Category Archives: Votes voting

Voters vs. Google in 2020 General Election

Posted on by

Donald Trump prevailed against the Google and Eric Schmidt forces but can it happen again?

Civis Analytics is back again and you can bet that Trump’s digital campaign director, Brad Parscale is in a David and Goliath force operation.

Dive into data with jobs at these 6 Chicago companies ...

So, Free Beacon describes Google, Schmidt and Civis Analytics as this:

A data firm backed by Eric Schmidt, the former executive chairman of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has been paid millions of dollars by Democratic committees and is currently working for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.

The idea for what became Civis Analytics emerged in the wake of President Obama’s 2012 re-election when Schmidt pitched Dan Wagner, the campaign’s chief analytics officer, on creating a lasting political data and website services firm. Schmidt, who remained an executive at Google and Alphabet, went on to quietly aid Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Less than one month after the elections it was announced that he had helped round up $22 million for Civis, where he is also a partial owner and sits on the group’s board of directors. In June, Schmidt stepped away as executive chairman of Alphabet, although he now acts as a technical advisor to the company’s leadership on policy issues.

Civis has provided data and tech services for a number of Democratic committees in recent years, with its most recent payments coming from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which paid $63,400 for polling and website services during the first quarter of the 2020 cycle; the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which dished $33,900 to the firm for data analytics; Planned Parenthood Votes, which also pushed $33,900 to Civis for data analytics; and NextGen Climate Action, liberal billionaire Tom Steyer’s committee, which paid $16,000 for data and consulting services.

In addition to the committees, the presidential campaigns of Sens. Cory Booker (D., NJ), Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), and failed Senate candidate Robert “Beto” O’Rourke have also combined to pay tens of thousands for its services during the first three months of the year. Civis Analytics announced in late April that it will be working with Joe Biden’s presidential campaign for the 2020 election cycle, Bloomberg reported. Civis appears to be expanding its political team in Washington and New York, according to job postings on its website.

Dems Pay Millions to Firm Backed by Google's Eric Schmidt

Now remember, Google is already white-listing and black-listing search results…

Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google and still an advisor surely has taken much of the same tactics with him including algorithm equations with him to the Biden and the rest of the Democrat candidates to skew results favorable to their respective political missions. While Google has a data warehouse analytics tool called BigQuery, Civis Analytics is also a select vendor for the Democrat National Committee. Other Civis Analytics customers include:

  Where is some of these social justice policy concepts coming from that were introduced at both Democrat debates? Yet another project also tied to Civis Analytics call The New Progressive Agenda Project.

The New Progressive Agenda Project gives policymakers and advocates reliable congressional district and state-level polling data that would normally be out of reach for even the best-funded campaign. In the coming weeks, we’ll be periodically releasing new data on progressive proposals that are message-tested and ready to be introduced in the 116th Congress. Using the state-of-the-art modeling techniques employed by leading campaign professionals, we are confident that these policies will remain popular in the electorate at large while also engaging the progressive base. They have been carefully vetted by veteran campaigners from Civis Analytics, which was formed by the data scientists who oversaw Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Civis’s political data science arm is one of the most reputable in the business. These numbers are the gold standard — they are actionable by candidates and campaigns.

It’s time for unabashed progressive policies that can win.

Today, we roll out our second set of policies:

Senator Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) make the case for a Medical Innovation Fund

Senator Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) and Speaker Corey Johnson (@CoreyinNYC) make the case for ending cash bail

House candidate Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) makes the case for lead paint removal.

Indivisible Co-Founders Leah Greenberg (@Leahgreenb) and Ezra Levin (@ezralevin) make the case for automatic voter registration (AVR).

Methodology

Civis Analytics fielded support for four progressive policies to determine their levels of public support. Full question wording is available below, but here it is important to note that questions included a revenue pay-for where needed, as well as both partisan cues and counterframes throughout. In other words, respondents were told that these policies were being proposed by Democrats, and were given reasons why Republicans say they should oppose them. The sample for medical innovation prizes was 12,154, for automatic voter registration (8,357), for lead removal (12,166) and for bail reform (10,851)and these surveys were fielded between July 10th 2018 through September 30th 2018. Using modern machine learning techniques, Civis generated estimates for Clinton voters, Trump voters, Independent voters, drop-off voters (who voted in 2016 but not 2014) and the overall electorate. Because our goal is to provide information that can be immediately relevant to politicians, the overall number reflects a likely 2018 voters, not national adults. Sub-national opinion is presented in terms of two-way support (that is, excluding respondents who did not register an opinion one way or the other). Please direct methodological questions to Michael Sadowsky: [email protected].

For our second round of polling, we analyzed four policies:

Medical innovation prizes: We asked respondents whether they would support having the government fund a prize fund that would reward the creation of drugs and vaccines that improve health outcomes, with medication developed through this program sold cheaply to the American public without a patent. Forty-six percent of likely 2018 voters supported this policy, with 32 percent opposed.

Automatic voter registration: We asked respondents whether they would support having voter registration records automatically update when citizens interact with the DMV and other state agencies, unless they opt out. Forty-seven percent of likely 2018 voters supported this policy, with 36 percent opposed.

Lead removal: We asked respondents whether they would support a ten year program in which taxes on high-income earners would be raised to fund lead removal in houses with dangerous levels of lead paint. Forty-six percent of likely 2018 voters supported this policy, with 36 percent opposed.

Bail reform: We asked respondents if they would support shifting from the current cash bail-only system to one that allows judges to release some defendants, under the court’s supervision, if they are not considered a threat to society. Forty-two percent of likely 2018 voters supported this policy, with 39 percent opposed.

 

 

Google/YouTube Declares Nazis Using The Dog Whistles

Posted on by

Really Google? Perhaps try wearing the tyrannical high-tech moniker for a while.

A newly-published leaked document contains what appears to be an email exchange among Google employees participating in a “transparency-and-ethics” discussion that includes a reference to PragerU, Jordan Peterson, and Ben Shapiro as “nazis using the dog whistles.”

The document was published by Project Veritas Tuesday, a day after the conservative group released its report on how political and ideological bias influences the ways in which Google connects users to content. The group obtained the “newly leaked document from Google” via their tipline.

“The email apparently was sent as part of the Google ‘transparency-and-ethics’ group internal communications and suggests that content from PragerU, Jordan Peterson, and Ben Shapiro should be disabled from the ‘suggestion feature,'” Project Veritas reports.

“Today it is often 1 or 2 steps to nazis, if we understand that PragerU, Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro et al are nazis using the dog whistles you mention in step 1,” reads the email that appears to have been sent to over a dozen other Google employees. “I can receive these recommendations regardless of the content of what I’m looking at, and I have recorded thousands of internet users sharing the same experience. I don’t think correctly identifying far-right content is beyond our capabilities. But if it is, why not go with Meredith’s suggestion of disabling the suggestion feature?”

Project Veritas published the document a day after its exposé on Google which contains testimony from a whistleblower, additional leaked internal documents, and undercover video footage of an interview with the head of Google’s “Responsible Innovation” team, which monitors the responsible implementation of A.I. technologies.

“They want to act as gatekeeper between the user and the content they want to access, so they’re going to come in and they’re going to filter the content,” the whistleblower told Project Veritas’ James O’Keefe. “They’re going to say, ‘We don’t want to give the user access to that information because it’s going to create an outcome that’s undesireable to us.'”

As The Daily Wire reported, in the video O’Keefe and the insider discuss “leaked internal documents appearing to show how the search engine manipulates what information users see based on its ‘fair and equitable’ priorities, which at times filters out or deemphasizes factual information that its creators deem ‘unfair.'”

YouTube, which is owned by Google, has since pulled the video “due to a privacy claim by a third party.” This is the second Project Veritas video focused on Big Tech bias YouTube has pulled in two weeks.

Hey Social Media, Here Comes Anti-Trust Scrutiny

Posted on by

It has started with Google and this site has warned users of the Internet to stop using Google for years for various reasons. Now there are more. Oh, the Department of Justice may not stop with Google, so watch out Facebook, Yahoo News, Apple, Amazon and Twitter. Why?

Have you noticed how twisted news stories are? Have you noticed selective search engine results? Have you noticed search intrusions? Have you noticed censorship that may affect politics, truths or even voting habits?

How to Become a Social Media Marketing Pro for Less Than ...

Well, it begins with these social media/tech companies stopping competition, free speech and lying by omission. Reliance on these investigative activities begin with the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. This is a law where the Federal government opposes monopolies when it comes to contracts, trade and commerce. Add in the Federal Trade Commission Act and consider the timing as we move towards the 2020 General Election(s).

A short definition of the Antitrust Laws is found here.

In part from C-Net:

The move by the Justice Department comes as Google and other Silicon Valley giants face renewed antitrust scrutiny in the United States. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, has made it a key part of her platform to break up the big tech companies, including Google, Facebook and Amazon. Earlier this month, Chris Hughes, a Facebook co-founder, also called for the breakup of the company he helped create.

In February 2018, President Donald Trump had signaled via his Federal Trade Commission leadership choice that he was open to investigating big tech companies.

Former US Attorney General Jeff Sessions last September reportedly met with state attorneys general to discuss whether Google and Facebook could be suppressing conservative views, after forming a task force to look into problems in the tech industry. However, once Sessions stepped down in November, the plan to follow up with the Justice Department was shelved.

The Journal report follows reports in March that Google could be facing an investigation over violations of antitrust or consumer protection regulations.

Google has also faced antitrust pressures from regulators in Europe. In March, the search giant was hit with a $1.7 billion fine from the European Commission for “abusive” online ad practices. The Commission said Google exploited its dominance by restricting its rivals from placing their search ads on third-party websites.

Last year, the EU’s executive arm fined Google a record $5 billion for unfair business practices around Android, its mobile operating system. The investigation focused on Google’s deals with phone manufacturers, requiring them to preload specific Google apps and services onto Android phones. After the EU announced the fine, Trump tweeted, “I told you so.”

***

Earlier Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal Trade Commission will examine how Facebook’s practices affect digital competition. The Washington Post reported over the weekend that Amazon has come under heightened scrutiny by U.S. regulators. And on Friday, the Journal reported that the Justice Department is preparing a probe of Google, sending shares of parent company Alphabet down more than 7% Monday.

The possible Apple probe is linked to the Google probe, Reuters reported, and stems from meetings between the DOJ and the FTC.

The headlines together paint a daunting picture for Silicon Valley and the stock market’s most valuable companies. Big tech has long faced scrutiny from European regulators, but has so far shrugged off calls for government regulation in the U.S.

Apple has drawn increased criticism in recent months for what some — including streaming giant Spotify — see as anti-competitive behavior in the App Store. Apple owns and operates the online marketplace, collecting subscription fees from developers.

The so-called “Apple tax” accounts for a sizable percentage of Apple’s burgeoning services revenue segment, but draws the ire of developers who, in some cases, compete with Apple’s own apps in the store.

Spotify’s EU complaint against Apple, filed in March, is pending investigation by European authorities. More here.

Marc Elias, the Dubious Lawyer of Politicians

Posted on by

Marc Elias is the Chair of the law firm Perkins Coie. You know that firm because that firm hired Fusion GPS, then Christopher Steele, the former British spy that eventually gave us that funky Trump dossier.

OOPS: Lawyer Linked To Trump Dossier Was Sitting Right ... Elias and Podesta

The Democrat National Committee paid Perkins Coie at least $7 million for legal work on the matter of Fusion GPS. Not to be overlook, the Obama campaign (OFA) also paid Perkins Coie almost $1 million in 2016 for ‘legal services’. Oh, and the Hillary for America paid Perkins Coie $5.1 in 2016 ad the DNC paid Perkins Coie $5.4 million in 2016.

Sidebar: (the wife of a Fusion GPS employee, Shailagh Murray, who previously worked for the Washington Post went on to work in the Obama White House as a communications adviser. Murray is married to Neil King, who formerly worked for the Wall Street Journal, the very place and time that Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS was there. And those back channels just keep open with high traffic of shady people…

During some testimony….the FBI general counsel, James Baker revealed that Michael Sussman, a former DoJ lawyer was the point person that got a thumb drive that had documents related to Russian interference of the election and hacking. Sussman..well yes works at Perkins Coie.

Famed lawyer and legal professor, Jonathan Turley had an item from October of 2017 that read in part: Here is the nut of the report:

“Podesta was asked in his September interview whether the Clinton campaign had a contractual agreement with Fusion GPS, and he said he was not aware of one, according to one of the sources. Sitting next to Podesta during the interview: his attorney Marc Elias, who worked for the law firm that hired Fusion GPS to continue research on Trump on behalf of the Clinton campaign and DNC, multiple sources said. Elias was only there in his capacity as Podesta’s attorney and not as a witness.”
If this and the earlier report is true, Elias not only falsely denied any connection between the Clinton campaign and the dossier to two New York Times reporters but sat silently as Podesta gave false information to congressional investigators.

Okay now that we have that part covered, let us move on to Kamala Harris shall we? When she launched her presidential campaign, she needed a lawyer. Yup, she hired Marc Elias. He came with high recommendations from Hillary as Elias worked for her campaign and he also worked for the John Kerry presidential campaign. Elias represents the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Congressional Committee and oh yeah, the Democratic Governors Association. Pssst, he also represented Al Franken and his 2008 senate campaign.

Elias is the legal fixer.

During the two highly contested races in Florida including the senate race and the governor race….guess who Marc Elias represented? Yes, Andrew Gillum and Bill Nelson, the democrats and both had to concede. Elias was again the shady lawyer that pulled all the levers for making absentee ballots, mismarked ballots and irregular ballots get counted.

He is the loud voice behind the repeated headlines that the Republicans support voter suppression of youth voters. Hence part in parcel the reason there is a new debate of lowering the voting age. If you just read his Twitter feed, you will see how he plants the seeds of new voting laws. He does have a cool dog though named Bode.

Shortly before the 2016 election, billionaire left-wing donor George Soros gave at least $5 million to Elias and his firm to challenge what left-wing activists allege to be restrictions that deter Democrats and left-wing constituencies from voting, such as photo identification requirements at polling places. In early 2017, Elias joined the board of Priorities USA as it was announced that the organization would begin focusing on similar work. Soros also contributed $5 million to the Priorities USA super PAC during the 2018 election cycle.

Elias recently had a 5 minute Q&A. Of note is the following:

What law would you change, abolish or create?
I would enact universal voter registration and otherwise modernize our voting laws.

How has the practice of representing public officials, parties and organizations evolved over the years?
The field of political law has grown dramatically in size since I started, and has changed dramatically. What was once a side-practice for a handful of lawyers is not a fully-fledged specialty. We now deal with so many more issues than just campaign finance. We need to advise on intellectual property, business law, leases, employment law, and litigation — to name a few areas. As campaigns grow in size so do their legal needs.

Who is your legal hero?
I have a deep and abiding respect for my mentor and fellow Partner at Perkins Coie, Bob Bauer, who literally invented this area of the law.

Sheesh Bob Bauer was a White House lawyer and private attorney for Barack Obama. At that time there were at least three cases of note. 1) the whole Obama/Blagojevich case 2) letters written to TV stations forbidding them from running ads that tied Obama to Bill Ayers and Weather Underground and then 3) the Tony Rezko affair.

Another sidebar: Bob Bauer’s wife is Anita Dunn, who also worked in the Obama White House. For those with a short memory, she was the one who said she admired Mao Zedong….

Ah, so now we have a major Federal investigation in Illinois….no real surprise there except this has to do with the new Governor, J.B. Pritzker. The federal criminal investigation is for a dubious residential property tax appeal that critics highlighted in last year’s gubernatorial race. Those details are here.

Oh…guess who is the lawyer of record for Pritzker? SURPRISE it is….Marc Elias. Can you imagine the case files he has on democrats and their nefarious actions?

When an F-35 Goes Missing

Posted on by

Some panic has set in for the United States, the need to find the most expensive fighter jet ever built before enemies of the United States find it first.

Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force says the F-35A stealth jet went missing Tuesday while flying off the eastern coast of Aomori. It says the plane disappeared from radar about half an hour after taking off from the Misawa air base with three other F-35As for a flight exercise.

Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters that a search and rescue operation was underway for the missing jet and its pilot. The cause of the mishap was not immediately known.

This could be  matter of several countries in the region doing the search.

A US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer Stethem with the Navy’s 7th Fleet are assisting the Japanese air and maritime assets dispatched to find the missing aircraft and its pilot, the Navy said in a statement Wednesday.

Japan has sent out U-125A search-and-rescue aircraft, UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, and P-3C maritime surveillance aircraft, as well as three coast-guard vessels to search for the downed F-35, according to The Diplomat.

“We continue to hope for the safe recovery of the pilot, and our thoughts are with his family and all of our Japanese partners as they conduct this search,” United States Forces Japan said in a statement.

The F-35A was being flown by an experienced pilot with more than 3,200 flight hours, including 60 hours in the new stealth fighters. Radar contact with the aircraft was lost while it was about 85 miles east of Misawa Air Base in northern Japan. The Japan Air Self Defense Force has grounded its entire fleet of F-35s in response.

So far, only parts of the missing aircraft have been recovered. The discovery indicates that the plane crashed, most likely marking the first F-35A crash. (A US Marine Corps F-35B crashed in South Carolina in September; the pilot was able to eject.)

While both the US and Japan are committed to finding the pilot, another aspect of the search is securing the technology aboard the advanced aircraft before someone else finds it.

 

“There is no price too high in this world for China and Russia to pay to get Japan’s missing F-35, if they can,” Tom Moore, a former senior professional staff member with the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tweeted Tuesday. “Big deal.”

“If one of Japan’s F-35s is sitting at the bottom of the Pacific, we are probably about to see one of the biggest underwater espionage and counter-espionage ops since the Cold War,” Tyler Rogoway, the editor of the respected defense publication The War Zone, tweeted.

The stealth fighter was specifically built to give the US advantages in high-end conflict against great-power rivals. Neither Russia nor China has been able to field a comparable fifth-generation aircraft. More here.

*** Update: Iwaya said that the pilot sent a signal to abort the mission, according to the broadcaster. Shortly after the signal, all communications with the fighter jet were lost. Parts of the jet have been located.

The Japanese defense ministry said the male pilot, who’s in his 40s, remains missing.

The fighter jet went off the radar while flying off the eastern coast of Aomori, just about half an hour after taking off the Misawa air base with three other F-35As.

All F-35’s based in Japan have been grounded.