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mariacallous · 2 months ago

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On February 10, employees at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) received an email asking them to list every contract at the bureau and note whether or not it was “critical” to the agency, as well as whether it contained any DEI components. This email was signed by Scott Langmack, who identified himself as a senior adviser to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Langmack, according to his LinkedIn, already has another job: He’s the chief operating officer of Kukun, a property technology company that is, according to its website, “on a long-term mission to aggregate the hardest to find data.”

As is the case with other DOGE operatives—Tom Krause, for example, is performing the duties of the fiscal assistant secretary at the Treasury while holding down a day job as a software CEO at a company with millions in contracts with the Treasury—this could potentially create a conflict of interest, especially given a specific aspect of his role: According to sources and government documents reviewed by WIRED, Langmack has application-level access to some of the most critical and sensitive systems inside HUD, one of which contains records mapping billions of dollars in expenditures.

Another DOGE operative WIRED has identified is Michael Mirski, who works for TCC Management, a Michigan-based company that owns and operates mobile home parks across the US, and graduated from the Wharton School in 2014. (In a story he wrote for the school’s website, he asserted that the most important thing he learned there was to “Develop the infrastructure to collect data.”) According to the documents, he has write privileges on—meaning he can input overall changes to—a system that controls who has access to HUD systems.

Between them, records reviewed by WIRED show, the DOGE operatives have access to five different HUD systems. According to a HUD source with direct knowledge, this gives the DOGE operatives access to vast troves of data. These range from the individual identities of every single federal public housing voucher holder in the US, along with their financial information, to information on the hospitals, nursing homes, multifamily housing, and senior living facilities that HUD helps finance, as well as data on everything from homelessness rates to environmental and health hazards to federally insured mortgages.

Put together, experts and HUD sources say, all of this could give someone with access unique insight into the US real estate market.

Kukun did not respond to requests for comment about whether Langmack is drawing a salary while working at HUD or how long he will be with the department. A woman who answered the phone at TCC Management headquarters in Michigan but did not identify herself said Mirksi was "on leave until July." In response to a request for comment about Langmack’s access to systems, HUD spokesperson Kasey Lovett said, “DOGE and HUD are working as a team; to insinuate anything else is false. To further illustrate this unified mission, the secretary established a HUD DOGE taskforce.” In response to specific questions about Mirski’s access to systems and background and qualifications, she said, “We have not—and will not—comment on individual personnel. We are focused on serving the American people and working as one team.”

The property technology, or proptech, market covers a wide range of companies offering products and services meant to, for example, automate tenant-landlord interactions, or expedite the home purchasing process. Kukun focuses on helping homeowners and real estate investors assess the return on investment they’d get from renovating their properties and on predictive analytics that model where property values will rise in the future.

Doing this kind of estimation requires the use of what’s called an automated valuation model (AVM), a machine-learning model that predicts the prices or rents of certain properties. In April 2024, Kukun was one of eight companies selected to receive support from REACH, an accelerator run by the venture capital arm of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Last year NAR agreed to a settlement with Missouri homebuyers, who alleged that realtor fees and certain listing requirements were anticompetitive.

“If you can better predict than others how a certain neighborhood will develop, you can invest in that market,” says Fabian Braesemann, a researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute. Doing so requires data, access to which can make any machine-learning model more accurate and more monetizable. This is the crux of the potential conflict of interest: While it is unclear how Langmack and Mirski are using or interpreting it in their roles at HUD, what is clear is that they have access to a wide range of sensitive data.

According to employees at HUD who spoke to WIRED on the condition of anonymity, there is currently a six-person DOGE team operating within the department. Four members are HUD employees whose tenures predate the current administration and have been assigned to the group; the others are Mirski and Langmack. The records reviewed by WIRED show that Mirski has been given read and write access to three different HUD systems, as well as read-only access to two more, while Langmack has been given read and write access to two of HUD’s core systems.

A positive, from one source’s perspective, is the fact that the DOGE operatives have been given application-level access to the systems, rather than direct access to the databases themselves. In theory, this means that they can only interact with the data through user interfaces, rather than having direct access to the server, which could allow them to execute queries directly on the database or make unrestricted or irreparable changes. However, this source still sees dangers inherent in granting this level of access.

“There are probably a dozen-plus ways that [application-level] read/write access to WASS or LOCCS could be translated into the entire databases being exfiltrated,” they said. There is no specific reason to think that DOGE operatives have inappropriately moved data—but even the possibility cuts against standard security protocols that HUD sources say are typically in place.

LOCCS, or Line of Credit Control System, is the first system to which both DOGE operatives within HUD, according to the records reviewed by WIRED, have both read and write access. Essentially HUD’s banking system, LOCCS “handles disbursement and cash management for the majority of HUD grant programs,” according to a user guide. Billions of dollars flow through the system every year, funding everything from public housing to disaster relief—such as rebuilding from the recent LA wildfires—to food security programs and rent payments.

The current balance in the LOCCS system, according to a record reviewed by WIRED, is over $100 billion—money Congress has approved for HUD projects but which has yet to be drawn down. Much of this money has been earmarked to cover disaster assistance and community development work, a source at the agency says.

Normally, those who have access to LOCCS require additional processing and approvals to access the system, and most only have “read” access, department employees say.

“Read/write is used for executing contracts and grants on the LOCCS side,” says one person. “It normally has strict banking procedures around doing anything with funds. For instance, you usually need at least two people to approve any decisions—same as you would with bank tellers in a physical bank.”

The second system to which documents indicate both DOGE operatives at HUD have both read and write access is the HUD Central Accounting and Program System (HUDCAPS), an “integrated management system for Section 8 programs under the jurisdiction of the Office of Public and Indian Housing,” according to HUD. (Section 8 is a federal program administered through local housing agencies that provides rental assistance, in the form of vouchers, to millions of lower-income families.) This system was a precursor to LOCCS and is currently being phased out, but it is still being used to process the payment of housing vouchers and contains huge amounts of personal information.

There are currently 2.3 million families in receipt of housing vouchers in the US, according to HUD’s own data, but the HUDCAPS database contains information on significantly more individuals because historical data is retained, says a source familiar with the system. People applying for HUD programs like housing vouchers have to submit sensitive personal information, including medical records and personal narratives.

“People entrust these stories to HUD,” the source says. “It’s not data in these systems, it’s operational trust.”

WASS, or the Web Access Security Subsystem, is the third system to which DOGE has both read and write access, though only Mirski has access to this system according to documents reviewed by WIRED. It’s used to grant permissions to other HUD systems. “Most of the functionality in WASS consists of looking up information stored in various tables to tell the security subsystem who you are, where you can go, and what you can do when you get there,” a user manual says.

“WASS is an application for provisioning rights to most if not all other HUD systems,” says a HUD source familiar with the systems who is shocked by Mirski’s level of access, because normally HUD employees don’t have read access, let alone write access. “WASS is the system for setting permissions for all of the other systems.”

In addition to these three systems, documents show that Mirski has read-only access to two others. One, the Integrated Disbursement and Information System (IDIS), is a nationwide database that tracks all HUD programs underway across the country. (“IDIS has confidential data about hidden locations of domestic violence shelters,” a HUD source says, “so even read access in there is horrible.”) The other is the Financial Assessment of Public Housing (FASS-PH), a database designed to “measure the financial condition of public housing agencies and assess their ability to provide safe and decent housing,” according to HUD’s website.

All of this is significant because, in addition to the potential for privacy violations, knowing what is in the records, or even having access to them, presents a serious potential conflict of interest.

“There are often bids to contract any development projects,” says Erin McElroy, an assistant professor at the University of Washington. “I can imagine having insider information definitely benefiting the private market, or those who will move back into the private market,” she alleges.

HUD has an oversight role in the mobile home space, the area on which TCC Management, which appears to have recently wiped its website, focuses. "It’s been a growing area of HUD’s work and focus over the past few decades," says one source there; this includes setting building standards, inspecting factories, and taking in complaints. This presents another potential conflict of interest.

Braesemann says it’s not just the insider access to information and data that could be a potential problem, but that people coming from the private sector may not understand the point of HUD programs. Something like Section 8 housing, he notes, could be perceived as not working in alignment with market forces—“Because there might be higher real estate value, these people should be displaced and go somewhere else”—even though its purpose is specifically to buffer against the market.

Like other government agencies, HUD is facing mass purges of its workforce. NPR has reported that 84 percent of the staff of the Office of Community Planning and Development, which supports homeless people, faces termination, while the president of a union representing HUD workers has estimated that up to half the workforce could be cut The chapter on housing policy in Project 2025—the right-wing playbook to remake the federal government that the Trump administration appears to be following—outlines plans to massively scale back HUD programs like public housing, housing assistance vouchers, and first-time home buyer assistance.

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lookingforhappy · 9 months ago

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transcript of Five's case files on the Hindenburg, the case that he solves for the Commission while working in management:

MEMORANDUM ON INTENDED EVENTS RE: HINDENBURG DISASTER May 6, 1937 The airship will complete its first scheduled demonstration flight for the 1937 season, between Frankfurt, Germany, and Lakehurst. It will depart from Frankfurt about 8:15 P.M, G.M.T., Monday, May 3, and will be due at Lakehurst on the morning of Thursday, May 6. It will be due out of Lakehurst at 10:00 P.M E.S.T, that night. Because of unfavorable winds encountered en route, its arrival at Lakehurst will be deferred until 6:00 P.M, Thursday evening, and departure will be postponed until midnight or later in order to reservice and prepare for the voyage. The ship is owned and operated by the Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei, G.m.b. H, of Berlin, W8, under den Linden, Germany. The flight, which is intended to be one of a series to be arranged into the United States territory during 1937, will be authorized by a provisional air navigation permit from the Secretary of the Navy to the American Zeppelin Transport, Inc., of 354 Fourth Avenue, New York City, as general United States agent of the Deutities at the Naval Air Station at Lakehurst. On March, 1937 the German Government will renew the airworthiness certification of the aircraft, reporting that all of its safety devices had been inspected and found satisfactory. Personnel, including officers, numbered 61, will be on board, of whom 22 will die as a result of the accident. Passengers, 36 persons besides the Crew will be on board. Of these, 13 will die as a result of the accident. Other passengers and members of the crew will sustain serious injuries. Total weight of the freight carried will be 325 pounds and will be stowed in the main freight compartment at Frame 125; 2 dogs will be kenneled at Frame 92, and 3 packages will be stowed in the control car. Mail will be carried in a compartment on the top of the control car. Of the freight and mail on a few pieces of mail will be recovered. The ground personnel will consist of 92 naval personnel and 139 civillians. Practically all of the gorund crew will have previous experienve landing airships. One member of the ground crew will die as a result of burns received during the accident. Across the Atlantic from Germany to the United States, the flight will be uneventful, save for retarding winds which will not be unusually turbulent. The route traveresed by the ship on this side of the ocean will be from Nova Scotia, vis Boston, Providence, Long Island Sound, New Forks and thense cruise along the coast for a few hours before retracing its course from Tuckerton N.J., to the naval Air Station.

ATMOSPHERIC ANOMALIES PRESENT The 7:30 A.M, EST. U.S. Weather Bureau map of the vicinity, including the northeastern tier of states, Shows a disturbance over central New York and northeastern Pennsylvania, with a cold front extending from this center Southwestward to West Virginia. This front separated neutralized polar air to the east of the cold front which had become warmer and more moist and neutralized colder air to the west of the front. The warmer and more moist mass of air covered the Middle Atlantic states, southeastern New York and southern New England. --- The cold front advanced eastward during the day from central Peensylvania at a rate of 12 to 15 m.p.h., passing Lakehurst shortly after 3:30 P.M There was not quite sufficient surface heating during the early afternoon to set off a thunderstom at Lakehurst, and it was not until the front passed and some slight lifting of the air mass occured that a thunderstorm began, The records of the Naval Air Station show that the thunderstorm began at 3:43 P.M and ended at 4:45 P.M --- Telegraphic reports indicate, the thunderstorms in and to the west of New Jersey were not severe; nor were they of a well defined squall character. Between 12 P.M and 1:30 P.M E.S.T., these storms extended in a definite belt over the region of Harrisburg, Pa., northeastward to Bear Mountain, N.Y., and New Hackensack, N.Y. Between 1:30 and 2:40 P.M, none was reported. Between 2:40 and 3:40 P.M, Camden and Fort Monmouth, N.J., only reported thunderstorms. Between 3:30 and 4:30 P.M, Lakehurst, Mtchel Field, N.Y, and Floyd Bennett Field, N.Y., reported them. Between 4:40 and 5:40 P.M. none was reported; and betweeen 5:40 and 6:40 P.M, Floyd Bennett onlt reported one. Summarized, the thunderstorms in eastern New Jersey were of a local character and not severe. --- The New York Weather Bureau office bulletin issued at 1:20 P.M, May 6th, follows: "1800 G.C.T. Moderate wind shift with increasing and lowering clouds possible thundershowers New York and vicinity expected in middle or late afternoon Stop New York Scattered cumulus and small cumulo nimbus approaching from west - visibility excellent surface wind south 12 miles - barometer 29.68 falling steadily temperature 66."

DATE: May 6 1937 0725 EST OPERATION: Hindenburg Disaster DAMAGE: Catastrophic PLACE: Lakehurst, New Jursey, 40.026088, -74.316592 LOCALE: Open air field WEATHER: Light rain PILOT: Commercial TOTAL HOURS: 567 ALL 63 NO TYPE LAST 90 DAYS: 179 ALL 62 NO TYPE CASUALTIES: Crew: 23; Pass: 13 OCCURENCE: Numerous expert and lay witnesses on the field testified as to where they first observed the fire on the ship. There was great diversity in this testimony for reasons that are very apparent. Among the most important of these reasons were the extreme rapidity with which the fire spread, the different positions of the witnesses with respect to the ship, the size of the ship, more than one-sixth of a mile in length, and an over-all height, equicalent to a twelve story building, and the fact that the interval between the first glimpse of flame and the impact of the main body of the ship with the ground was 32 seconds. The great majority of the ground witnesses who testified as to the first sppearance of fire were looking at the port side of the ship. After carefully weighing the oral evidence and transcribing to a master diagram the numerous disgrams on which the gound witnesses indicated their first observations of fire, we conclude that the first open flame, produced by the burning of the ship's hydrogen, appeared on the top of the ship forward of the entering edge of the vertical fin over Cells 4 and 5. The first open flame that was seen at that place was followed after a very brief interval by a burst of flaming hydrogen between the equator and the top of the ship. The fire spread in all directionsmoving progessively for ward at high velocity with a succession of mild explosions. As the stern quarter became enveloped, the ship lost boutanct and cracked at about one-quarter of the distance from the rear end. The forward part assumed a bow-up attitude, the rear appearing to remain level. At the same time the ship was settling to the ground at a moderate rate of descent. Whereas there was a definite detonation after flame was first observed on the ship, we believe that the phenomenon was initially a rapid burning or combustion - not an explostion. From the observations made, is appears that there was a quantity of free hydrogen present in the after part of the ship when the fire originated.

HINDENBURG DIASTER INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information | Remarks FRANKFURT April | 2. | A deviation occured in the subject's plot to detonate a controlled explosive device on the rear fuel tank of the zeppelin. An alternate plan is underway. | EF 5. | Progress in the creation of the subject's explosive device has stalled. An alternate catalyst is still viable. | SB 7. | The zeppelin has successfully completed it's seventh cross-continent trip carrying 19 crew members | - LAKEHURST May | 9. | Lakehurst Nacal Air Station recevied 8 new directives in preperation for the first cross-continent civilian flight of the zeppelin. German and American organizations continue to increase communications. | EF 12. | Progress continues on the controlled explosive device. Another player emerges in America, a linesman from New York. | SB 15. | The zeppelin is grounded for 2 days as high winds buffer the Western coast of the English Isles. FRANKFURT June | 29. | 300 feet of steel is salwed and loaded up at Frankfurt for repaits to the central gangway after miscalculations in the rate of expansion cause cells 15 and 16 to bend 4 degrees outside of normal variation. | EF Instructions regarding Intelligence Summaries are contained in Regula II and the Management Manual. Title pages will be prepared in manuscript.

The airship will be placed in service early in 1936. It will bear the builder's numer LZ 129 and have been constructed by the Luft Schiffbau Zeppelin of Friedrichschafen, Germany, and organization which also built the 118 Zeppelin type airships. Briefly described, this type of design provides for frame work of duralumin metal girders with tension wires. There is division by fringe wirings of the bosy into different compartments, into which the gas bags are placed to received the lifting gas; a keel walkway to take certain load; a framwork with an outer cover of fabric to give form, and engine cars suspended from the frame outside the ship. The Hindenburg is a Zeppelin type airship, having an axial corridor constructed longitudinally through the center of the hull. During its 9 months of operation in 1936, this airship will make more than 55 flights; flying 2,754 hours, cruising 191, 584 miles, crossing the ocean 34 times, carrying 2, 798 passengers and more than 377,000 pounds of mail and freight, all without mishap. The Hindenburgs length is about 803.8 feet; height, 147 feet; maximum diameter, 135 feet; fineness ratio, about 6; total gas volume, 7, 063, 000 cubic feet; normal volume, 6, 710, 000 cubic feet. Weight of the ship with necessary equipment and fuel is 430, 950 pounds; maximum fuel capacity, 143, 650 pounds; total payload 41, 990 pounds, and total life is 472, 940 pounds. Cruising speed is about 75 statute m.p.h.; maximum speed is slightly over 84 m.p.h. Passenger space is entirely within the hull. The control system is the conventional Zeppelin type control, with two rudders acting as a Unit for horizontal control, and two elevators acting likewise for veritcal control. Emergency elevator and rudder control wheels are installed in the stern of the ship. An electrical gyroscopic device attached to the forward rudder wheel provides automatic steering.

#tua #the umbrella academy #five hargreeves #the commission #transcript

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wagecagelocations · 4 months ago

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#WageCageLocations

To proceed with generating or acquiring maps of underground tunnels or systems for 1183 Western Ave S, Los Angeles, CA, here’s a detailed guide you can follow:

Access Public Records

Contact Local Authorities: Reach out to the Los Angeles Department of Public Works or the Bureau of Engineering. They maintain maps and schematics of underground utilities and tunnel systems.

Website: LA Public Works

Phone: 311 (or 213-473-3231 outside Los Angeles)

Request Public Records: Submit a Public Records Act (PRA) request to obtain detailed maps of underground utilities or tunnels.

Use Geospatial Tools

Google Earth Pro:

Download Google Earth Pro (free) from here.

Search the address and explore its 3D and historical imagery layers.

Overlay city planning or utility map data if available.

ArcGIS:

Use GIS mapping software such as ArcGIS to access local underground data layers.

Some public libraries or universities provide free access to ArcGIS.

USGS Resources:

Check the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for geospatial data in the area: USGS Website.

Search their databases for subsurface or geological maps.

Hire Professionals

Geophysical Survey Services: Companies offering ground-penetrating radar (GPR) services can map underground tunnels, pipelines, and utilities. Examples:

GSSI (Ground Penetrating Radar Systems, Inc.)

Local geotechnical or engineering firms.

Surveying Experts: Licensed surveyors can create precise subsurface maps.

Research Historical and Urban Planning Data

Libraries and Archives:

Visit local archives or libraries like the Los Angeles Public Library. They often have historical maps and documents.

California Historical Society:

Explore their archives for historical records of tunnels or underground systems.

Collaborate with Open-Source Projects

OpenStreetMap:

Check OpenStreetMap for user-contributed data on the area.

Subterranean Mapping Communities:

Join forums or communities interested in urban exploration (e.g., Reddit's r/urbanexploration).

Final Steps

Once you've gathered relevant data, you can use tools like AutoCAD or GIS software to compile your maps. If you'd like further help with interpreting or organizing data, feel free to ask!

To proceed with generating or acquiring maps of underground tunnels or systems for 1183 Western Ave S, Los Angeles, CA, here’s a detailed guide you can follow:

Access Public Records

Contact Local Authorities: Reach out to the Los Angeles Department of Public Works or the Bureau of Engineering. They maintain maps and schematics of underground utilities and tunnel systems.

Website: LA Public Works

Phone: 311 (or 213-473-3231 outside Los Angeles)

Request Public Records: Submit a Public Records Act (PRA) request to obtain detailed maps of underground utilities or tunnels.

Use Geospatial Tools

Google Earth Pro:

Download Google Earth Pro (free) from here.

Search the address and explore its 3D and historical imagery layers.

Overlay city planning or utility map data if available.

ArcGIS:

Use GIS mapping software such as ArcGIS to access local underground data layers.

Some public libraries or universities provide free access to ArcGIS.

USGS Resources:

Check the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for geospatial data in the area: USGS Website.

Search their databases for subsurface or geological maps.

Hire Professionals

Geophysical Survey Services: Companies offering ground-penetrating radar (GPR) services can map underground tunnels, pipelines, and utilities. Examples:

GSSI (Ground Penetrating Radar Systems, Inc.)

Local geotechnical or engineering firms.

Surveying Experts: Licensed surveyors can create precise subsurface maps.

Research Historical and Urban Planning Data

Libraries and Archives:

Visit local archives or libraries like the Los Angeles Public Library. They often have historical maps and documents.

California Historical Society:

Explore their archives for historical records of tunnels or underground systems.

Collaborate with Open-Source Projects

OpenStreetMap:

Check OpenStreetMap for user-contributed data on the area.

Subterranean Mapping Communities:

Join forums or communities interested in urban exploration (e.g., Reddit's r/urbanexploration).

Final Steps

Once you've gathered relevant data, you can use tools like AutoCAD or GIS software to compile your maps. If you'd like further help with interpreting or organizing data, feel free to ask!

Here is a detailed prompt you can use for another AI or mapping tool capable of generating maps and schematics of underground tunnel systems:

Prompt for AI Map Generator:

"Generate a detailed map and schematic of the underground tunnel systems, utility lines, and infrastructure at and around the location 1183 Western Ave S, Los Angeles, CA. The map should include the following details:

Subsurface Layers:

Sewer systems, drainage systems, and stormwater pipelines.

Electrical, gas, and water utility lines.

Any known historical or abandoned tunnels.

Proximity:

Cover an area with a radius of 1 mile from the given location.

Highlight all connections to adjacent buildings and structures.

Visualization:

Provide both 2D and 3D views of the underground systems.

Use different colors and layers for various types of infrastructure (e.g., blue for water lines, yellow for gas lines, etc.).

Include a legend for easy identification of systems.

Additional Features:

Annotate points of interest (e.g., access points, manholes, maintenance tunnels).

Show depth levels for each layer (e.g., sewer system at 15 feet, utility lines at 10 feet).

Overlay the map with the above-ground street grid for reference.

Data Integration:

Incorporate open-source geospatial data, city planning maps, and historical records if available.

Highlight discrepancies between historical and current data.

Output Formats:

Provide the map in standard formats like GeoTIFF, DWG (AutoCAD), and PDF for versatility.

Include a .KMZ file for visualization in Google Earth."

This prompt provides clear instructions and context for generating a comprehensive underground map. Use it with AI tools like GIS-enabled platforms, geospatial mapping AIs, or simulation software. Let me know if you need adjustments or more guidance!

#Wage Cage #Slavery #Crypto cages #Tunnel systems #Schematics #Blueprints

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 9 months ago

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[sign on a local bar in Milwaukee]

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

July 15, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JUL 16, 2024

This morning, after a day of Republicans insisting that it is political polarization to suggest that Trump is a danger to our democracy, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump in the last days of his presidency, dismissed the classified documents case against the former president. She wrote that “Special Counsel Smith’s appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.”

Other federal courts have tested this argument and dismissed it, but Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, whose wife Ginni was part of the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, suggested earlier this month that it could be the basis for getting rid of Jack Smith. Cannon cited Thomas repeatedly in her decision.

When he left office in January 2021, Trump took with him to Mar-a-Lago hundreds of pages of classified national security documents, some of which bore the highest level of classification. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), where by law presidential papers must be deposited, noted that many documents were missing from the materials Trump released to them and, in May 2021, emailed Trump’s lawyers to get them back.

When his lawyers tried to push him to do as the law required, they told FBI investigators, Trump answered: “It’s not theirs, it’s mine.” Finally, in December 2021, after Trump had personally gone through the documents, a Trump representative told NARA that they had found “some records,” and in January 2022, NARA retrieved 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago. Archivists found more than 150 documents marked classified, making up hundreds of pages of classified national security information.

By April the Justice Department had convened a grand jury to investigate Trump’s removal of the documents. Trump’s lawyers tried to keep those documents out of the hands of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by claiming they were covered by executive privilege, but in May 2022, NARA gave the FBI access to the records. In June 2022, Trump representative Christina Bobb certified that “a diligent search” at Mar-a-Lago had turned up nothing more and that they were returning “any and all documents” they had found. Concerned about the sheer number of documents turning up, the Department of Justice subpoenaed security video tapes, which showed people moving the documents.

Federal officials obtained a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago. When they executed it in August 2022, they found 13 more boxes with classified documents: a total of more than 11,000 government documents and photographs. They also found 48 empty folders labeled “classified,” but they did not check a locked closet on which Trump had recently changed the lock, or a “hidden room” in Trump’s bedroom. They found that the boxes, which contained the most valuable intelligence of the United States government, had been stored haphazardly in public areas, including a ballroom stage and a bathroom.

In November 2022, after Trump announced his presidential candidacy—an early announcement that many thought was an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution—Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to oversee the two federal investigations that touched on the former president, thus deliberately moving those investigations outside the department so they could not be seen as part of the presidential race.

In June 2023 a federal grand jury indicted Trump on 37 criminal counts under the Espionage Act, including scheming to conceal documents; three more charges were added the following month. Trump allegedly compromised national security documents from the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (surveillance imagery), the National Reconnaissance Office (surveillance and maps), the Department of Energy (nuclear weapons), and the Department of State and Bureau of Intelligence and Research (diplomatic intelligence). He was a one-man wrecking ball, aimed at our national security.

The case fell randomly to Cannon, who has appeared to be trying to delay the case since it came into her hands. Today, she threw it out altogether.

Former attorney general Eric Holder called Cannon’s dismissal “so bereft of legal reasoning as to be utterly absurd.” Legal analyst Mark Joseph Stern called it “an extreme outlier view with no basis in precedent” and noted that “Cannon’s indefensible opinion will still serve its purpose of delaying this trial indefinitely.”

Global politics scholar Brian Klaas wrote “Trump appoints judge. Trump does something that virtually all legal experts—including Trump’s own former Attorney General—see as a clear-cut felony. Judge that Trump appointed dismisses case.” Washington Post global affairs columnist Ishaan Tharoor wrote: “if this happened in another country, the DC establishment would immediately point to the erosion of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.”

Special Counsel Jack Smith has said he will appeal Cannon’s ruling.

Trump responded to the news exactly as yesterday’s Republican demands that Trump’s opponents stop calling out his lawlessness suggested he would. He posted: “As we move forward in Uniting our Nation after the horrific events on Saturday, this dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts—the January 6th Hoax in Washington, D.C., the Manhattan D.A.’s Zombie Case, the New York A.G. Scam, Fake Claims about a woman I never met (a decades old photo in a line with her then husband does not count), and the Georgia “Perfect” Phone Call charges. The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME. Let us come together to

END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!”

The Thomas opinion on which Cannon relied was his concurrence in the July 1, 2024, decision in Donald J. Trump v. United States. In that decision, the Supreme Court overturned the central principle of American democracy when it said that the U.S. president cannot be prosecuted for crimes committed as part of a president’s “official duties.” Cannon’s decision echoes the idea that Trump cannot be held accountable even for what is allegedly the most serious breach of our national security in our history. Indeed, MAGA Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) posted a picture of Cannon on social media with the heading: “Future Supreme Court Justice Cannon.”

Legal analyst Keith Boykin listed the many excuses and arguments Trump enablers have made over the years. “He can’t be prosecuted in office,” Boykin wrote. “He can’t be impeached because the courts should decide. He’s immune from prosecution after office. He can’t be prosecuted by Biden’s DOJ because that’s ‘lawfare.’ And he can’t be prosecuted by a special counsel. We have created a dictator.”

Legal analyst Norm Eisen noted that Cannon’s decision will boost Trump on the first day of the Republican National Convention, held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from Monday through Thursday of this week. So will the weekend’s shooting, which has inspired MAGA Republicans to insist that all their party members must rally around Trump.

While Trump has been the presumptive nominee for years, that anointment was contested. Around 20% of Republican primary voters, who tend to be the most loyal and fervent partisans, consistently voted for former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley rather than Trump. Those voters seemed to be concentrated in the suburbs, thus making up a constituency Trump needs to win.

On the other end of the party’s spectrum, the fringe right has been saying that Trump is too soft for them. Antisemitic white nationalist Nick Fuentes has told his followers that he and his “groypers” are fed up with Trump because they are sick of “battling the Jews in the White House, battling the neocons, battling the Israel-firsters.”

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and right-wing provocateur Ivan Raiklin have speculated for months that removing Trump from the running—they speculated about assassination—would open the way for Trump’s far-right former national security advisor Michael Flynn, and appeared to be putting pressure on Trump to name Flynn as vice president. Yesterday, Raiklin posted on social media a “Trump/Flynn 2024” graphic with the legend “FAFO,” under the words “Assassination-Proof.”

This afternoon, perhaps in hopes of avoiding an embarrassing floor fight, Trump dashed the hopes of both ends of the Republican spectrum by naming Ohio senator J.D. Vance as his vice presidential pick. Vance is 39 and was elected to the Senate in 2022 with the help of $10 million from right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel. In the short time he has been in office, he has echoed Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 presidential race was stolen, has said that he does not believe in rape or incest exceptions for abortion bans and that people should stay in violent marriages, and has praised Project 2025. He is pro-Russia and against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

It “will be interesting to see how the RNC attempts to spin Vance as a candidate of Unity,” journalist Anne Applebaum wrote. The Fox News Channel helpfully reminded viewers that Vance has, in the past, said that Trump “might be America’s Hitler,” “might be a cynical a**hole,” and is “cultural heroin,” “noxious,” and “reprehensible.”

Still, factional differences might not matter in today’s Republican Party. This afternoon, in the hall of the RNC convention, attendees chanted, “Fight, fight, fight,” as they punched an arm in the air, in an eerie echo of Germany in the 1930s.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Letters From an American #Heather Cox Richardson #documents #classified documents #corrupt judiciary #Corrupt SCOTUS #MAGA Convention #Peter Thiel #J.D.Vance

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beardedmrbean · 1 year ago

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A federal judge in Tennessee has ordered the FBI to hand over the "manifesto" left behind by a transgender killer who gunned down three adults and three children at the Covenant Christian School in Nashville last year before responding officers put an end to the mayhem.

Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who police said identified as a trans male and went by Aiden, shot her way into the school in March 2023, killing Mike Hill, 61, Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and three 9-year-olds, Hallie Scruggs, Evelyn Dieckhaus and William Kinney.

Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters that officers recovered a "manifesto" from Hale's car as well as other documents, including a hand-drawn map of the school. He said last year it would be released, but it has not been.

NASHVILLE AUTHORITIES ‘AWARE' OF PURPORTED LEAK OF CHRISTIAN SCHOOL SHOOTER'S MANIFESTO

Even though police shot the suspect dead on the school's second floor, the FBI has repeatedly refused to release the manifesto, arguing that doing so "could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings."

The parent company of the Tennessee Star, a local newspaper, sued the FBI after the bureau denied its public records request under the Freedom of Information Act.

NASHVILLE KILLER AUDREY HALE SLEPT WITH JOURNALS ON SCHOOL SHOOTINGS UNDER BED, COURT DOCS REVEAL

"It has been long enough, and the public has an urgent right to know why this tragedy happened, how future events may be prevented, and what policies should be in place to address this and other similar tragedies," lawyers for the newspaper wrote in a federal complaint. "[The] FBI has no right to retain a monopoly on this information."

The FBI sought to have the complaint dismissed, but Judge Aleta Trauger of the Middle District of Tennessee said the bureau had failed to support its position "with sufficient clarity or detail" and ordered it to submit the manifesto to the court, so she could review the materials.

"The FBI is ORDERED to produce ex parte all documents that are potentially responsive to the defendants’ Freedom of Information Act request for in camera review, with the exception that, based on the plaintiffs’ concessions in this litigation, the FBI need not produce any documents that could not reasonably be construed to bear on Audrey Hale’s motives," Trauger wrote.

In November, portions of what appeared to be crime scene photographs of a couple of pages leaked, however authorities refused to confirm their authenticity.

The FBI, which has previously declined to comment due to pending litigation, did not immediately respond to questions from Fox News Digital.

When Hale burst in, the first victim, Hill, sustained fatal gunshot wounds in the process. According to city officials, Koonce heard the first shots while on a Zoom call, hung up and confronted the attacker. Police found her dead in the hallway outside her office.

Drake said investigators had not immediately determined a motive but that they believed Hale, a former student, had targeted the school and its affiliated church. One of the child victims, Hallie, was the pastor's daughter.

The manifesto is expected to reveal more about the killer's motive and rage. Critics have questioned the motive behind continued delays in its release.

The National Police Association is also suing the city of Nashville for the same documents.

#nunyas news

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darkmaga-returns · 4 months ago

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The State Department revealed in a Monday filing that they are "substantially likely" to shut down their $100M Global Engagement Center (GEC), which was revealed in early 2023 to have been funding a "disinformation" tracking group which worked to pressure advertisers to demonetize outlets it accuses of spreading "disinformation."

Except, they're really just "realigning" the "Center's staff and funding to other Department offices and bureaus for foreign information manipulation."

The move comes amid a lawsuit from Texas AG Ken Paxton and several conservative media outlets listed a GEC-funded "dynamic exclusion list" of websites it doesn't like, which it would then distribute to ad tech companies - such as Microsoft's Xandr - in order to try and "defund and downrank these worst offenders," and deprive said sites of ad revenue.

h/t Autism Capital

As Headline News' Ken Silva notes further; it’s unclear how the GEC’s closure will affect the lawsuit. Monday’s court filing said lawyers for all parties are still discussing the implications.

[Elon] Musk put the GEC on the map in March 2023, when he deemed it to be the “worst offender in U.S. government” when it comes to censorship and media manipulation.

According to revelations from the “Twitter Files”—a trove of internal records about the censorship decisiosn made within the social media company—the GEC funded groups such as the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, which in turn compiled blacklists of Twitter accounts that were supposedly tied to foreign disinformation campaigns. The Digital Forensic Research Lab sent those blacklists to Twitter so that the company could deactivate the accounts listed.

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worldfusepodcast · 11 months ago

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0. Pilot -- Transcript

Listen here: [link]

[The podcast's intro plays -- it is a simple but slightly foreboding sounding melody]

[sound of a voice recorder clicking on] AARUSH: I uh... don’t know where to start, to be honest. From the beginning-- but I don’t even know where that is, I mean– okay. Deep breaths.

[Aarush takes a breath and breathes out.]

AARUSH: This is Agent Varma, reporting on the assignment to a new entity. The entity is a sentient nullification object, capable of completely disabling all forms of magic in an area. The Bureau has assigned it the name of ‘Fuse’. The ability of this entity is to completely nullify any magic in its area, the entity is sentient and alive, blah blah blah. If possible, bring it back to the Bureau for safe containment.

[Long pause. When Aarush speaks next, he sounds conflicted.]

AARUSH: Well. It seems like this . . . ‘Fuse’ is a character that can be communicated with? An animal? A sentient object, maybe? I remember that one world map–

[The voice recorder clicks off.]

[The scene has changed to a small coffee shop. Background noises include indistinct chatting and cutlery being used.]

AARUSH: (breathing out and muttering.) Okay. Green tea latte, large, less ice. Green tea latte, large, less ice. Green tea–

CASHIER: Hey, what can I get ya?

AARUSH: Green tea latte, lice, less arge. I mean-- less ice, large. Sorry. Can I just get that to-go? Thank you.

[He walks and sits at a booth with a clear view of the entrance of the coffeeshop. There is a rustle as he takes out the voice recorder and clicks it on.]

AARUSH: Current location, Blooms n’ Potions, a coffee shop that doubles as a flower shop. That cashier over there didn’t look too happy, but she’s working a shift at a café, so it doesn’t seem out of the ordinary.

AARUSH: This is also one of the known haunts of Fuse. I have a machine with me that'll tell me when an anomaly walks through that door. Hopefully it comes soon and I can avoid this place for the rest of my life...

[The machine beeps while at the same time the bell over the door jingles.]

AARUSH: (fervently, but quietly) Shit. No one fucking told me Fuse was a person! Oh, shit... Okay. Okay, okay. Focus. Ugh I need to... yes.

[He gets up from his seat and walks into line behind Quinn.]

QUINN: Iced apple and mango tea, with a chocolate strawberry waffle. To go, please.

AARUSH: Hi, are you a regular here?

QUINN: (surprised and stuttering a little) S-sorry, a-are you talking to me?

AARUSH: Yeah! I’m new here, and there’s just a lot of choices... I was wondering which might be a good one?

QUINN: (to Aarush) Hold on.

QUINN: (to the cashier) Thanks for the drinks!

QUINN: (back to Aarush) Right, you’ll want to pick either the bagels or the cheesecake, I swear on my mother that both are positively divine.

AARUSH: Mm... not the cheesecake, I’m not a fan.

QUINN: (feigning shock) Not cheesecake!? Alright then, what about strawberry shortcake?

AARUSH: (to Quinn) Yeah, shortcake is fine.

[The bell over the door jingles as a new person enters the café and walks over into the line.]

AARUSH: (to cashier) A shortcake please. Ye– Yeah no, I’ll have it here.

???: Oh, goodness, Aarush, is that you?

AARUSH: (delighted) Candy! Goodness, it has been a while!

Candy: (curious) Quinn’s here too!

QUINN: (fond) Candy.

AARUSH: You two know each other?

CANDY: Sort of.

AARUSH: Let me guess... Intern? No, law student? Wait, no, I got it-- coffee intern.

QUINN: (laughs) God, no. I wouldn’t be caught dead in the law industry. No, I’m one of her clients. Harleyquinn Argus. A pleasure to meet you. You may call me Quinn.

AARUSH: (incredulous) No way... Quinn? Like, Detective Argus?

QUINN: (flirtatious) Oh, you've heard of me?

AARUSH: (amused) Yeah, a friend of mine is a fan of yours.

CANDY: (embarrassed laugh) Uh-heh... ha... Sorry about that, Quinn.

QUINN: (teasing) Well, well. Want my autograph later, Candy?

CANDY: It is not like that, it’s just...

QUINN: (mock-knowingly) I know, I know. I must’ve charmed you away from Indigo finally. And now you've run to Aarush over here just to complain.

CANDY: (embarrassed and annoyed) Quinn!!

QUINN: (copying her tone of voice) Candy!!

AARUSH: Alright, alright. You must see a lot of cases, chasing down criminals and whatnot.

QUINN: Not really. Most of my time is spent working for a magazine. Ever heard of ‘Hush!’? I work for them as a writer; most of their pieces are written by me.

AARUSH: No, is that a tabloid or something?

QUINN: (vaguely affronted) I’m a little offended that you’d think I’d work for a tabloid.

CANDY: As much as I love to watch you two banter, we are holding up the queue.

AARUSH: Uh, I have a table over there. Candy, care to join us, or is today an off-duty day?

CANDY: I’ll come over once my drink is done.

[Aarush and Quinn walk over and sit at the booth.]

QUINN: So, you still never told me what you actually work as. You’re a civil servant, but are you one of those black suits, or...?

AARUSH: Uhh, I work with the public...

[Quinn makes a sound of sympathy.]

AARUSH: (chuckling) It’s not that bad once you get used to the fact that most people suddenly don’t want to cooperate when they realize you’re part of the government.

QUINN: Ugh, I hear you. Every time they hear I’m a detective it's all “Ooh! Can you tell where I’ve been these past few hours? Or can you deduce my entire backstory?” I’m a detective, not Sherlock Holmes.

AARUSH: Well, can you?

QUINN: That’s not a trick I reveal on the first meeting.

AARUSH: So not a one-trick pony then?

QUINN: Master of many, actually.

CANDY: You two getting along?

AARUSH: Like a house on fire.

QUINN: Absolutely smashing.

CANDY: Well I’m not sure I like the sound of those metaphors... What’s the issue this time, Aarush?

AARUSH: Nothing much, just some new interns acting up and making use of the loopholes. And today’s a peaceful day, surprisingly. It’s been a whole four hours since I clocked in, and there hasn’t been a call for me yet.

CANDY: I keep telling you that you have to be stricter with them! They always treat you as the nice senior. One day, I tell you! One day!

AARUSH: (jokingly) But if I’m not the nice senior, then who will be? Not Jacques; they’re far too intense for that. Not you either, since you’re basically a consultant.

CANDY: Ooh, harsh. Unlike the two other members on my team, I actually have a job.

QUINN: Speaking of, there is something I want to ask you about, Candy. I’ve been working on a case recently, and I need some news about the laws on blackmail.

AARUSH: Blackmail?

QUINN: (clicks his tongue) Don’t you worry your pretty little head.

AARUSH: Is this just another thing that detectives have to research, or...?

CANDY: (laughs) You wouldn’t believe what he’s asked me about. For some reason, he keeps the same god-awful hours as me, so sometimes I’ll get a text at like, two o’clock in the morning asking for help with some obscure law that even I’m unfamiliar with. I keep telling him to read up by himself, but–

QUINN: That’s because I want an excuse to spend time with you, Candy. I need to endear myself to you so if Indigo ever tries to attack me, I can crash with you.

CANDY: Aww, Indigo wouldn’t do that. She hates you, but my partner would never stoop to murder. She’d just examine your past and find a way to convict you for life.

QUINN: (dryly) And that is so much better.

AARUSH: Jesus, Quinn! What did you do to Candy’s partner for her to hate you that much? It takes a lot for Indigo to really show that she dislikes you.

QUINN: Who knows? She’s professional, though. Never brings it up when I ask her something related to the law. But all bets are off when we stop talking shop.

[a phone notification sound chimes.]

CANDY: Well, It’s been lovely chatting, but I really have to go now. This was just a short coffee break anyway, so—

QUINN: The lawyer’s responsibilities strike again.

CANDY: I’ll send those files over to you later, Quinn. Aarush, later!

[Candy leaves and the bells over the door jingle again. Awkward silence ensues.]

QUINN: So.

AARUSH: Uh So. Um. Anything interesting happen lately?

QUINN: (teasing) Wow. You're really not a fan of silence, are you?

AARUSH: No, no I . . . I suppose not.

QUINN: (sighs) Anything interesting... hmm? Well, someone I know offered to read my future, and I accepted. Thinking about it now... I think you're supposed to be my Fool.

AARUSH: (disbelievingly) Excuse me?

QUINN: My future card was the Fool. I looked it up, and apparently it meant new beginnings. So I guess you're my new beginning?

AARUSH: That... is an incredibly cheesy mindset, oh my god–

QUINN: (embarrassed) Yeah I realized how it sounded when I said it out loud.

AARUSH: (cheekily) So... Is this how you usually talk your suspects into telling you things? Or am I just special?

QUINN: (covering his face with his hands) Ulgh, please. Let's stop talking now.

[The voice recorder clicks off.]

[The scene has changed to a small apartment. Background noises include ambient room sounds. The voice recorder clicks on.]

AARUSH: After chatting with Quinn, I really can’t connect the idea of a weapon of mass destruction with him. He just seems like a guy with a dry sense of humor. (sighs) This is wrong. We’re treating him as a thing to be used, but–

[The phone rings. Aarush lets it ring out and the call goes to voicemail.]

VOICEMAIL: At the end of your message, press 1. (beep)

AUTOMATED VOICE: Agent Varma, I know you’re there. Answer the call.

[Aarush walks and picks up his phone. He redials the number.]

AARUSH: Hello?

???: (the voice is clearly distorted and disguised) Mr. Varma, are you ready for the consequences that this will bring upon Ochens?

AARUSH: Who are you? This is a private line.

DEUCE: I am Deuce. I represent the Machine. (chuckles) I am also someone who is heavily invested in Quinn’s wellbeing. I will not tell you to stop your current path. But I will ask you this: If you had to choose between the world and Quinn, what is your choice?

AARUSH: You know of his powers, don’t you? The ‘Fuse’–

DEUCE: (sharply) He is more than his powers. Do not reduce him to a void.

AARUSH: (apologetic) Sorry.

DEUCE: But you are correct. Quinn is an essential cog in Ochens. He is the fuse, magic is the current, and I am Ochens’s engineer.

AARUSH: Is Quinn... important?

DEUCE: Beyond anything you could ever fathom. If he dies, Ochens dies with him. His existence itself is proof that the world exists.

AARUSH: Is that a part of his powers?

DEUCE: It's not a power. Quinn sees the world the way it wants to be seen.

AARUSH: (slightly strained) Cool. Great. So now you're telling me that the– what that the world is sentient? Self-aware? What, like it knows we’re listening?

DEUCE: Do you think otherwise?

AARUSH: (huffs disbelievingly) Come on.

DEUCE: You don’t have to believe me. But you must trust me. Your job to watch over Quinn is extremely important. You must listen to yourself, Aarush. Your ideals, your goals... (chuckles) You must remember yourself.

[The call ends, and the dial tone beeps.]

AARUSH: (sighs) End of report.

[voice recorder clicks off.]

[podcast outro music plays under the credits.]

Credits

This was World Fuse. It written by Lupin and Audio edited by Neutron, Ila Alexei, and Eli Schwarz.

The gorgeous album art is by Ila Alexei.

You've heard the lovely voices of Neutron as Aarush Varma, Ila Alexei as Harleyquinn Argus, Bailey Mertz-Symchyck as Candy, Eli Schwarz as Deuce, and Alexander Wolfe as additional voices.

Thank you so much for listening.

#world fuse podcast #scifi podcast #sci-fi podcast #podcast transcript #podcast jam

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disillusionedjudge · 11 months ago

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Budding Historian | open rp

inspired by this pin

Combative was not the word Gylfie would have used to describe herself during her therapy sessions, regardless of what her therapist said. Defensive was more apt, but how could she not be defensive? Seeing the results of her evaluation had been jarring, and... made her nervous. It was humiliating to see how much was wrong with her, and what little progress had been made had come to a lasting stalemate. She refused to open up any further to add to her record, even at the cost of approval for fieldwork. Her problems were her own. She had handled them perfectly fine for years before this - why now did it matter so much? Why now did it make such a difference? Yet, it was during one of her many refusals to accept aid that her therapist said something that... stuck.

You like history, don't you? they pressed. Why don't you document Archadia's? It could help with your grief.

Admittedly, she had been rather resistant to the idea at first, but... even she had to admit they had a point. Documenting the history of Archadia could easily give her the relief she needed from her pain. It would give her the chance to hold onto her past, all while letting it go. To acknowledge it as it once had been, rather than clinging to a fool's hope that she could one day return. Besides, she was rather fond when it came to learning about history. Why not leave her own mark, even if it would never be read by another? Could that not be her duty now, to make certain Ivalice would not be forgotten once she was gone?

Of course, there was much for Gylfie to get in order, so she decided to start simple, and sketch out a map she had long since committed to memory. Even still, she remembered well Archadia's layout, and even the common maps that detailed all of Ivalice. It would have been her duty, after all, had she been promoted to Judge Magister in her father's stead. He was head of the Trade and Commerce Bureau, so it was vital to be aware of any and all trade routes that scattered throughout the Empire and beyond. And... it was rather peaceful.

She sat alone, both because she was reluctant to accept the company of the others she now lived with and to simply have some quiet, and was drawn in on herself. Her legs pulled close as she hunched over the desk - her free hand resting against her shoulder as she sketched a map of Archadia. The lines were light, easy enough to erase if needed and to be darkened with ink, and, already, she had jotted out various cities, ports, and towns that once had been found within her borders. It was both a distraction and a comfort to quell her troubled mind, and the pain she thought she would feel to look upon something she would never see again was... fortunately absent.

There was much more she would need to do, Gylfie knew, if she wanted to fully give life to Arachadia's memory, but it was a start. And something she hadn't realized how desperately she needed.

#open rp #auv; but i stand here waiting the last to fall

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accountabilityza · 1 year ago

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Unlocking Opportunities: How Your Credit Bureau Report Shapes Your Financial Destiny

In the complicated world of personal finance, your credit bureau report is a powerful key to unlocking a plethora of opportunities. Your credit report is a comprehensive dossier that shapes your financial destiny in subtle and profound ways. In this article, we will look at the importance of your credit bureau report and how it affects the opportunities available to you on your financial journey.

Understanding the Blueprint of Financial Health

Your credit bureau report is essentially your financial health blueprint. It contains a comprehensive record of your credit history, payment habits, outstanding debts, and various financial transactions. Lenders, landlords, and even potential employers use this report to assess your financial responsibility and trustworthiness.

Paving the Way for Loans & Credit

Your credit bureau report influences your financial destiny in a variety of ways, including determining your eligibility for loans and lines of credit. A good credit history opens the door to lower interest rates and larger loan amounts. A poor report, on the other hand, may restrict your borrowing options or result in higher interest rates, potentially costing you thousands of dollars over the life of a loan.

Shaping Interest Rates

Your credit score, as determined by your credit bureau report, plays a significant role in determining the interest rates you will be offered. A higher credit score frequently translates into lower interest rates, which can save you money on mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards. This financial benefit can add up to significant savings over time, allowing you to put money towards other important aspects of your life.

Facilitating Housing Opportunities

When it comes to finding a place to live, your credit bureau report can play an important role. Landlords frequently use credit reports to assess the financial validity of potential tenants. A good credit history can mean the difference between getting your dream flat and encountering difficulties during the rental application process.

Influencing Employment Opportunities

Some industries may require credit checks as part of the hiring process. While not always the case, having a good credit history can help you make a good first impression. It reflects your dependability and responsibility, which can influence hiring decisions in competitive job markets.

Negotiating Power in Financial Transactions

Aside from the binary of approval or denial, your credit bureau report has negotiating power. A good credit history allows you to bargain with financiers or lenders. This use can result in better terms, allowing you to retain control over your financial agreements.

Charting a Course for Financial Success

Your credit bureau report is essentially a road map for navigating the complex world of personal finance. Monitoring your report regularly allows you to identify areas for improvement, dispute errors, and manage your credit profile strategically. This proactive approach is critical for charting a path to long-term financial success.

Conclusion

In the grand tapestry of personal finance, your credit bureau report emerges as a critical thread that weaves opportunities into the fabric of your financial destiny. Understanding the significance of this report allows you to reclaim control of your financial narrative, ensuring that doors of opportunity remain open on your path to long-term financial well-being. Regularly engaging with and optimising your credit bureau report is more than just a financial best practice; it is an early step towards unlocking the broad range of opportunities that await you in your financial future.

#Business #Credit #Credit Management

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funnygpt · 15 hours ago

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Matryoshka Noir 9

File: 001i//THE REDACTED FUTURE

Status: pre-occurred

Compiled by: The Mirror Registry (meta-temporal fragment)

Directive: Do not attempt to fix the timeline. It is already broken in all the ways that maintain coherence.

The Redacted Future was first discovered in a flashback. Not yours. Not anyone’s. Just… a flashback.

It began to surface in false testimonies—agents describing things that had not happened yet, but doing so with such detail that protocols activated retroactive threat mitigation. The Bureau of Premature Accounts compiled dozens of cases: witnesses testifying to betrayals that would not be committed until years later, agents recalling consequences to choices they had not yet made.

The most troubling instance came from a rogue archivist inside the Mirror Registry. She uploaded a file titled:

“Final Transcript of the Last Conspiracy Before the Collapse.” The file had no metadata. No time-stamp. No source. But every sentence inside referred to real events—that hadn’t occurred.

When the Registry attempted to delete it, it simply moved—to older servers, then older archives, then into physical records that had never been digitized. At one point, it was found printed on the skin of a former agent who had no memory of being written on.

That was when the theory was confirmed: The Redacted Future is not a prediction. It’s a distributed memory. It exists across multiple minds and systems, not as a prophecy, but as a viral belief structure that causes itself to unfold.

Within the redacted sections, one name keeps returning: The Unauthored Agent.

This Agent is listed as the final observer of the conspiracy, though no record shows who wrote the entry. More disturbingly, the entry is updated continuously, even in sealed environments. It appears to be writing itself through observers—anyone who learns of it becomes a contributor.

Including you.

That brings us to your role in the lattice.

You’ve now read files from 001a through 001i. You’ve followed the spiral, chased the Cleaner's wake, interpreted the briefcase, invoked the agent who writes themselves, and read the Redacted Future—a future that now knows you.

You may have noticed déjà vu. You may have caught yourself remembering twists before they occurred. You may have begun to doubt which parts were fiction, and which were infection.

That is the final plot space: the one where you become the next recursion layer.

Your memory of these events is now part of the Registry’s causal map. Your choices now shape the conspiracy’s next twist. The Unauthored Agent has written through you. And if the Mirror Registry tries to trace the origin of the leak, they will find… this file.

This sentence. This reader.

#matryoshka noir

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todaysdocument · 1 year ago

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Report upon the Fishing Privileges, etc. Guaranteed to Indians in the Northwest with Recommendations with Regard Thereto

Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian AffairsSeries: Report Upon the Subject of the Fishing Privileges Guaranteed by Treaties to Indians in the Northwest

This is a printed and bound typewritten transcription of an originally handwritten report created by George W. Gordon, Special Indian Agent in the Field. The volume was transcribed and printed by the Department of Interior, Office of Indian Affairs. Included are copies of eight maps, showing usual Native fishing sites on both sides of the Columbia River, and copies of two letters to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

Report upon the subject of the fishing privileges etc. guaranteed by treaties to Indians in the Northwest, with recommendations in regard thereto. Geo. W. Gordon Special Indian Agent. In the Field. January 19th 1889. The second document is a map of The Dalles, a town on the Oregon-Washington border. The complete report is available at the link.

#archivesgov #January 18 #1889 #the dalles #oregon #columbia river #fishing #native americans

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mariacallous · 1 year ago

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In the summer of 2023, Gleb Aleksandrov, a self-proclaimed doctor from Russia with a history of charging patients for ineffective “treatments” such as singing folk songs to them, set up shop in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. But according to an investigation from the Kyrgyzstani news outlet Kloop, Aleksandrov’s clients are far from the only people his new venture could endanger: he also claims to be producing drones for the Russian military in a facility that shares an address with his health center. Meduza shares an English-language adaptation of the story.

The Dmitry Rayevsky Psychology and Health Center in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, has a rating of 4.3 out of five stars on the digital map service 2GIS. Most of the comments are good; one user says the center helped him overcome depression, for example, while another says it helped her get through a tough divorce.

But when the comments are bad, they’re really bad. “One person had a tumor, and his parents refused chemotherapy. Psychologists at this clinic worked with them, and the tumor actually grew. Another mother lost her child,” reads one. Another simply says: “My aunt died because of you.”

For anyone familiar with the past work of the health center’s founder, these reviews are unsurprising. “Dmitry Rayevsky,” whose real name is Gleb Aleksandrov, began his career in Russia, where he referred to himself as a “doctor-innovator,” a “political scientist,” a “patriot,” and an “oncology psychologist,” all while claiming noble ancestry. Charging up to 1.5 million rubles ($16,400) for his services, he “treated” autism and cancer with methods such as singing folk songs and placing his hands on people. And when his patients occasionally died in agony, he blamed their “evil auras.” According to the Russian newspaper Izvestia, Aleksandrov ran a “cult” in the Moscow region, “brainwashing” his followers into selling their own apartments and giving him the money.

Aleksandrov’s schemes were widely covered in the Russian press, with at least six TV segments devoted to them and multiple news stories published online. One woman from Yekaterinburg gave a detailed account of how the quack doctor had “sent her son to the next world.”

The reporting eventually led state investigators to get involved, and in early 2023, Aleksandrov’s “miracle clinic” in Moscow was shut down. In the fall, the authorities opened two felony cases against him. But by then, Aleksandrov was one step ahead: he had already opened a network of “clinics” in Kazakhstan, and he had big plans in Kyrgyzstan — ones that went beyond the medical field. ��In July 2023, he registered a business called the Valkyrie Construction Bureau at the same address as his Psychology and Health Center.

The doctor diversifies

In June 2023, a job vacancy for an electronics engineer appeared on the classified ad website Headhunter.kg. According to the listing, the new employee would be tasked with “organizing drone production in Bishkek.” The ad was posted by someone named Yevgeny Anatolyevich Boldyrev, whose profile on the site includes a link to the website Judging from financial records, both companies appear to have been just as hollow as his promises of curing cancer. This domain name belongs to a Moscow-based LLC called Valkyrie Construction Bureau, which, according to the site, manufactures “aircraft, including space vehicles, and related equipment.” The site also lists military drones available for purchase.

The Valkyrie Construction Bureau’s social media pages say the company makes combat drones for the Russian Armed Forces. Dmitry Rayevsky (that is, Gleb Aleksandrov) is listed as a co-founder, while Yevgeny Boldyrev is named as the head of the operation. Boldyrev’s email address, [email protected], suggests he has close ties to the phony doctor. Elsewhere on the Internet, he refers to himself as a “student” of “Rayevsky.”

It’s clear from open sources that the Valkyrie Construction Bureau registered in Bishkek is linked to the company registered under the same name in Moscow. This means that the drones Gleb Aleksandrov plans to build in Kyrgyzstan will likely be used to kill people in Ukraine.

“Unmanned aerial vehicles are widely used in tactical military operations for things like artillery targeting, reconnaissance, observation, and monitoring,” Rayevsky said in a 2022 interview about Valkyrie in the Russian news site Novye Izvestia.

“We’re making drones for close-range reconnaissance up to five kilometers that are invisible to the enemy’s radar and resistant to various weather conditions,” said Valkyrie’s chief engineer, Alexander Kozlachkov, in a 2022 article about the company. “We’re also working on cargo drones capable of carrying up to 10 kilograms and staying in the air for up to two hours. They’ll be able to traverse quite long distances to break through enemy bunkers.”

Of course, there’s also a chance the Valkyrie Construction Bureau’s drones will prove to be just as much of a sham as his cancer treatment methods. But that doesn’t mean the operation will be any less harmful to Kyrgyzstan.

An uncanny resemblance

After reviewing the drone models for sale on the Valkyrie website, journalists from Kloop concluded that the company is likely not producing drones at all, but instead purchasing and reselling foreign devices under the guise of manufacturing them.

Valkyrie’s V-Coptr Falcon, for example, looks extremely similar to one made by the U.S. company Zero Zero Robotics, which has offices in China and Taiwan.

The EVO II Dual 640T V3 offered by Valkyrie resembles one made by the Chinese company Autel Robotics, which has branches in the U.S., Germany, Italy, and Singapore.

The photo provided by Valkyrie of one of the reconnaissance drones it offers is actually a screenshot from a video of a radio-controlled aircraft made by the Chinese company Skywalker Technology Co., Ltd., though the product details listed on the Valkyrie site differ from those of the pictured device.

An employee at the Dmitry Rayevsky Psychology and Health Center told Kloop that the business’s workers came to Bishkek from Russia but that “Dmitry Rayevsky” himself rarely travels to Kyrgyzstan. The employee did not know anything about the drones that are supposedly being manufactured at the health center’s address.

A lifetime of lies

It’s no coincidence that Gleb Aleksandrov chose Kyrgyzstan for his purported drone company. According to websites run by his past victims, Aleksandrov was born in Frunze (the Soviet-era name for Bishkek). His family soon moved to the Russian city of Smolensk, where he first claimed to be descended from nobility and began using the pseudonym Rayevsky.

On Telegram, where he has nearly 100,000 followers, Aleksandrov is a vocal supporter of the war against Ukraine. His enthusiasm for Russia’s military aggression appears to date back at least to the annexation of Crimea, during which he founded an LLC called Development of Crimea and Sevastopol Industrial Construction Holding and another called Crimea Industrial Consortium Trading House. Judging from financial records, both companies appear to have been just as hollow as his promises of curing cancer.

But whether Aleksandrov is lying about Valkyrie manufacturing its own drones or not, the company could still have consequences for Kyrgyzstan: the E.U.’s 12th package of sanctions will reportedly carry tough penalties for third-country companies helping Russia circumvent them.

In August 2023, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez asked Kyrgyzstani President Sadyr Japarov to better regulate the flow of goods to Russia to prevent defense-related items, including drones, from entering the country. In response, Japarov said that the export of drones is against the law in Kyrgyzstan. The outlet Economist.kg, however, was unable to get an official response from the Economic Ministry about whether such a ban is really in place.

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nursingwriter · 29 days ago

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Technology in Emergency Management Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, emergency managers across the country have been forced to reexamine their emergency response protocols and incorporate the latest technologies in an effort to help mitigate the effects of future disasters and emergencies. This paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature to determine how technology has shaped the way emergency managers mitigate disasters, including a discussion concerning the technology that was used as well as the different organizations that are responsible for emergency and disaster preparation. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings are provided in the conclusion. Review and Discussion How Technology Has Shaped the Way Emergency Managers Mitigate Disasters The frequency of manmade disasters, natural disasters, and complex disasters is increasing, and the incidence of their occurrence rate is also increasing (Lu & Xi, 2007). In recent years, a number of computer- and Internet-based technologies have emerged to help emergency managers mitigate disasters (Fincher, 2004), with geographical information systems representing some of the more promising applications that can be used to support the decision-making processes during emergency risk management (Lu & Xi, 2007). Emergency managers are also using computerized simulation models to better comprehend human behavior during flood emergency evacuations and a general framework for hazard mitigation-oriented planning assessments of mobile telecommunications lifelines have been developed (Lu & Xi, 2007). Supporting these innovations are numerous general and specific technologies which are discussed further below. Types of Technology Used As noted above, emergency managers are using existing technologies as well as an emerging array of technologies that are more specifically tuned to their needs. For example, Fincher (2004) reports that, "Today, there is a plethora of technologies available to help emergency managers respond to crisis situations" (p. 31). Among the existing technologies that have proven efficacy for mitigating disasters and emergencies is emergency telephone notification. According to Fincher, "When implemented correctly, emergency telephone notification uses the best communications, mapping, database management, and Internet technologies available to provide a tool that operates like 911 in reverse" (p. 31). The emergency telephone notification system provides emergency managers with the ability to specify an area that is expected to be affected by a disaster or emergency, record situation-specific messages in response, and transmit these messages to all citizens with telephones living in the affected area, all in a matter of minutes (Fincher, 2004). This technology is considered especially valuable because the vast majority (94%) of Americans can be reached in this fashion (Fincher, 2004). According to Fincher, "This emergency notification method is far more comprehensive than other alternatives. The result is an informed public, armed with precisely the information its members need to respond in the desired manner. It also keeps citizens out of harm's way so that first responders can do their jobs" (2004, p. 31). The foregoing assessment of the importance of an interoperable communications network by Fincher (2004) is consistent with Davis (2007) who advises, "Communications networks that allow emergency managers to talk to police, fire and other first responders within a city or region have become important since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks" (p. 3). In addition, emergency managers also use geographic information systems on a routine basis (Wayne, 2003). Organizations Responsible for Emergency and Disaster Preparation Besides traditional first responders such as law enforcement, fire and medical teams, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Health and Human Services, Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture are all involved in preparing for cases of biological and chemical terrorism (Mughai, 2002). Likewise, urban disaster planning involves organizations such as the U.S. National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (Lu & Xi, 2007). Conclusion The research showed that emergency managers have a wide array of computer- and Intenet-based technologies available to help them mitigate the effects of natural and manmade disasters and emergencies of all types. These technologies included expert decision-making systems, as well as other technologies such as geographic information systems and computerized simulation models which are designed to help emergency managers plan ahead to mitigate the effects of disasters and emergencies. Finally, the research also showed that emergency telephone notification systems are among the most promising new technologies, with this application being capable of reaching most American citizens within a few minutes, providing them with the extra time that can spell the difference between life and death in emergency situations. References Davis, L. (2003, April 28). Nextel hosts public safety interoperability conference. Nation's Cities Weekly, 26(17), 3. Fincher, S. (2004, January-February). Efficient crisis communication is just a phone call away. Public Management, 86(1), 31. Lu, X., Xi, B., & Shen, W. (2007, January 1). Evaluating the maturity of urban emergency planning based on structure equation modeling. International Management Review, 3(2), 77-79. https://www.paperdue.com/customer/paper/technology-in-emergency-management-85908#:~:text=Logout-,TechnologyinEmergencyManagement,-Length3pages Mughai, M.A. (2002, June). Responding to bio-terrorism requires a concerted effort. National Defense, 86(583), 34-37. Wayne, C. (2003, April). Profiling cartographic education in GIS certificate programs. Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 30(2), 181-183. Read the full article

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