bsgco.com
212.823.0783

Amy Levin
alevin@bsgco.com
310.935.3056

bushbuster

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Monday April 08, 2013 · 2:21 PM PDT

2013/04/08 · 14:21

Typhoid Mary lives again! Last week, a pastry chef at a local restaurant was found to have hepatitis A. As a result, the health department issued an alert that anyone who had recently eaten dessert there could receive a free hepatitis vaccine.

How many people did this one person potentially infect? 450 people, according to the restaurant's owner.

In this case, the pastry worker did the right thing and voluntarily reported her diagnosis, presumably to her employer, who then also did the right thing and notified the health department. However, how many employees, fearing being fired or losing time off from work, would not report their illness? How many might admit that they're sick, but say that they "just have the flu" and then work each and every day until they physically can't drag themselves into work anymore? And how many owners, knowing that any notification to the health department could greatly harm their business, would still do so?

Last year, we were treated to a whole host of restaurant chains proclaiming their vehement opposition to Obamacare. Again and again, they stated how they would have to cut workers' hours in order to keep as many people off it as possible. Papa Johns, Olive Garden, Applebee, Taco Bell, Dennys, Red Lobster and others were loud, proud and very vocal in their "principled" stand against health care for their workers.

How'd that work out again?

bushbuster

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Tuesday March 26, 2013 · 1:40 PM PDT

2013/03/26 · 13:40

Christians believe that God created the universe and all that is in it. They believe that God created science as well. So, if the fossil record -- which is, after all, God's SCIENCE -- conflicts with God's Word, then according to the right wing, we're supposed to conclude that God is apparently ... wrong.

So maybe it's time to start calling evolution what it actually is - a miracle. It's something that we don't understand and can't explain, but all the evidence we have in front of us says it's true.

bushbuster

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Monday November 05, 2012 · 9:48 AM PST

2012/11/05 · 09:48

A lot of people can't imagine how PERSONALLY dangerous a Romney administration would be to them or someone they love. Romney wants to privatize 911 services. He wants to take our tax dollars and donate them to private companies, companies that will have no laws against price-gouging or about the quality of service they provide. People WILL be hurt, as we saw with Bush and his determination to get rid of FEMA, a determination that cost many people their lives during Hurricane Katrina:

bushbuster

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Sunday November 04, 2012 · 9:08 AM PST

2012/11/04 · 09:08

You and I think disaster relief is about saving people's lives. But Romney thinks that "corporations are people, my friends". He believes that using FEMA to provide disaster relief for PEOPLE is immoral. But what he really wants to do is to take your very hard-earned tax dollars and donate it to -- you guessed it -- corporations:

A lot of people just can't imagine how disastrous a Romney administration would be, and what it would mean for them in very real and practical terms. But Hurricane Sandy just gave us an object lesson on the differences between disaster relief done right, and the horrors that "compassionate conservatism" meant for people on the ground during Katrina. This video will help people to see that.

VIDEO: Entitlements of the Rich and Famous

bushbuster

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday October 15, 2012 · 7:00 AM PDT

2012/10/15 · 07:00

A lot of people think that this election is about our entitlements, the entitlements of the 99% like Social Security or Medicare. What many people don't realize is that this election is really about Protecting the Entitlements of the 1%. That's why Mitt "I'm Entitled to the Absolute BEST in Government Services and you're entitled to exactly Nothing" Romney is their nominee.

We need to stop letting the right get away with using the word "entitlements" to mean the earned benefits of Social Security and others that enable us to live in a civil society. We need to redefine it to refer to the people (and corporations that are people, my friend) that benefit most from government largesse. We need to take back the word entitlements.

Poll

9 votes Show Results

What's your favorite snack food while watching Republican heads explode?

9 votes Vote Now!

What's your favorite snack food while watching Republican heads explode?

extra light popcorn because I'm pretending to watch my figure

5 votes

buttery popcorn

2 votes

extra buttery popcorn

1 vote

mega lard-o-butter popcorn with a heart attack chaser

1 vote

ahem, Romney - please meet Trust but Verify

bushbuster

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Thursday July 19, 2012 · 11:27 AM PDT

2012/07/19 · 11:27

Ahhh, the 3 favorite words of St. Ronnie (the Great) come back to haunt our friends on the other side ...

Yes, Mittens, we TRUST that everything’s in order with your taxes, but we just need to verify it. I’m sure it’s just an oversight that you actually haven’t given us your full 2010 return. You probably just forgot to hand over that extra little form about all those Swiss bank accounts and other foreign investments you've got. So yeah, we can trust that you're going to be every bit as transparent as your father was, but ... we've got to actually see the goods.

By the way, Trust but Verify needs to be our new catchphrase for absolutely everything we think should be disclosed to We the People. So we can trust that fracking is the absolute bestest, safest thing in the world, but we need to verify that every chemical and every procedure used is actually safe. We can trust that those "harmless" nuclear power plant emissions won't cause us to glow in the dark, but, you know, we've gotta verify it.

Your local super-polluter doesn't think you should know what's in that toxic brew they're spewing out? Trust but Verify. Think that coal mine might not actually be up to OSHA standards? Trust but Verify. Concerned about billionaires trying to steal elections? Trust but Verify. We need to know which billionaires are giving how much and to whom. And we need to know it now.

And by verify, we don't mean checking with the local Quacks 'r Us (Official Scientists of the GOP). We mean using rigorous science done by qualified experts that adheres to the highest professional standards.

Poll

5 votes Show Results

What's your favorite snack food when watching Republican heads explode?

5 votes Vote Now!

What's your favorite snack food when watching Republican heads explode?

popcorn, with a little bit of salt and butter

1 vote

extra light popcorn, cuz I'm (ahem) wattching my figure

0 votes

buttery popcorn

1 vote

exra buttery popcorn

1 vote

mega lard-o-butter popcorn with a heart attack chaser

2 votes

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DuckDuckGo search engine being infiltrated by Kremlin and white nationalists: UPDATES

drumpf thinks FEMA stands for Free Enterprise Marketing Association

Indiana's new law will likely cost lives

Gov't decisions rule their lives. So why do right wingers oppose GOOD government decisions?

It's time to ask the question - how many affairs has Pat Robertson had?

Time to reach out & touch "Democratic" pollsters who think Americans want to cut Social Security

NYC hepatitis scare again makes the case that food service workers need health care

The miracle of evolution

5 Videos - Welcome to the future of 911 under Romney

Video: Romney's New FEMA - Free Enterprise Marketing Association

VIDEO: Entitlements of the Rich and Famous

ahem, Romney - please meet Trust but Verify