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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 6:43:29 GMT -8
It's hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs because they always take things literally
How Is New York DA's Bragg's Investiagtion Different from Jack Smith's and Fani Willis'?
What is the One Phrase You Won't Hear From Anyone in the QOP about Previous Guy?
Answers at the end.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 8:37:33 GMT -8
A Dash for CashImagine you're a low-wage worker in India who is offered a day's employment as an extra in a Bollywood film. Your role? To go to a cash point and withdraw some money. In 2018, several men in Maharashtra state thought they were accepting a bit-part in a movie - but in fact they were being tricked into being money mules, collecting cash in an ambitious bank heist. The raid took place over a weekend in August 2018, and centred on Cosmos Co-operative bank, which has its headquarters in Pune. On a quiet Saturday afternoon, staff in the bank's head office suddenly received a string of alarming messages. They were from the card payment company Visa in the United States, warning it could see thousands of demands flooding in for large cash withdrawals from ATMs - by people apparently using Cosmos Bank cards. But when the Cosmos team checked their own systems, they saw no abnormal transactions. About half-an-hour later, just to be safe, they authorised Visa to stop all transactions from Cosmos bank cards. This delay would turn out to be extremely costly. The next day, Visa shared the full list of suspect transactions with the Cosmos head office: about 12,000 separate withdrawals from different ATMs around the world. The bank had lost nearly $14m (£11.5m). It was an audacious crime characterised by its grand scale and meticulous synchronisation. Criminals had plundered ATMs in 28 different countries, including the United States, the UK, the United Arab Emirates and Russia. It all happened in the space of just two hours and 13 minutes - an extraordinary global flash mob of crime. Lazarus Heist: The intercontinental ATM theft that netted $14m in two hours
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 8:42:04 GMT -8
Another Dash For CashFormer President Donald Trump and porn star Stormy Daniels have spent years battling in court. Now, they're selling duelling T-shirts. A Manhattan grand jury voted on Thursday to indict Mr Trump in connection with a $130,000 (£105,000) hush money payment to Ms Daniels. She alleges the two had an affair in 2006. Mr Trump has acknowledged the pay-out but denied they had sex. His campaign sent a fundraising email soon after the charges were reported. "This Witch Hunt will BACKFIRE MASSIVELY," he said in the email. "With your support, we will write the next great chapter of American history - and 2024 will forever go down as the year we saved our Republic." The message asked people for money, offering a T-shirt with the words "I stand with Trump" for donations of $47 (£38) or more, which his campaign team claimed were "flying off shelves". The Trump campaign says it raised more than $4m in the first 24 hours after news of the indictment broke. But the case has brought a windfall for Ms Daniels, too. In a tweet on Thursday after charges were announced, Ms Daniels - whose real name is Stephanie Clifford - said orders for "#Teamstormy merch/authograph " were "pouring in"."Thank you to everyone for your support and love!" she wrote. Her website features a range of merchandise, including $20 T-shirts with the words "#TEAMSTORMY", signed posters of herself posing in lingerie, and a $30 dog chew toy that looks like Mr Trump. With All Those Witch Hunts Going On, Have They Found Any Witches?
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 8:43:19 GMT -8
Somewhere the Smothers Brothers are Smiling
A woman pulled alive from the rubble of a Pennsylvania chocolate factory after an explosion that killed seven co-workers says flames had engulfed the building, and her arm, when the floor gave way beneath her. That might have been the end, if she hadn’t fallen into a vat of liquid chocolate.
The dark liquid extinguished her blazing arm, but Patricia Borges wound up breaking her collarbone and both of her heels. She would spend the next nine hours screaming for help and waiting for rescue as firefighters battled the inferno and choppers thumped overhead at the R.M. Palmer Co. factory.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 8:45:03 GMT -8
Diverless Cars Involved in Hit-And-Run Accidents. It's Not What You Think.
Around 1 a.m. on March 6, a driverless car from the tech startup Cruise was trying to make a left turn when it encountered something its algorithms probably couldn’t predict: An Infiniti Q50 performing “donuts,” a popular and unlawful pastime for some of the city’s night owls, in the middle of the intersection.
The two vehicles collided head-on, according to a report that the company later sent to state authorities. Cruise said its vehicle suffered moderate damage, but that no one was injured. The experimental car had no driver at the time — an increasingly common sight in San Francisco — as part of an ongoing test of late-night robotaxis.
Whether the Infiniti driver suffered any damage or injuries isn’t clear. They didn’t stick around.
It was the latest example of a pattern bedeviling tech companies that are trying to make driverless cars a reality: hit-and-run crashes seemingly caused by human drivers, according to a review by NBC News of collision reports filed with the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
The reports, which were written by employees of the tech companies, describe 36 instances in 2022 in which a person driving a car or truck left the scene of a crash involving their vehicle and an autonomous vehicle. The problem has continued at a similar pace this year, with seven examples as of early March.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 8:46:59 GMT -8
Russian Gains In the Last Two Months Where's Ivan?
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 8:49:24 GMT -8
The Media Seems to Have Missed That Dominion Had Major Wins This Week.
Today Judge Eric Davis issued a ruling on cross motions for summary judgement in Dominion’s multi-billion dollar defamation lawsuit against Fox News. The media is generally reporting this decision as akin to a tie. That’s because the judge, while denying Fox News’ motion for summary judgement, also denied Dominion’s motion for summary judgement. Thus, the case goes to trial next month.
What the reporting generally fails to acknowledge is that the judge ruled partially in Dominion’s favor on the elements of defamation in a manner that will greatly handcuff how Fox can defend itself at trial. Essentially, the judge ruled that Dominion proved EVERY element of defamation save one, leaving only that one to argue at trial. Let’s start with the basic element of falsity.
"The evidence...is CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true. Therefore, the Court will grant summary judgment in favor of Dominion on the element of falsity."
As you can see from the above screen save, the emphasis on “CRYSTAL” was the court’s and not my own. Put simply, Fox cannot argue truth as a defense to the jury. The judge has already ruled that EVERY claim of falsity asserted by Dominion were indeed false statements by Fox. Next up defamation per se.
"the Court holds, as a matter of law, that Dominion is entitled to summary judgment on the element of defamation per se."
This means the court found Fox falsely accused Dominion of a crime. Thus, Dominion will not have to prove specific damages to the jury, they will be assumed.
"[Fox] cannot avail themselves of certain defenses like the neutral report and fair reporting privileges or the privilege for opinion."
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 8:52:05 GMT -8
Have People Lost Preventative Care Yet?
All you need to know about the latest Obamacare ruling
Insurance companies don’t typically revise their plan offerings in the middle of the year, and the main insurers lobby sought to assure the public that they “should have peace of mind there will be no immediate disruption in care of coverage.” And the Biden administration is expected to appeal, though the White House and the federal health and Justice departments would only say yesterday that federal officials were reviewing the ruling.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 8:53:19 GMT -8
How Can They Be Top Attorneys If They Say Dumb Things? Oh. Nevermind.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 8:56:03 GMT -8
QOP Candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court Breaks the Law
As southern Wisconsin braced for a tornado watch Friday afternoon, conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Dan Kelly and the Republican Party of Wisconsin issued its own emergency alert warning voters not to elect liberal Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz on Tuesday.
The text message included a video that used alert tones and a scratchy radio voice found on official emergency alerts aired on television and radio. The screen read, "*** Emergency Alert System ***" and "Wisconsin Voter Alert" on the backdrop of differently colored bars that sometimes appears on screen when TV programming is interrupted. After three beeps, a voice says, "This is a State of Wisconsin voter alert. Attention citizens: our Second Amendment rights are under attack by Judge Janet Protasiewicz."
Sounds illegal — right?
According to the FCC rules, people and groups are barred from using emergency alert system codes or signals in "advertisements, promotional announcements, or other programming," if the sounds are being used not in connection with an actual emergency, an emergency system test, or a public service announcement authorized to use such sounds.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for the worthless FCC to take action.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 8:58:54 GMT -8
Boo-Hoo
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 9:01:05 GMT -8
Shed a Rear for This Guy, Too.
A self-styled far-right propagandist from Florida was convicted Friday of charges alleging that he conspired to deprive individuals of their right to vote in the 2016 presidential election.
Douglass Mackey, 33, of West Palm Beach, Florida, was convicted in Brooklyn federal court before Judge Ann M. Donnelly after a one-week trial.
On the internet, he was known as “Ricky Vaughn.”
In 2016, Mackey had about 58,000 Twitter followers and was ranked by the MIT Media Lab as the 107th-most important influencer of the then-upcoming presidential election, prosecutors said. He had described himself as an “American nationalist” who regularly retweeted Trump and promoted conspiracy theories about voter fraud by Democrats.
Mackey, who was arrested in January 2021, could face up to 10 years in prison. His sentencing is set for Aug. 16.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 9:03:24 GMT -8
George Soros Is the New "Rothschilds" - Code for the Jewish BFinanciers Who Are Said to Control the World.
Less than two hours after his indictment became public, former President Donald Trump’s fundraising machine sent out an email to supporters on his behalf loaded with extremist rhetoric and antisemitic tropes.
"The Deep State will use anything at their disposal to shut down the one political movement that puts YOU first,” Trump wrote in the email, a reference to a conspiracy theory about a network of people working inside the federal government to exercise power over ordinary people.
Trump also attacked Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg, whose office was responsible for bringing the case to the grand jury, as being funded by George Soros, a major donor to Democratic causes and a popular target of anti-Semitism on the far-right, including in his birth country of Hungary.
Maybe It Was George Santos Who Supported Bragg
In the weeks leading up to former President Donald Trump's New York indictment, Trump and his allies have been trying to link Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to billionaire Jewish philanthropist George Soros, a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor.
The"Soros-backed" trope is a longstanding anti-semitic dog whistle that's popular on the right. And while the idea that Soros is somehow behind the Trump's recent indictment in New York is unfounded, that hasn't kept him from being blamed for Trump's legal woes in New York.
Former President Donald Trump lashed out ahead of his New York indictment, slamming Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in an all-caps Truth Social post for being "FUNDED BY GEORGE SOROS."
"HE IS A SOROS BACKED ANIMAL WHO JUST DOESN'T CARE ABOUT RIGHT OR WRONG NO MATTER HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE HURT," Trump later e-shouted at his followers. (Anti-Semitism and racism in one message.)
The the use of the word "animal" or animal imagery to describe Black people also has a long, racist history in the US.
When news of the indictment broke Thursday night, the rhetoric was spread far and wide across cable news and online, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, calling Bragg a "Soros-funded prosecutor" and Donald Trump Jr. referring to the philanthropist in an interview.
To be clear, there is no evidence that George Soros has donated directly to Bragg. Right-wing claims that the district attorney is controlled by Soros are false.
The claims are based on the fact that a group Soros does fund — an arm of the nonprofit Color of Change — has donated to Bragg, though none of those funds were earmarked for Bragg, Soros' spokesman, Michael Vachon, told Insider last week.
"George Soros and Alvin Bragg have never met in person or spoken by telephone, email, Zoom etc.," Vachon told Insider in an email on March 23. "There has been no contact between the two. Neither George Soros nor Democracy PAC contributed to Alvin Bragg's campaign for Manhattan District Attorney."
Soros himself also denied knowing Bragg in a recent text exchange with Semafor editor Steve Clemmons.
"As for Alvin Bragg, as a matter of fact I did not contribute to his campaign and I don't know him," Soros wrote to Clemmons. "I think some on the right would rather focus on far-fetched conspiracy theories than on the serious charges against the former president."
Rhetoric from the right linking Soros — like a boogeyman — to causes they largely disagree with is nothing new. Soros has for decades been the target of such made-up plots, which experts in Jewish history and extremism say stems from age-old antisemitic conspiracy theories that Jews have undue global influence and power.
The fact that Trump highlighted Soros' tenuous link to Bragg's campaign, as opposed to the sources of millions of dollars in direct contributions to Bragg, can be read as an antisemitic dog whistle.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 9:10:23 GMT -8
Corporate Money Gets to Harvard
An eminent Harvard environmental law professor’s links to the fossil fuel industry are under scrutiny from colleagues and students after she was awarded a prestigious research grant to investigate corporate climate pledges.
Jody Freeman, founding director of Harvard’s environmental and energy law program and former Obama-era White House advisor, is a paid board member of ConocoPhillips – a Fortune 500 American multinational oil and gas company that was ranked the 13th most polluting in the world by a Guardian investigation in 2019. The firm’s controversial Willow drilling project in Alaska was recently approved by the Biden administration.
Related: How cities and states could finally hold fossil fuel companies accountable
Professor Freeman also co-chairs Harvard’s presidential committee on sustainability and was recently awarded funding by the university’s new Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability to lead research on corporate net zero targets.
Colleagues say Freeman’s fossil fuel ties raises serious questions about a conflict of interest, while threatening to damage the university’s climate credentials.
A letter by the Harvard Faculty Divest steering committee – a diverse group of professors who advocate for an end to fossil fuels – to the president-elect of the Ivy league school sets out the conflict between Freeman’s fiduciary responsibility to ConocoPhillips and Harvard’s own climate commitments.
Tom Lehrer Sings About How to Leave Harvard
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 1, 2023 9:14:32 GMT -8
The Companies Seem to Have Enough Money for Non-Stop "Extra Benefits" Commercials
The U.S. government announced on Friday a lower than expected 1.1% average cut of 2024 reimbursement rates for health insurers that offer coverage through the Medicare Advantage program, boosting shares of the market's largest players.
It improved the rates it would pay insurers after pushback from the industry, which contended the government was cutting reimbursement rates by too much for them to adequately serve older people enrolled in their plans.
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