#Racketeering Conspiracy

[conandaily2022]

10 Gambino crime family members, associates arrested, charged with with racketeering conspiracy, extortion, witness retaliation

Ten members and associates of the Gambino crime family were recently arrested. They are accused of perpetrating a series of other crimes throughout New York, United States and New Jersey, USA from 2017 through 2023. On November 8, 2023, a 16-count indictment was unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York City, New York charging the 10 arrestees with racketeering conspiracy, extortion,…

[arachnees]

Lately I’ve realized than when I was a child I was weirdly perceived as a little miss perfect even though I was quite precisely an underage criminal.

[memenewsdotcom]

Georgia 'stop cop city' indictments

[barrymccaulkinem]

is anyone else trying to play a *non steam* version of gow ragnarok? (from, say, a girl who is fit)

are controllers working for you? I cant get it to take steam input..

[trmpt]

“Brian Beutler had a very smart column last week pointing out something that should be obvious to everyone: Donald Trump is not so much running a presidential campaign as he is spearheading a criminal immunity racket. This ���campaign’ bears none of the hallmarks of a typical presidential run, no softening Melania, no silky Ivanka, no ‘Happy St. Patrick’s Day’ messaging, and almost no discussion of policy or politics. It’s just stadium rallies and Witch Hunt postings and ‘Please rise for the horribly and unfairly treated January 6 hostages.’ None of this, notes Beutler, is about making an argument for the presidency, and all of it is about evading legal accountability”

[fuiru]

A 44 year old man goes to a K-Pop Concert

I promised you a report on the K-pop concert that I, a 44-year-old accountant, went to a couple of weeks ago with my wife and daughter in Toronto. So here it is.

The band we saw were Ateez. They're my daughter's favourite band and my wife's second favourite. I know most of my mutuals are similarly aged like me and may not be familiar with them so let me give you a brief primer on Ateez.

Imagine the most attractive eight men you can think of, just unfathomably beautiful specimens of aesthetic perfection, and make them sing songs that somehow combine the subjects of 'dancing like nobody is watching' with 'we live in a dystopian hellscape that we must all work together to overthrow'. Give them an ongoing music video story lore that literally nobody - not even the band themselves - understand, so that online discussion of their visual motifs looks more like the fevered rantings of a conspiracy theorist, complete with speculation about alternate realities and time being a Moebius strip. There is also a giant sand timer, for some reason.

That's Ateez. That's what you need to know.

Now, K-pop concerts are very different to the gigs I've been going to for the last 28 (!) years. There's no support act, for a start. Also the band perform for like, three hours, with breaks for costume changes and interpretive dance. Furthermore, hanging above everything is the constant looming threat of mandatory military service.

So this being my first such concert, I wasn't sure what to expect. What happened was difficult to explain, but I will try as I am already six paragraphs into this write-up and I'm too invested to stop now. Here goes:

In his Wicked + Divine comics series, Kieron Gillen places modern pop icons as deities, feeding upon and gaining strength from the worship of their fans at the altar of musical performance. I thought I understood that metaphor. I thought I understood it AS a metaphor. I was wrong, because that night Ateez WERE Gods with a capital G and we were their worshippers, a crowd emanating adoration (in the religious and non-religious senses), bestowing strength upon them and gaining their strength in return.

If that sounds weird, it probably is. But as pointed out above, I have lived over four decades and never yet experienced anything like the overwhelming passion of that crowd, the utter abandon with which they conveyed their love for the band.

"But Fuiru, what of the actual music?" you ask. Thinking back, there was a moment in one of their songs - I can't remember which - where I watched the stage, and the people around me, taking it in, and I thought, "Man, I just love Music". But that doesn't answer your question, sorry.

Ateez's music is bloody great. As a tiresome indie/rock/metal kid I'm resisting the urge to add the usual tiresome indie/rock/metal caveat of "...for pop music" because honestly that does it a disservice. They have some genuinely amazing songs. Halazia is an absolute fucking masterpiece that descends into furious hardcore breakbeat. Bouncy is a big, brash racket that somehow is also a perfect pop song. Utopia, Wonderland, and Guerrilla are similarly superb. The obligatory boy band slow number is represented by Dancing Like Butterfly Wings which will make you cry because you will forever associate it with your twelve year old daughter being pointed to and waved at by her favourite Ateez member (Seonghwa) because of her Seonghwa-branded lightstick.

That might just be me, though.

So in summary: being a 44 year old dad at his first K-pop concert rules and you should endeavour to partake in the experience if the opportunity arises.

Finally, for any Atiny reading this: my bias would be San or Seonghwa but my wife and daughter said they were taken so it’s Mingi. My concert outfit (designed and created by my offspring) reflects this.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Avocat arrêté,” La Presse. March 10, 1933. Page 8. ---- Maxwell-B. Singer, avocat, a été arrêté hier, midi, sous cinq chefs d'accusations, notamment d'avoir accusé ou fait arrêter des personnes sous l'accusation de conspiration et d'avoir lui-même agi en cette circonstance avec l'intention d'en retirer un gain personnel. Il a comparu, à cinq heures, hier après-midi, devant le juge Maurice Tetreau et l'enquête prélimaire a été fixée au 16 du courant.

[lucyoccupy]

COURT GRANTED LEAVE TO AMEND - WHAT'S NEXT?

COURT GRANTED LEAVE TO AMEND – WHAT’S NEXT?

#StateFarmFiles – HOW TO SURVIVE A COVERED LOSS WITH STATE FARM…. Great Courage is required; the brutality and threats are mind boggling —discriminatory and downright evil. Blogs and further evidence here: GOT INSURANCE COMPLAINTS https://gotcontractorcomplaints.com/ So, a bunch of attorneys walk into a bar to talk about complex litigation… So, a bunch of attorneys walk into a bar to talk about…

[cleolinda]

Are the Trump indictments election interference? asked someone whose question I will take in good faith against my better judgment.

The American presidential election (November 5, 2024) is more than a year away. There is more than a whole year for these four (4) trials to occur. If candidates want to start campaigning (and have already been campaigning) year(s) in advance, that is not the American judicial system's problem. Do not let anyone tell you that "I DECLARE CAMPAIGN SO YOU CAN'T TOUCH ME" is how this works.

I welcome criminal charges of actual substance for any candidate of any party. If you have dozens of pages of carefully documented charges against any/all Democrats, please have a DA call a grand jury whenever you would like. Political parties are not sports teams to me. Justice can do what it gotta do, whether it's convenient or not.

If someone doesn't want to get pulled up on racketeering charges (RICO), they maybe shouldn’t have racketeered. Or falsified business records, or mishandled documents to the tune of 31 charges under the Espionage Act, or incited an insurrection, the latter of which, I don't know about you, but which I personally watched on TV, live, for several hours, including coverage of the Trump rally that sent crowds marching over to the Capitol. We have heard the Georgia phone call that is part of the fourth indictment. We have seen pictures of classified documents piled in a random Mar-a-Lago bathroom. I am confident that these are not frivolous accusations.

District Attorney Fani Willis was careful to state that there should be a presumption of innocence (a standard American judicial doctrine). That said, I consider (as one example), this fourth indictment to be “charges of actual substance” because she delivered a 96-page document describing the racketeering (which, ironically, WAS ITSELF ELECTION INTERFERENCE):

u/code_archaeologist: The math on this is easy. For a jury to find a person guilty on a RICO charge in Georgia the prosecutor has to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that they engaged in two incidents that predicated the overarching conspiracy. The RICO charge lists 161 predicating incidents. So Fani Willis has 161 shots at each defendant, and only has to hit twice.

(I like to read r/politics.)

Fani Willis has 161 predicating incidents of conspiracy to work with. I am pretty confident that, while a defendant is innocent until proven guilty in the American justice system, these charges have some weight and deserve to be heard in court.

tl;dr if you don't want to campaign under a legal cloud, don't do crimes.

Also try not to publicly intimidate witnesses. And prosecutors. And judges.

If anyone reading this truly wondered if the substance or timing of these proceedings are warranted, sincerely, I hope laying it out like this helped.

[journalismjpg]

The 109-page indictment paints the movement to oppose the construction of a massive police training center in the Atlanta area’s Weelaunee Forest as a criminal conspiracy, and it goes back to the Minneapolis police department’s killing of George Floyd, which took place almost a year before Cop City was announced.

By doing so, the National Lawyers Guild said in a press statement, the indictment “attempts to render all mass protest against police violence and racism—including the killing of Rayshard Brooks by Atlanta police—an ‘unlawful conspiracy’ or ‘racketeering.’ ”

Read more here.

[probablyasocialecologist]

In the last four years, mainstream Democrats have: nominated a former prosecutor for president; elected an ex-NYPD officer to run New York City; campaigned on deporting more people; funneled money and weapons to regimes committing war crimes; overseen the beatings and arrests of people demanding police reform; sent more police officers to wallop students protesting for Palestinian rights; ratcheted up the War on Drugs; worked with major corporate retailers to arrest more shoplifters; filed racketeering and conspiracy charges against police-reform protesters in Atlanta; made it easier to arrest New Yorkers and Californians with mental illness; defended the use of solitary confinement; supported a landmark Supreme Court case to let cops arrest unhoused people; tried to imprison one of the world’s most famous rappers; promised to build Donald Trump’s border wall; ran endless ads about Trump’s criminal record; and applauded as the president chanted “Fund the Police!” during his most-watched yearly address.  And yet, after an election last week in which voters all but screamed that the Democratic Party is moving in the wrong direction, centrist and conservative pundits have drawn the opposite conclusion: The Democrats are, somehow, still too soft on crime.  The belief persists against all logic: Four years of proudly Backing The Blue, at a minimum, failed to help Democratic voter turnout—and likely depressed votes from progressives. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s mythical moderate Republican voters, whom the party molded its entire platform to pursue, did not arrive to carry the party to the finish line. Instead, the pro-cop platform seems to have done nothing but legitimize Republican grievances and hand Trump a bolstered police and surveillance state. Despite this, many of the Democratic Party’s staunchest defenders seem to think the only way forward is to become even more like Republicans—rather than offer voters anything different at all.

[...]

The party’s love-fest with police and prosecutors appears to have done less than nothing to gin up votes or change the party’s overall perception. But mainstream Democrats are now arrogantly digging in their heels instead of learning any lessons.

13 November 2024

[chic-beyond-the-wall-oc-acct]

So, project 2025 has been deleting their PDFs but a few lovely people have posted the list of books they want to ban and other than the fact that the entire list is stupid, here's some that stuck out to me + the reasons listed next to them. Most of the books on the list are lgbtq+ books which one would expect to find there, so I just did ones I didn't expect.

The Holy Bible - Challenged for religious beliefs and graphic content.

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin - Sexual violence, political intrigue.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson - Death and religious content.

Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey - Toilet humor and "disobedience."

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak - Critique of the Russian Revolution.

Deadly Deceits by Ralph McGehee - Former CIA agent's critiques of the agency.

Emma by Jane Austen - Complex gender themes, social critique.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - Censorship and media manipulation by the government.

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling - Accusations of promoting witchcraft.

Howl by Allen Ginsberg - Explicit sexual content, anti-establishment themes

Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss - Concerns over violence against parents.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez - Mental health, sexual content.

It's Perfectly Normal by Robie H. Harris - Sex education content.

It's So Amazing! by Robie H. Harris - Sex education content.

None Dare Call It Conspiracy by Gary Allen - Discusses alleged hidden global power structure.

None Dare Call It Treason by John A. Stormer - Anti-communist and conspiracy-focused.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - Critique of Soviet labor camps.

Operation Paperclip by Annie Jacobsen - Exposes secret U.S. program involving former Nazis.

My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier - Violence, anti-war themes.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt vonnegut- Anti-war themes.

Spycatcher by Peter Wright - Ex-MI5 agent's account of intelligence operations.

The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama - Criticism of religion, perceived political messages.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin - Female independence, sexuality.

The Book of Night Women by Marlon James - Slavery, graphic violence.

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede - Magic, feminism.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein - Themes of selfishness, parenting.

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy - Examines class and caste issues in India.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - Critique of religious extremism and patriarchy.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - Examines police violence and racial injustice

The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins - Depicts oppressive government and rebellion.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster - Political subtext, wordplay.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - Critique of colonialism and missionary work.

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene - Critique of religion and political oppression

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle - Religious critique.

The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli - Seen as a critique of political ethics.

The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare - Often challenged for themes of submission of women in marriage.

Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer - Themes of violence, supernatural elements.

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore - Political rebellion, violence.

War is a Racket by Smedley D. Butler - Critique of war profiteering.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein - Dark humor, "rebellious" themes.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak - Themes of rebellion, dark imagery.

Where's Waldo? by Martin Handford - Alleged inappropriate illustrations.

White Noise by Don DeLillo - Critique of consumerism and modern society.

Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes - Feminist themes.

Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss - Seen as political allegory.

Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis - Critique of authority and societal norms.

[vroom--vrooming]

Armando Aretas x Detective!Reader

You finally got a chance to interrogate Armando, but unfortunately there is not enough evidence to keep him in custody, which frustrates you. Armando on the other hand is enjoying the interrogation session

The interrogation room is stark and cold, the fluorescent lights casting a harsh glare on the metal table between you and Armando Aretas. He sits casually, his wrists bound in handcuffs, yet there's an air of confidence about him that borders on arrogance. His dark eyes, intense and unreadable, follow your every move as you take your seat across from him.

You’ve been waiting for this moment. Armando Aretas, the infamous assassin and drug dealer, finally captured. But the evidence is slim, almost non-existent, and you need a confession or at least something to hold him longer. You lean forward, locking eyes with him.

“Mr. Aretas,” you begin, your voice steady and authoritative. “We both know what you’re capable of and what you have done. It’s in your best interest to cooperate.”

He smirks, a slow, dangerous smile that sends a chill down your spine. “Please, call me Armando,” he says, his voice smooth and dripping with a dark charm. “And what is your name, Detective?”

“Detective Y/N L/N,” you reply, keeping your tone professional, refusing to be drawn into his game.

“Detective YN,” he repeats, as if savoring the taste of your name. “Such a beautiful name for such a beautiful woman.”

You ignore the compliment, pulling out a file and placing it on the table. “Let’s cut to the chase. You’re facing serious charges. Murder, conspiracy, racketeering. You cooperate, maybe things will go easier for you.”

Armando leans back in his chair, his eyes never leaving yours. “You think you can scare me with threats? I’ve faced worse than this.”

You lean in, determined to break through his facade. “I’m not trying to scare you, Armando. I’m offering you a chance.”

He chuckles, a dark, low sound that makes your pulse quicken. “A chance? Detective, I think you and I both know there’s no way out for me but one. But let’s say I do tell you something. What’s in it for me?”

“Less time, maybe even protection,” you say, hoping to find a chink in his armor.

His gaze slides over you, slow and deliberate. “And what if what I want can’t be given in years or security?”

Your heart skips a beat at the implication. You swallow hard, maintaining your composure. “What do you want, Armando?”

He leans forward, his eyes locked onto yours with a predatory gleam. “You.”

For a moment, the air between you crackles with tension. You can feel the heat of his gaze, the intensity of his presence. It’s dangerous, thrilling even, but you push it aside. You have a job to do.

“I’m not part of the deal,” you say firmly.

He laughs softly. “Pity. But I’ll play along, Detective. Ask your questions.”

You start with the basics, his recent activities, his connections, but he answers every question with a sly remark or a flirtatious comment. Every attempt to steer the conversation to something useful is met with another layer of his charm.

“Where were you on the night of the 15th?” you ask, exasperation creeping into your voice.

“In the company of a beautiful woman, but not as beautiful as you, of course,” he replies, his eyes gleaming with amusement.

“Do you think this is a joke?” you snap, frustration boiling over.

“No, Detective,” he says, his tone suddenly serious, his eyes darkening. “I think this is very serious. You see, I enjoy our little chats. I enjoy…you.”

The intensity in his voice sends a shiver through you. You know he’s playing with you, but there’s an undeniable chemistry, a dangerous allure that’s hard to ignore.

Time slips by, and despite your best efforts, you get nothing concrete. The clock ticks down, and you know you’ll have to let him go.

You stand, frustration and a sense of failure heavy in your chest. “This isn’t over, Armando. I will find the evidence, and I will bring you down.”

He rises as well, his movements fluid and predatory. He steps closer, his presence overwhelming. “I look forward to it, Detective,” he murmurs, his voice a low purr. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”

With that, he’s escorted out, leaving you alone in the cold, empty room. You take a deep breath, determination hardening within you. This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.

[reasonsforhope]

Donald Trump charged in Georgia for efforts to overturn the 2020 election

Link here, because WaPo's security measures stop Tumblr previews. Non-paywall link here.

"Former president Donald Trump and 18 others were criminally charged in Georgia on Monday in connection with efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state, according to an indictment made public late Monday night [on August 14, 2023].

Trump was charged with 13 counts, including violating the state’s racketeering act, soliciting a public officer to violate their oath, conspiring to impersonate a public officer, conspiring to commit forgery in the first degree and conspiring to file false documents.

The Recap

The historic indictment, the fourth to implicate the former president, follows a 2½-year investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D). The probe was launched after audio leaked from a January 2021 phone call during which Trump urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to question the validity of thousands of ballots, especially in the heavily Democratic Atlanta area, and said he wanted to “find” the votes to erase his 2020 loss in the state.

Willis’s investigation quickly expanded to other alleged efforts by Trumpor his supporters, including trying to thwart the electoral college process, harassing election workers, spreading false information about the voting process in Georgia and compromising election equipment in a rural county. Trump has long decried the Georgia investigation as a “political witch hunt,” defending his calls to Raffensperger and others as “perfect.”

The Details

“Trump and the other Defendants charged in this Indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump,” the indictment states.

A total of 41 charges are brought against 19 defendants in the 98-page indictment. Not all face the same counts, but all have been charged with violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Willis said she has given those charged until Aug. 25 to surrender.

Among those charged are Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who served as Trump’s personal attorney after the election; Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows; and several Trump advisers, including attorneys John Eastman, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro...

Prosecutors brought charges around five subject areas: false statements by Trump allies, including Giuliani, to the Georgia legislature; the breach of voting data in Coffee County; calls Trump made to state officials, including Raffensperger, seeking to overturn Biden’s victory; the harassment of election workers; and the creation of a slate of alternate electors to undermine the legitimate vote. Those charged in the case were implicated in certain parts of what prosecutors presented as a larger enterprise to undermine the election."

-via The Washington Post, August 14, 2023

[lucyoccupy]

The State Farm Files - Part 1

The State Farm Files – Part 1

#StateFarmFiles – Part 1 Some of the lawyers accuse that I have not produced documents in the proper format, and that for some discovery questions I exceeded the expectations of what to produce, as I believe they are all relevant. They all know I have a brain injury from a workplace injury in 2012, and a subsequent head injury in March 2019, after a volatile discussion with State Farm Adjuster…

[breelandwalker]

#30 What do you think is a scam in witchcraft? (Go off!)

Wow, y'all had your priorities in order, didn't you. 😆

There are SO many things in the witchcraft community that I think are scams. Here's a sampling, in no particular order.

The Law of Attraction / Assumption / Lucky Girl Syndrome / "Manifesting" (aka victim blaming, thought policing, and confirmation bias dressed up in buzzwords). The whole Burning Times / Unbroken Line narrative. (In fact, any narrative that paints the victims of witch trials as actual witches as we define the term today just pisses me off, it's so fucking disrespectful.) All the ancient aliens / star people / indigo children / pyramid conspiracy bullshit that gets passed around in pagan circles. The "need" for a bevy of expensive crystals and tools and clothing and accoutrements in order to be a "proper" witch.

The idea that you have to abandon belief in science in order to believe in magic. The essential oils racket (where it overlaps with magical practice). The way that some witchcraft and pagan spaces push homeopathy and naturopathy over modern medicine because Witchy Reasons.

People who offer familiar spirits or astral helpers for sale (especially the ones with the clickbait descriptions). People who market themselves as pagan self-help gurus who can "fix" your mental health or life issues through magic. People who offer ridiculously overpriced classes or courses to "uncover the secrets of the universe / discover your past lives / realize your psychic potential / whatever."

But tbh I think the biggest scam in witchcraft is the idea that there are people out there waiting to curse anyone and everyone that crosses their path, just for shits and giggles, and that they can ruin your life just by knowing the slightest thing about you or your practice. And on the heels of that, I think the idea that being a witch or practicing magic makes you more visible and appetizing to spirits / demons / evil forces and therefore you need SO much protection Or Else is equally scammy. It just rubs me the wrong way when anti-Catholic or anti-witchcraft scaremongering rhetoric gets incorporated into community beliefs.

witchcraft ask game