Comments on: We Are Not Amused

By: Bryan

Bryan — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 19:03:34 +0000

It is nearly impossible to be in New York/New Jersey real estate development and not have mob ties, and lately the mob has been Russian. Everyone Trump knows or deals with is going to be linked directly or indirectly to the Russians.

By: Badtux

Badtux — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 04:03:53 +0000

Talking about money laundering, apparently Trump campaign director Paul Manafort was involved in money laundering, laundering money from a pro-Russian party in Ukraine. Manafort didn't stay on as campaign director for long because his Russian connections were too blatantly obvious, but still. More Russian money laundering related to Trump and the Trump campaign. I dream of opening my browser one morning and not saying "holy cr*p!" about something the Trump campaign or administration has done, but thus far, the Trumpistas have a 100% success rate at that all-important morning bowel movement. Between corruption, fomenting trade wars (and worse), and just general jerk-headedness, man.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 20:03:25 +0000

Real estate is a good way of laundering large amounts of cash and The City is a good place to do it. Trump has a lot of real estate leased to Russian oligarchs, so it stands to reason they would attract the interest of various law enforcement and regulatory agencies.

By: Badtux

Badtux — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 18:56:45 +0000

"Given the tenants in Trump Tower there is a zero probability that there is no eavesdropping in that building." How prescient. According to NY Daily News today, a Russian gambling, extortion, and money laundering ring was headquarted in Trump Tower a couple of floors below the Trumps, and the FBI had a wiretapping warrant from 2011 to 2013 to listen in on them. Nice tenants Trump has in his tower.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 18:42:33 +0000

Yep, the rise in double and triple glazing has pretty much eliminated the effectiveness of using microwaves any more, and the fact that the windows in high-rises don’t open makes positioning equipment problematical, not that I was ever involved in that sort of thing … school exercise you understand.

It is unlikely that Trump knows where the kitchen is at most of his ‘homes’ – he’s a room service kind of guy. Anyone who orders steaks well done and puts catsup on them is well advised to avoid kitchens and cooks.

Cameron is certainly grateful that he doesn’t have to deal with BREXIT.

By: Badtux

Badtux — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 16:42:17 +0000

In other news, Former UK PM David Cameron has an actual sense of humor. He says the two advantages of being an ex-PM are that he no longer has to listen to Donald Trump via Donald's microwave and no longer has to fend off requests from Putin to go hunting with Putin -- "I like to ride a horse, but I don't look good shirtless". LOL.

By: Badtux

Badtux — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 16:25:34 +0000

I seriously doubt that Trump has “smart appliances”. He doesn’t operate his appliances, he has people for that.

By: Kryten42

Kryten42 — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 10:15:05 +0000

Or dual-glazing with a vacuum between. :) Only way for a MW oven to take pic's is if someone installs a camera! None I know have a camera by default. Why would it?! Insane! Seems Ukraine has had enough of Trumper also. Trump aide hid payments from Ukraine party with Moscow ties, new documents say

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 23:39:11 +0000

In reply to Anya. Мы сделаем, но ты не слышел об этом здесь. As long as you found an open source for that, it can be done, but it is short range, line of sight, and expensive. Now, if someone bought a microwave oven that had a IoT [Internet of Things] controller in it so you could control with an app, then you are talking about an open mike and being part of denial of service attacks while heating your burrito. If you don't buy 'smart' appliances, you don't have to worry. Drapes, for which he has a fondness are effective against reading window vibrations.

By: Anya

Anya — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 17:57:14 +0000

Devil’s Advocate Alert

I’m curious: How far off the beam was Kellyanne Conway’s comment about microwaves being used as eavesdropping devices?

I recall reading about microwaves (very short, electromagnetic waves) being used to listen in remotely by bouncing the waves off glass windows and interpreting the return waves as sound.

Conway, of course, wouldn’t have a clue about the differences between EM microwaves and popcorn popping microwaves, but what if that were what she had in mind? Such a rig wouldn’t be cheap, but it wouldn’t need someone to go in and install devices, and one could easily listen in on anyone in the building with glass windows….