I finished reading Virginia Roberts Giuffre's book called "NOBODY'S GIRL" yesterday. It was disturbing, but it is a good way to understand what happened. Virginia's own father started sexually abusing her at 7 years old, then he allowed his friend to abuse her. She ran away and was raped while hitch-hiking, then Ron Eppinger (a pimp) found her, raped her, and made her his prostitute, then Eppinger "gave" her to his friend to continued to abuse her until the police busted him and called Virginia's father.
When she was 16 and working at Mar a Lago, Ghislaine Maxwell recruited her for Jeff Epstein who had sex with her while she was still 16, then for years she was forced to have sex with him (and sometimes Ghislaine Maxwell). He also lent her to his rich and powerful friends for sex (that he recorded). He threatened her brother if she said anything, and he said he owns the police.
She planned her escape by convincing Epstein and Maxwell to allow her to go to Thailand for a massage class as a condition for agreeing to have Epstein's baby (that Maxwell and Epstein would raise). While there, she met and married her Australian husband, then moved to Australia with him. With the help of a photo of herself with Prince Andrew, she was able to finally win against him in court in spite of the emotional toll, financial and physical danger, time, effort, and negative publicity it cost her and her new family to do so.
At the end of the book, she asked, "Where are those videotapes the FBI confiscated from Epstein's houses? And why haven't they led to the prosecution of any more abusers?" It's a good question. She wrote that she avoided naming certain powerful people to avoid their wrath. Our federal "Justice" department could use that evidence to hold them accountable, if Donald Trump would allow it. He told Marjorie Taylor Greene "people would get hurt." I say, let them get hurt. Consequences for crimes (rape, sex trafficking, pedophilia, blackmail) are necessary to discourage them, and no one should be above the law.

It's time to be better. Or "be best" as the first lady puts it.

It's time to be less selfish. We need all of us to put in the work to make our world better. Not just our own worlds.

It's time to know the truth, and do what we can to preserve our good sources of truth, like 60 Minutes and PBS New Hour. The truth, not lies, will set us free. The truth and nothing but the truth, so help us god.

It's time to read if you have the time and patience for it.

It's time to stop abusing the young. It's time to cancel those who do, like Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

It's time to be less racist.

Let's all man and women up. No more lies. No more being an asshole. Be nice. Be better.

I find him interesting like I find Al Capone or Jimi Hoffa interesting. This guy operates differently, and has certain surprising successes, like winning the first election, which surprised even him. I was sure he’d lose that one. He shouldn’t be taken seriously, just like WWF shouldn't be taken seriously as it is just entertainment. Like Trump, Reagan was also an entertainer who became our president. That’s my next point - Trump is not like Reagan. I could respect Reagan, but I have to admit I don’t know enough about him to make that judgement with confidence. I know my dad respected him, so I did. I don’t respect Donald Trump – I know enough to say that. I hope he does a good job as our president, but I don’t respect liars (unless it’s some guy lying to the Nazi’s at his door).
Anyway, I think if you learn about Donald Trump, the businessman, you’ll understand his motives and what’s happening a bit better. It has nothing to do with the reality TV show starring DJT. It’s called “The Apprentice” because he’s Roy Cohn’s apprentice. This is another reason I can’t respect DJT – he’s the sort who’d hire a guy like Roy Cohn as his lawyer. Roy Cohn was a prosecutor under Joe McCarthy, who demonized communists in the 1950’s that led to some people being executed. Being a communist is not illegal and is protected under the 1st Amendment. Another reason I can’t respect DJT - Trump is also the sort who might abuse his power, do some extrajudicial acts, use blackmail, like Roy Cohn would.
So, I highly recommend this ‘The Apprentice’ movie. It sheds some light on where Trump came from and what motivates him. I was annoyed with myself because I forgot to show this sign at the “No Kings” protest yesterday, so I’ll show it here. This movie is a bit graphic but educational.

Hello @e-henry.

Warren Buffet's buddy, the late great Charlie Munger often said, "always invert." Consider the opposite of what you think to be true may be the truth.

My step-son told me people on the right are saying Trump is like cryptonite to 60 minutes because he always tells the truth. That seems like an extreme case of inversion.

Obviously of the two, 60 minutes has a better claim to truthiness than Trump. I've always trusted their reporting to give me the truth. I think most people in the US still do. Many more did until Trump started calling them fake news.

I wonder how his lies factor into his effectiveness in global politics. I suppose most people won't believe him, but as he says himself, he doesn't like to say what he's thinking. He makes effective use of lies.

Warren Buffet also says you can't make a good deal with a bad person. I expect bad results, but of course I hope for the best. My trumper friend told me we should hope for the best, like I should give him a chance. I'm trying.

Not sure if this is any better than what my step-son calls "shit posting" online, but it's worth trying something else. Maybe this is how not to be an NPC, for whatever merit that criticism holds.

Here's another idea for thought:
Before Elon Musk was political, I watched this video and thought Jack Ma was more reasonable than Musk. Ma said we should focus on Earth, not Mars.

Then I saw a video some dude posted saying Musk crushed Jack Ma, like it was supposed to be a debate. I wanted to "shit post" him by telling him he's an idiot, but that's not me, and that's not helpful, which reminds me to another thought. 60 minutes had a show about how Germany is handling their free speech laws. They have a board of online monitors and they'll come to your door and take your devices if you tell lies, use hate speech (racist comments) or even offend someone. I do think we need some sort of policing of the truth. Of course you worry an authoritarian government could abuse that power, but that's one nice thing about honest journalism - you have people who's job it is to get to the truth, and give it to people. It seems like a nobel pursuit worth doing. Belling cat for example are heros for outing Putin for poisoning Navalni. Putin threatens people, like Elon Musk, and Tucker Carlson. I wouldn't put it past his buddy Trump to do the same, but I'm willing to "F around" and find out as they say. I remember hearing 2 things about Putin's convos with Musk:

1. He asked for a favor on behalf of China's president Xi - to disable Starlink over Taiwan.
2. He made an implied threat.

I remember he also threatened Tucker Carlson when he said it could be dangerous for him to get into Russian politics.

Trump is a hypocrite, but it works for him. Being an asshole is his character, and he's an aggessive player.
So don't trust him to leave you alone for "shit posting" the truth about his lies. I think we'll be ok if we keep the truth in mind.

I appreciate Lesley Stahl for calling him out when she interviewed him. She told him he tells her he calls them fake news so people won't believe what they report about him.

I think Trump doesn't have the cards if we all know the truth, so let's make sure we don't lose access to it.

@e-henry , thank you for doing this. The quick summaries with links are helpful. I hope people educate themselves before the mid-terms.

I called my republican congressman recently. I need to send a letter too.

I just learned about this "5 calls" app that tells you who your congress people and senators are and gives their numbers: https://5calls.org

I'm sad to see Putin's investments in getting Trump elected are paying off.