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“The guardrails may not hold. Many of the things we are concerned about are not written in law. They’re not legislative pronouncements or mandates.”
ALL JOURNALISTS:
As my firm has done since Pres Clinton’s Admin, we are willing to consider requests for pro bono legal representation, incl litigation, in #FOIA matters pertaining to 2nd Trump Administration.
Please contact me at Ma**@******id.com to discuss.
@BradMossEsq
WHY YOU READ AND SHARE NETHAPPENINGS WITH YOUR FRIENDS
https://cyberplayground.org
Commercial news orgs cater to the affluent — and as a result, have ceded the business of informing the masses to Fox and social media dominated by the right wing. The commercial news industry is incapable of fulfilling its constitutional duties.
https://presswatchers.org/2024/12/the-commercial-news-industry-is-incapable-of-fulfilling-its-constitutional-duties/
“When the rich rob the poor, it’s called business. When the poor fights back, it’s called violence.” — Mark Twain
THE ONLY MINORITY DESTROYING THIS COUNTRY ARE THE BILLIONAIRES.
The “PayPal Mafia” is a group of former PayPal employees and founders who have since founded and/or developed additional technology companies based in Silicon Valley,[1] such as Tesla, Inc., LinkedIn, Palantir Technologies, SpaceX, Affirm, Slide, Kiva, YouTube, Yelp, and Yammer.[2] Most of the members attended Stanford University or University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign at some point in their studies.
How Peter Thiel’s network of right-wing techies is infiltrating Donald Trump’s White House
22% of renters are spending all their income directly on rent, while another 20% are working a second job to afford it, per Redfin:
Cancelling $4T in taxes for 815 billionaires but not $1.7T in student debt for 40M Americans is the modern version of let them eat cake.
QAnon becoming the federal government in front of our eyes.
Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have cast decisive votes against Biden’s NLRB nominee. This means the Democrats will not secure control of the national labor regulator through 2026. These two Senators effectively handed Trump control of the board when his term begins.
NEW — A record 34 members of Congress now urge Joe Biden to pardon environmental lawyer Steven Donziger.
He was legally attacked & disbarred after helping win a $9.5 billion suit against Chevron for thousands of Ecuadorians harmed by oil waste in the Amazon.
GREAT!!!! Rupert Murdoch Fails in Bid to Change Family Trust
NoelCaslerComedy @caslernoel
Dear Elon Musk, the US does not belong to you. You’re a freak, a fuckwit & nobody likes you but a bunch of mediocre cokeheads in Palm Beach & their idiot father who became so entrenched with Russian mobsters they made him POTUS after hollowing out the minds of red state USA.
I watched Vanky give her old man a lap dance when he let her host ‘Miss Teen USA’ she was prob around 16 or so and he seemed to enjoy it way too much. They are a really f*cked up family and SO many folks in NYC & media knew it. This was before he married the escort from Slovenia.
There’s 8 billion people in the world, he could give everyone a billion dollars and still have 343 billion left.
As of today, 12/11/24 Elon Musk is worth $351.2 Billion.
DOGE’s supposed goal is to identify $2 trillion in savings and reduce the size of government by slashing federal waste and redundancy.
There’s a far richer target that nobody, certainly not the DOGE boys, has been talking about: wasteful tax breaks.
No one deserves more credit for Trump’s illegitimate election than Wray and Garland. It was up to DOJ to keep Trump off the ballot. They were derelict of duty ON PURPOSE, and now we are about to have a CONSTITUTIONALLY DISQUALIFIED president taking office.
Worth noting that McConnell refusing to whip votes to convict Trump at his impeachment trial (or vote himself to convict) is *why* we’re in this position right now. If McConnell is looking for the person at fault, he might want to consult a mirror.
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is arguing that Trump’s return to the presidency is NOT a reason to throw out the 34-count conviction in the hush money case. Bragg says Judge Merchan can even put the case on hold during Trump’s second term — and then issue a sentence after he leaves office.
FBI source accused of lying about Pres. Joe Biden/Hunter Biden corruption enters plea deal with special counsel. Doc:
In a plea deal, Alexander Smirnov admits he fabricated the bribery allegation against Joe Biden that @RepJamesComer, @ChuckGrassley, and Bill Barr championed, which led to collapse of Hunter Biden plea deal.
John Cornyn says the Senate should hold a hearing on why Chinese national Justin Sun handed Trump $18M after he got elected.
John Bolton on Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI Kash Patel:
“His conduct in Mr. Trump’s first term and thereafter indicates that as FBI director he would operate according to Lavrenty Beria’s reported comment to Joseph Stalin: “Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.”
The fix was in. #BushCrimeFamily
On Dec. 12, 2000, George W. Bush became president-elect as a divided U.S. Supreme Court reversed a state court recount decision in Florida’s tightly-contested presidential election.
https://apnews.com/today-in-history/december-12
Breaking: North Carolina GOP Legislature overrides Gov Cooper veto & passes lame-duck power grab stripping power from Dem gov & AG and taking control of state/local election boards. Incredibly brazen effort to nullify 3 million votes cast for Dems in 2024 & rig future elections
DOJ warned Wednesday that a Jan. 6 defendant who accepts a pardon from Donald Trump is making a “confession of guilt.”
“[A] pardon at some unspecified date in the future … would not unring the bell of conviction.”
This is the Broligarch Borg at work. Pure MindWar.
“Resistance is futile. You will have nothing and like it.”
Billionaires are preparing to steal America’s treasure to make themselves trillionaires.
Vive la Révolution.
The Slide into Fascism
1) You can’t claim to support our Military and then ignore our Military leaders when they tell you a man is DANGEROUS. The problem with checks and balances was they only held by convention, they weren’t codified. America, and the World, is now going suffer for their complacency.
2) “The things we’ve told you for decades are not really “The Law” it’s how we selectively enforce the law. It’s our Liberal Interpretation of the Laws that we have led you to believe are reality…”
RUDE AWAKENING
3) On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
4) No pity for maga folks who realize they choose to believe and vote for a convicted felon.
Trump in August: “From the day I take the oath of office, we’ll rapidly drive prices down, and make America affordable again. Prices will come down. You just watch. They’ll come down fast.”
Trump now: “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard.”
Cut from the same fascist cloth…
Hitler 1938
Trump 2024
A Jan. 6 defendant recruited “fighters” to storm the Capitol, carried a knife and wore a plate carrier as he joined a mob to overrun police lines. GOP lawmakers just invited him to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration at the Capitol.
Might think abut moving to Aussie land. Australia’s Labor Party has proposed capping political donations at $20,000 per candidate to prevent billionaires from buying elections.
COVID-19, flu and RSV are all currently spreading in NYC. Wearing a mask in crowded indoor settings can help protect you and protect others if you’re sick. Well-fitting masks, such as KN95s, KF94s or N95s, provide the best protection: MASK UP NYC
Jared and Ivanka’s realtors allegedly raped “dozens” of women.
Buddies of Jared & Ivanka indicted in SDNY today.
Moms for Liberty co-founder selected as vice chair of Florida Commission on Ethics #BecauseFlorida
Google filed redacted versions of its Summary Judgment exhibits in Texas adtech antitrust case ahead of the March 31 trial. Although this case mirrors DOJ’s case awaiting decision, it has even more eye-popping evidence. And an expert suggesting $29B in penalties.
HEALTH INSURANCE
Senator Chris Larson @SenChrisLarson
We’re the richest country on earth – we can afford universal healthcare and lifelong education for all Americans. We just choose not to because the rich have rigged the system for themselves.
This must change.
People Over Profit
The Public Anger at America’s Corporate Health Care System Has Never Been Higher
We need to help channel this anger about health care that so many Americans feel today toward ending the system that has so failed America’s health.
DENY DEFEND DEPOSE
Luigi Mangione’s grandmother planned to disinherit any heirs charged with a crime. His arrest may have cost him a piece of his grandmother’s $30 million-plus fortune thanks to a provision in her will disinheriting anyone charged with a crime.
He’s going to prison for the rest of his life anyway. Besides, Thompson’s family could sue him for that $30 million.
Luigi Mangione’s manifesto refers to Michael Moore’s Sicko documentary on the for-profit US healthcare system. In one part of it Moore takes abandoned 9/11 first responders to Cuba to get healthcare there, to show just how sick and depraved the US is by comparison.
Eric Feigl-Ding @DrEricDing
Never forget—a 2022 Yale study estimated that a single-payer universal healthcare (the good kind of UHC) could have saved over $105 billion in COVID hospitalization costs. That, plus saving tens-hundreds of thousands of lives.
Health insurance corporate shares drop upon newly proposed legislation to break up healthcare megacorporations
Half of all U.S. adults say they’d be unable to afford an unexpected $500 medical expense, and medical bills account for 40% of U.S. bankruptcies.
The nation’s top private health insurers have spent over $120 BILLION since 2010 lining top shareholders’ pockets with lucrative stock buybacks. It’s no coincidence that among those top investors are the very executives who authorize buybacks in the first place. Longtime Cigna CEO David Cordani, a public detractor of universal health care, has amassed over 1.2 million shares in the company’s stock — worth $364 million today, financial records from earlier this year show.
As of this February, Elevance Health CEO Gail Boudreaux — an industry veteran who’s also worked for Aetna and UnitedHealth — owned a massive stake in her current employer worth nearly $149 million today.
Stock buybacks were considered ‘illegal manipulation’ until 1982, then Ronald Reagan changed that.
Since 2010, the country’s top health insurers have dropped over $120 BILLION on buying back their own stock.
In recent years, execs across the health care industry have authorized more spending on stock buybacks than on R&D.
Health Insurers Gave $120 Billion To Shareholders While Denying Your Claim
The country’s largest insurers spent $120 billion on stock buybacks since 2010, with nearly half of that spent by UnitedHealth.
Largest insurer. Highest denial rate. Largest part of the problem. I don’t see a lot of reflection on that. @UHC
Since the ACA, the largest health insurers raked in $371 billion in profits, raised family premiums to $26k/year & just paid their CEOs $75 million in annual compensation. UnitedHealth reaped 40% of these profits & now denies 1 in 3 claims.
Andrew Witty, UnitedHealth Group
2023 total compensation: $23,534,936
CEO pay ratio: 352:1.
@kenklippenstein
UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty just sent a memo to staff (leaked to me) hailing late CEO as “one of the good guys” who had “a profoundly positive impact on the lives of so many people.” Witty adds: “He was certainly one of the smartest guys. I think he was one of the best guys.” Staff are frustrated with how tone deaf the response has been.
Q Can you post the plaintext version?
A All I can see is “$$$$$, $$$, $$$$ $$ $$ $$$$$ $$$, $% & $$$$$$$$”
For what it’s worth , their CEO was made a knight – he is Sir Andrew Witty, CBE.
This is going to cost UnitedHealth billions, people won’t trust the insurance company anymore because they’ll associate it with the assassination.
Before United, Witty was CEO of drug giant GSK which paid out $3 billion for marketing psych drugs to teens, bribing doctors, and failing to disclose the risks of the diabetes drug Avandia. It was the single largest pharma settlement in U.S. history:
#AARP #UniversalHealthcare #SinglePayer #GuaranteedUniversalHealthCare #USCongress
America: The final holdout among the world’s industrialized developed countries. It’s past time. People have long opined that the entire point of the AARP is to sell shit to seniors. AARP is just a marketing vehicle / insurance company.
David Dayen @ddayen
In all the talk about UnitedHealth, there’s been one missing discussion: its primary partner in Medicare and Medicare Advantage, which leverages its massive audience to steer to the insurer, is AARP. This never gets enough attention. Big numbers involved:
For 27 years, UnitedHealth has been the co-branded choice of AARP. If you are looking for a supplemental policy to conventional Medicare, or a Medicare Advantage product, or a Medicare drug insurance policy, AARP will steer you to UnitedHealth. And only to UnitedHealth.
The reason is shameful. UnitedHealth kicks back 4.95 percent of premium income from AARP subscribers to AARP. And the numbers are staggering. According to AARP’s audited financia report, AARP made $289.3 million from member dues, but $1.134 billion from kickbacks from insurers, of which the lion’s share, $905 million, was from health insurers. AARP delicately refers to these as royalties.
And somehow, because it is a nonprofit, AARP manages to avoid income taxes on this kickback income. Despite Congress’s efforts over the years to make nonprofits pay taxes on commercial income, AARP paid only about $3 million in federal income taxes on “royalties” of well over a billion.
AI / PRIVACY / SECURITY
2001: The FBI confirmed that it was developing keylogger software called Magic Lantern which could allegedly be deployed via the Internet. At the time the FBI denied that it had been deployed. In 2007 FBI documents revealed in a court case confirmed it was deployed prior to 2007.
Taking an enormous risk with AI “agents”
Google (and most of the other big AI firms) are now pushing AI
“agents” that will take actions in your name. PROTIP: If you permit an
AI to act on your behalf, and the firm providing the AI is unwilling
to take 100% financial and legal responsibility for those actions when
something goes wrong, you are taking an enormous risk. -L
!!!! ALERT !!!
Frontier [AI] Models are Capable of In-context Scheming
Researchers Uncover Flaws in Popular Open-Source Machine Learning Frameworks
US government set to approve spending $3 billion to remove Chinese telecoms equipment
Suit: A Character.AI chatbot hinted a kid should murder his parents over screen time limits
Top U.S. Cybersecurity Official: China Attacks on American Infrastructure ‘Tip of the Iceberg’ CISA Director Jen Easterly said China’s cyberattacks seek to cause ‘societal panic’ in the event of a US-China war
A top U.S. cybersecurity official said Wednesday that as she prepares to leave office, China-backed attacks on American infrastructure pose the gravest cyber threat to the country. And she believes they will get worse.
Jen Easterly, the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, called recent Chinese cyber intrusions the “tip of the iceberg,” and warned of dire consequences for U.S. critical infrastructure in the event of a U.S.-China conflict. “This is a world where a war in Asia could see very real impacts to the lives of Americans across our nation, with attacks against pipelines, against water facilities, against transportation nodes, against communications, all to induce societal panic,” Easterly said during the Winter Summit of the Cyber Initiatives Group Wednesday.
Fear and Bitcoin.
Whenever Bitcoin has a bull run, naysayers try to cope with missing the boat by rationalizing why it will fail through “Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt” or what we Bitcoiners have nicknamed “FUD.”
5 years ago today, 12/11/24 you could buy 15 #Bitcoin for 1 cent ✨
“It might make sense just to get some in case it catches on.” – Satoshi Nakamoto, 2009
✨ Exactly 14 years ago today, Satoshi Nakamoto made his final post on the #Bitcoin forum. The next day, he logged off forever, never to return
FUN FACT: #Bitcoin now UP 40,000,000% since it was trading for $0.25 the day Satoshi Nakamoto left.
#Bitcoin has the same number of users as the Internet had in 1997.
We are just getting started.
✨ SBF being arrested for FTX, exactly 2 years ago.
Today, he’s in a jail cell next to Diddy watching #Bitcoin absolutely moon
First, you wonder if #Bitcoinis a scam. Then you study it, and suddenly, everything else becomes a scam. Bitcoin doesn’t change — it changes you.
“Bitcoin should now account for 1% to 2% of traditional 60/40 investment portfolios.” – Blackrock Investment Institute, 2024
Billionaire founder of Interactive Brokers, Thomas Peterffy, says people should allocate “2% to 3% of their net worth into #Bitcoin”.
STATE OF TEXAS JUST INTRODUCED A BILL FOR STRATEGIC #BITCOIN RESERVE
The lifecycle of companies. They weren’t made to last forever, like #bitcoin, the first man made engineered perfect money.
Michael Saylor is now actively encouraging the USA to dump ALL its gold to buy #Bitcoin and rug pull other countries.
Only 0.55% of shareholders voted in favor of Microsoft’s #Bitcoin investment proposal. Was expected. Most of Microsoft shareholders are an aged population that doesn’t understand #Bitcoin. Average age of microsoft shareholders is 56.
One of the worst mistakes Microsoft will ever make! In a few months $MSFT will be buying $BTC much higher via $MSTR. They will get what they deserve
99.4% of all MSFT shareholders don’t even think Bitcoin is worth studying to put on the balance sheet.
That’s how frigging early we are.
The concept of “fiat” really goes back to the Civil War.
In 1862, Abraham Lincoln started printing “greenbacks” that were not convertible into gold, but were declared “legal tender”.
450 million of these were printed.
Amazingly, gold-backed dollars co-existed with the new greenbacks. When the North was winning, the gold dollars were worth only a 10% premium to the greenbacks. When the south looked good, the premium expanded to 300%.
In the end, fiat won the war.
@TomerStrolight
Microsoft only exists because IBM made one of the greatest strategic blunders in history back in the early 80s, mistakenly believing that software alone was not a real business.
I guess IBM thought “if you can’t touch it, it isn’t valuable”. Turns out being untouchable is an advantage.
When it comes to Bitcoin, maybe MSFT thinks “if you can’t control it with burdensome licensing agreements it isn’t valuable”. Anyhow, they’re about to find out.
Microsoft shut it down, with only 28 million out of 5 billion shares backing a Bitcoin investment assessment.
Meanwhile, Vancouver’s city council said Yes to exploring a Bitcoin treasury.
BREAKING: Hacker exploits $DOGE flaw, crashing 69% of nodes and exposing a vulnerability that could have taken down the entire network.
A new federal rule from the CFPB caps overdraft fees at $5. The typical fee is currently $35. The rule will limit banks to $5 or the amount that covers their costs and losses. The change is estimated to save American consumers $5 billion annually.
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Bitcoin is trading stubbornly below the $100,000 mark, putting the brakes on a blistering post-election rally.
The lifelong criminal got away with everything.
Historic moment for Arizona! 
OMG Donny and Dick were penpals in the 80’s
When the digital wiretap law was passed in 1994,
The First Virtual Meeting Was in 1916