Tag Archives: Smartmatic

December 16, 2023 · 20:00

Rats on a ship

We know these exist and ships aren’t happy to have them, neither are the ports where they embark or disembark. But that is the setting of life. As such we see today (at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/15/rudy-giuliani-pay-damages-election-workers-defamation-trial) that Rudy Giuliani has been ordered to pay $148.1m in damages for lies about election workers. Now lets take a look at the idiocy that Donald ‘the Duck’ Trump escalated (sorry Disney). 

  1. FoxNews versus Dominion $787 million settlement.
  2. FoxNews versus Smartmatic $2.7 billion (still pending)
  3. 4 cases against Donald Trump (The Federal Election Interference Case, The Georgia Election Interference Case, The Classified Documents Case and the The Hush Money Case)

These three alone would sink any political career, but no Trump is still setting himself up for re-election and the American people are letting him. This is about the stage to rake in the money and I am almost ashamed to admit that the Republican Party is indeed that desperate at this time. The party is over, the last songs are playing and this upcoming election will drown the American Economy, as such the Republicans are desperate to set to shores whatever they can, even if it is to only open a door to legally push all their money and wealth to a zero tax nation. 

That is what it looks like, the rats on the ship know that this party is at an end and they want to secure whatever they can, evade to whichever nation will have them (Monaco, Bermuda and Dubai are the most likely candidates). That is what the case of Rudy Giuliani is making me consider. And this is merely to two women. I reckon that now the flood gates will open. Rudy’s legal team gave us “Their lawyers asked the jury to award them each at least $24m in damages. Giuliani’s attorney said earlier this week that awarding the plaintiffs their sought damages would be a “death penalty” and would be “the end of Mr Giuliani”.” It seems to me that this team didn’t consider the death penalty against these two women and I reckon it is merely the beginning. Not just this, Giuliani apparently also owes approximately an additional $275,000 in legal fees. As such if these aren’t paid the former mayor will need to rely on public defense. I wonder how that will go. Whatever friends Donald had, they are evaporating quicker than snow in a flamethrower. We are also given “Giuliani pledged to appeal and will probably use every legal manoeuvre to block payment.” Yup, that is open to him and we are starting to see a pool of people (him and Alex Jones) the concept of lies is still protected. These people aren’t used to having a larger setting escalated against them. As such I can also report that an appeals court in Connecticut upheld a $75,000 fine against right-wing personality Alex Jones due to him missing a deposition in March of last year Friday. It just adds to the $1.1B outstanding, a nightmare that just will not go away for him and even in the larger setting the lack of actions against Alex Jones are stacking up.

This all matters as we see (via Reuters) “A New York state appeals court on Thursday denied Donald Trump’s bid to overturn a gag order restricting the former U.S. president from publicly talking about court staff in his New York civil fraud trial.

The judge overseeing the case, Justice Arthur Engoron, issued the gag order on Oct. 3 after the former U.S. president shared on social media a photo of the judge’s law clerk posing with U.S. Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, and falsely called her Schumer’s girlfriend.”” AsI see it, for America 2024 will be the year of paid and unpaid settlements. This will not be small, it already stacks up to billions and the connected Republican people need a way out, they desperately want out before that firecracker wakes up the rest of America. With a little bit of howling laughter I now see the chance that Americans will be spicing the wealth of the Saudi Banks, as such the Saudi Ministry of Finance will soon have a new line in their spreadsheets. American expat investments and the percentage it represents. It is a little unlikely as Dubai has a more open setting here, yet I know that Saudi Banks do not share any information. I do not know how Emirati laws are in that case. 

Perhaps the UAE will put in a new ride in their theme parks. Rides that are avoiding people, a speedy ride that avoids people by going fast left and right. The kids version with Alex Jones, the intermediate ride with Rudy Giuliani and the ‘expert’ ride with Donald Trump, complete with lookalike animatronics. It might make the world news for some time to come and it follows my sight. Lets them become entertaining for all time through history.

A setting we tend to forget about. Especially as the liars and misrepresenters have been given too much leeway against the victims they created. And now that Alex Jones cannot hide behind bankruptcy according to U.S. District Judge Christopher Lopez of Houston the gig might be up for Rudy Giuliani might be up soon enough as well and that will get the rats running for their life. The Chapter 11 workbook will not work and now they get to pay a massive slice to whatever they thought they had and with that certain FoxNews people will become equally scared. They worked in the limelight and they could end up with less than a baggage person in a supermarket. 

What a lovely way to go through the weekend. The rats are running and I am watching it from a distance unfold.

Enjoy your day.

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July 6, 2023 · 00:00

Reuter catches up

Yup, that is the frame I am looking at. A mere 2 hours ago Reuters gives us ‘Insight: Swing state Republicans bleed donors and cash over Trump’s false election claims’ (at https://www.reuters.com/world/us/swing-state-republicans-bleed-donors-cash-over-trumps-false-election-claims-2023-07-05/) there we see “The withdrawal of bankrollers like Weiser reflects the high price Republicans in the battleground states of Michigan and Arizona are paying for their full-throated support of former President Trump and his unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him” and you wonder why this is ‘surprising’. Yet, when you consider that months ago (April 20th to be exact) I wrote in ‘Is UNemployed a thing?’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/04/20/is-unemployed-a-thing/) “Should Fox settle Smartmatic, or lose in the trials these small sharks will come and take huge chunks out of the Fox cadaver. No matter how you slice it, it will leave a gap for any contender of Fox to step forward because for 1-2 years it will have to contemplate how to go forward and how to invest funds going forward and that leaves their number one customer the Republican Party. Any contender could snatch that client away from Fox, which leaves Fox in a bind.” Now we see this happen and way beyond Fox, yet Fox too will be bleeding a fair bit. In the end these bankrollers need a return on investment and al things Republican are about to feel the pinch in a stage where they cannot afford to lose investors and bankrollers. I reckon that anyone on that horse will soon feel the pinch of lost revenue and more important, anyone feeling serious about their business will not do it with these people. With added “The dismissal impacted prime-time ratings at Fox News, with 20 percent of its audience dropping off between the first and second quarter of the year, according to a review of Nielsen data” this is merely one quote, but it fits the expectations I had and with that bloodletting, tapping the vein will be a lot more dangerous for all republicans involved. People like Liz Cheney have a chance as they turned away from the Trump madness from day one and t cost Liz, it cost her dearly, now she is about to become one of the few members (together with Mitt Romney) that could herald some future in the republican party. Personally I believe that they lost the honourable John McCain too early. That man would have been fifty times the president that Donald Trump imagined he could have become. But that is for another day. In the first the Republican Party needs to reset whatever idiotic view they had and they need to restore whatever they can and it better be WITHOUT Fox News. They lost whatever little credibility they had in the Dominion case and the Smartmatic case hasn’t even started yet. When you add it all up the republican party is in shambles and I saw this months before Reuters seemingly caught on. I reckon there is another side that will gradually catch on. You see bankrollers like Weiser will not ‘suddenly’ become democrats, I get that but that leaves the independent people in an interesting phase. Several states will now have a larger appeal to these politicians. I reckon that people like Cheney and Romney will try to salvage what they can, but people like Mitch McConnell have created gaps by ‘appeasing’ to all republican players (or at least those who shouted loudest) as such he will be trying to fence the republican meadow, but the sheep are already in a panic and large parts of the meadow have no fence. Plenty will side with Cheney/Romney, but too many will not and that is where the independents will have an interesting field day and for some it will be their first chance to gain foothold with corporations that preferred the republican side. The GOP made too big a mess and now the funds will walk away, add to that the dangers that Fox brings and the people they lost and we get a new setting. I partially captured it with “it will leave a gap for any contender of Fox to step forward” and Alex Jones already pushed himself out of the game with all that crazy talk, as such they both stand to lose more and more and the new players who are, what some would define as “republican readable information” will have a field day with collecting from the bankrollers and politicians that need a reliable platform and as such Fox will lose more and more and people will shun the conspiracy people like Alex Jones. As the comedians like Trae Crowder would state as “These people are leaving us? Is it my birthday, again?” And that is the larger setting for Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney (and a few more) and it will redraw republican political lines. I reckon that people like Mitch McConnell will look at the battlefield that they helped to create and wander to a paddock with a stable and intensely quietly live out their life in solitude. They literally bet on the wrong horse which becomes a ‘horse no show’. And that is the larger station for any corporation who had set their money on republican fields. They will consider what to do next and that is where independents will make larger gains, especially where the republicans bungled the ball (and their balls too). I reckon that Florida is in for a very new stage and 2026 will be bad news for Ron DeSantis who lost on a few fronts and the billion dollar losses he instilled via Disney will cost him a lot more, the 2024 elections (next to Donald Trump) first and his governor seat second (his approval rate now in the low 30’s). In this a new setting will evolve. Charlie Crist (D) is the clear favourite here, yet any Republican that did not agree with DeSantis could evolve an independent platform, especially if they want to make nice with Disney. That is merely one of several stages where the GOP will lose more and more ground. 

A lot of this is speculation, but it fits the data that is openly available, which does not make it true. Yet, consider that politicians require endorsements from corporations to continue. What corporation will continue in Florida after DeSantis blew a billion in investments from Disney? And after these fake allegations through places like Fox News, what corporation wants their name and reputation connected to these channels? It was a simple clear setting and no one looked into it at the time and now we see the Reuter stage and others will follow. I wonder what game people like Mitch McConnell will play next when they realise that the people they politically blew away are his only option to remain where he is? That gives a new interpretation to the expression ‘Will work for paddock and stable’ and yes I just made that expression up. 

And when you realise that the republicans are about to lose Arizona, Florida and Michigan (I personally think they will lose Texas too) the fact becomes clear. If the democrats win these three (or four) they will have the house, the senate and congress for at least two terms all at the same time. As I see it, for some republicans yielding the field to independents is their only option as they will need 3-5 years to clean the mess they allowed Donald Trump to create and in all this Ron DeSantis was little to no help at all and regaining hist lost estimated 25% approval will take way too long and Disney is not on his side. The one corporation that employs 75,000 people in Florida and that amounts to a total of (employed and connected) to roughly 1,683,000 votes. This gives Charlie Crist a new lease on political life. It is my personal view that for the republican party Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney are their only chance to regain some of the lost fields, yet I reckon it will not be enough for the the 2024 presidential elections. The best they can hope for (for now) is limit the damage they incur. That is my own personal view on the matter.

Have a great day.

 

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April 20, 2023 · 10:21

Is UNemployed a thing?

In the first we need to put a pin in the end of yesterdays mentions. The presentation I saw yesterday l saw literally blew me away. It involved Snowflake and Coalesce. It makes the show for the new Bentley look feeble. What a show and what an approach. Players like Aramco need to taker a look, because the future of data mobility was shown to me and they can check it out in June in the SumIT in June in Las Vegas. They would be able to show people like Brent oil how far they are behind the curve. 

But today it is about something else. It is about the Dominion (not the Star Trek one), they went after Fox and Fox was eager to settle, the spinners of lies and misdirection got their First Amendment handed to them in a few ways, which beckons the thought ‘Should Fox be allowed to  exist as a news organisation?’ But about that more at a later date. 

First up is the Guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/apr/19/the-legal-problems-still-overshadowing-fox-news-after-its-dominion-settlement) who gives us ‘The legal problems still overshadowing Fox News after its Dominion settlement’ there we see “Fox agreed to pay voting equipment company Dominion US$787.5m, ending a dispute over whether the network and its parent company knowingly broadcast false and outlandish allegations that Dominion was involved in a plot to steal the 2020 election” in this I personally believe that they settled because of the roll call to the court. These people would paint themselves in a corner to such an extent that it would cost more then viewers. Several of them would pretty much end their TV careers, not even E! Entertainment would hire them as a joke. Yes, it is a personal view, but I think I am hitting the nail on the head in one. In the second degree the fact that Rupert Murdoch would be in the dock as well. So what will the Wall Street Journal do? What will the Times, or several of its other papers? Spin the story and lose a bulk of readers, or just keep silent? It is anyones guess and the setting is far from over, the settlement which was only $787,500,000.00 is small fries against the claim that Smartmatic launched and it has been given a green light. Their claim comes in at $2,700,000,000 which is decently higher and even if Fox settles that one, it will be a much higher settlement. Smartmatic has no free ride, it must prove malice and even as Fox wants to hide behind ‘reporting’ and relying on the freedom of the press. But with the Dominion settlement the stage of lies has been proven and there the shoe becomes tight. You see, when you report on lies is that freedom of the press? And there is a catch the Smartmatic people must prove the addition ‘knowingly’ and that is a much harder case. There are the bulk of the views which include that Tucker guy who will still enter the dock for testimonies. I wonder how many of them will rely on ‘I don’t recall that’, still if the attorneys taped the events, they might have a decent case (in case Fox accidentally loses all their recordings) in addition there is one reflection from the side of Fox as well. It is Bill O’Reilly, who (at https://www.billoreilly.com/b/Special-Message:-Fox-News-Settlement/883858753726419363.html) gives us “Going forward, Fox News faces a similar lawsuit from the Smartmatic Company and perhaps thousands of lawsuits from Fox shareholders. What a disaster. This is what happens when money becomes more important than honest information. Since I left FNC, the template changed from “Fair and Balanced” to “tell the audience what it wants to hear.” And millions of Trump voters, to this day, want to believe the 2020 election was rigged. That opinion can certainly be presented if you provide a counter opinion – equal time.

However, once the facts begin to overwhelm any point of view, a news agency has an obligation to say that. On BillOReilly.com, I examined all the fraud charges and concluded that no federal court would accept the cheating allegations. Therefore, the election was not going to be refuted by our legal system.” This shows that Bill O’Reilly might not have been everyones taste, but he was a real voice and he might have lost a thousand premium members but he remains a winner until the very last, what a class act and as I see it Fox lost the one Republican beacon it actually had, all for weak minded people catering to the voice of ‘THEIR’ people. The loss will be unmeasurable for Fox in the end. I reckon that is what happens when you become friends with a former president, the man who has no real funds, lots of debt, lots of losses and is proven to be nothing more than a paper tiger at best.

Last there is the BBC (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65320001) and with ‘Fox News lawsuit: Can it afford the $787.5m Dominion settlement?’ And with that article they do not offer a lot more, but they do give us “It still has outstanding cases against Fox’s smaller rivals Newsmax and OAN plus several of former President Donald Trump’s associates.” As I see it, these small players have their own legal sharks and they smell blood in the water. Should Fox settle Smartmatic, or lose in the trials these small sharks will come and take huge chunks out of the Fox cadaver. No matter how you slice it, it will leave a gap for any contender of Fox to step forward because for 1-2 years it will have to contemplate how to go forward and how to invest funds going forward and that leaves their number one customer the Republican Party. Any contender could snatch that client away from Fox, which leaves Fox in a bind. Because the Democrats will not do business with them and as the Republican Party goes, so do their advertisers. A future happily bestowed on them by some loser paper tiger and they ‘associates’ of that paper tiger are going after the paper tiger as well, they have too much to lose now. For some TV presenters it will mean the end of their careers no one will hire them after this law setting, they are scared for their own stations and media. Now these people will be set into a new setting. They will allegedly be working for the United Nations as they are soon to be UNemployed?

Enjoy the day

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