March 2025 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Closely Watched Atlanta Fed Model Predicts Negative U.S. Growth in First Quarter
by Gunnar Larson 11 Mar '25

11 Mar '25

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2025/03/closely-watched-atlanta-fed-model-pr… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: March 4, 2025 ~ President Donald Trump Tells Fox News that Americans Would End Up Poor Without His Brain in the White House President Donald Trump Tells Fox News that Americans Would End Up Poor Without His Brain in the White House On the very day that Donald Trump is set to deliver a major address to a joint session of Congress, with a disapproval rating of 52 percent according to a CNN poll out on Sunday, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s model for predicting U.S. economic growth is flashing red. The model is known as GDPNow and is highly respected for its accuracy. After an update yesterday based on new, incoming economic data, GDP for the first quarter is predicted to be -2.8 percent. The GDPNow staffers wrote this yesterday: “The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the first quarter of 2025 is -2.8 percent on March 3, down from -1.5 percent on February 28. After this morning’s releases from the US Census Bureau and the Institute for Supply Management, the nowcast of first-quarter real personal consumption expenditures growth and real private fixed investment growth fell from 1.3 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively, to 0.0 percent and 0.1 percent.” Let those figures sink in for a moment. Real personal consumption expenditures growth cannot fog a mirror; They are effectively dead at zero percent. For the past half century, 60 percent or more of GDP has come from consumer spending. Since 2007, consumer spending has represented approximately two-thirds of GDP. Most U.S. presidents have kept that reality at the forefront of their thinking and not set out to terrify and horrify the U.S. consumer into an austerity mode in preparation for Armageddon. According to his official bio, Donald Trump attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and graduated with a B.A. in Economics in 1968. In multiple profiles of Donald Trump in the 1970s, the New York Times reported that Trump had graduated first in his class at Wharton – a narrative in line with Trump’s own vision of himself as a genius. In preparation for an article that was published in the New York Times on April 8, 1984, writer William E. Geist decided to check the commencement program for Trump’s graduation at Wharton. Geist wrote this: “And just about every profile ever written about Mr. Trump states that he graduated first in his class at Wharton in 1968. Although the school refused comment, the commencement program from 1968 does not list him as graduating with honors of any kind. He says he never told them that either.” On February 25, CNN reported the following: “Economic jitters are showing up across various sentiment surveys as the Trump administration aims to reconfigure America’s trade relationship with the world and inflation shows signs of getting stuck. “The latest evidence comes from The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for February, released Tuesday morning. The index fell to 98.3, falling for the third-straight month and marking the largest monthly decline since August 2021, as expectations for inflation in the year ahead climbed. That coincides with the trends reflected in the University of Michigan’s consumer survey for February. “Homebuilders are also growing worried, according to the National Association of Home Builders; even US small businesses, which remain somewhat optimistic about deregulation and tax cuts, are in doubt about the economy’s future. The National Federation of Independent Business’ Uncertainty Index rose in January to its third-highest reading on record.” Putting a 34-count convicted felon in the Oval Office as the leader of the free world was always going to be a dicey proposition. But watching Trump switch sides in Russia’s war on Ukraine in favor of Russia’s murderous dictator and President, Vladimir Putin, while handing the reins to carve up the U.S. government to dodgy tech billionaire Elon Musk and his minions, is clearly a bridge too far for the majority of Americans. (See Elon Musk’s Companies Were Under Investigation by Five Inspectors General When the Trump Administration Fired Them and Made Musk the Investigator.)

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BREAKING: White House Names Ex-Goldman Sachs Atty To Lead USPTO
by Gunnar Larson 11 Mar '25

11 Mar '25

BREAKING: White House Names Ex-Goldman Sachs Atty To Lead USPTO <https://www.law360.com/banking/articles/2305422?nl_pk=e602c558-f520-472e-90…> By Dani Kass U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated John Squires, Goldman Sachs' former longtime chief intellectual property counsel, to serve as the next U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director. Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/banking/articles/2305422?nl_pk=e602c558-f520-472e-90…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/banking/articles/2305422?nl_pk=e602c558-f520-472e-90…>

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Fwd: United States Arrests ISIS-K Attack Planner for Role in Killing of U.S. Military Service Members at Abbey Gate, Afghanistan
by Gunnar Larson 11 Mar '25

11 Mar '25

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: FBI <fbi(a)subscriptions.fbi.gov> Date: Sat, Mar 8, 2025, 9:08 PM Subject: United States Arrests ISIS-K Attack Planner for Role in Killing of U.S. Military Service Members at Abbey Gate, Afghanistan To: <g(a)xny.io> * National Press Releases * United States Arrests ISIS-K Attack Planner for Role in Killing of U.S. Military Service Members at Abbey Gate, Afghanistan On March 2, the United States charged Mohammad Sharifullah (also known as Jafar)—a member of the terrorist organization the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham-Khorasan Province (ISIS-K)—with providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339B. March 5, 2025 Full Press Release <https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/united-states-arrests-isis-k-attack…> ------------------------------ <https://www.facebook.com/FBI> <https://twitter.com/FBI> <https://www.youtube.com/user/FBI> <https://www.fbi.gov/e-mail-updates?utm_campaign=email-Immediate&utm_medium=…> * You have received this message because you are subscribed to one or more of the following categories: National Press Releases * Manage Subscription <https://delivery.fbi.gov/account-reminder> | Unsubscribe <https://delivery.fbi.gov/subscriber/c57956fe9830b3f02d21fe7a2581942df706f0b…> If you have questions about this service, email us at delivery(a)subscriptions.fbi.gov. Help <https://www.fbi.gov/e-mail-updates?utm_campaign=email-Immediate&utm_medium=…> | Privacy Policy <http://www.fbi.gov/privacy_policy?utm_campaign=email-Immediate&utm_medium=e…> | Visit FBI.gov <https://www.fbi.gov/?utm_campaign=email-Immediate&utm_medium=email&utm_sour…>

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Here’s What Came Crashing Down Yesterday for Trump’s “Genius” Guy, Elon Musk: Tesla Stock, Access to Twitter (X), His Years of Secret Calls with Putin
by Gunnar Larson 11 Mar '25

11 Mar '25

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2025/03/heres-what-came-crashing-down-yester… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: March 11, 2024 ~ Elon Musk and Donald Trump in the Oval Office Billionaires Donald Trump and Elon Musk share a common credo: It’s legal if you can get away with it. (Key evidence to support that claim is the jury conviction of Donald Trump on 34 felony counts and his ability to secure a second term as President and the fact that Musk and his companies were under investigation by five federal Inspectors General – right before Donald Trump fired them and made Musk the investigator. There is also the not insignificant detail reported by the Wall Street Journal that Musk uses illegal drugs.) This credo came crashing down on the heads of both men yesterday. The U.S. stock market, a barometer of presidential leadership, plunged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 890 points while the tech heavy Nasdaq dived 727.89 points or 4 percent. Tesla, the electric vehicle company where Musk serves as the missing-in-action CEO, whose stock represents the largest portion of Musk’s wealth, lost a stunning 15.43 percent – in one day. That brings the decline in Tesla’s share price from the Friday before Trump took office on Monday, January 20, to yesterday’s closing bell, to 47.9 percent. Musk can now expect more shareholder lawsuits alleging breach of fiduciary duty — to the pile that already exist. Trump will now attempt to do damage control by meeting with the CEOs at some of the largest U.S. corporations today. Musk, for his part, on a day when his hubris was unraveling all around him, thought it appropriate to post a Tweet calling Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a decorated former Navy Captain and combat pilot and a former astronaut, a “traitor.” Musk was responding to Kelly’s visit to Ukraine and his Tweets about why the U.S. must stand firm in support of Ukraine. It should be noted that supporting Ukraine over the illegal invasion of the country by Russia was the official policy of the U.S. until Trump unilaterally decided recently that it wasn’t. Now, one has to question what role Elon Musk, Trump’s largest campaign donor to the tune of more than a quarter billion dollars, has played in that decision. In October of last year, the Wall Street Journal reported the following in an article titled (paywall) Elon Musk’s Secret Conversations With Vladimir Putin. “Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a linchpin of U.S. space efforts, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022.” “At one point, Putin asked the billionaire to avoid activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, said two people briefed on the request.” “Musk has forged deep business ties with U.S. military and intelligence agencies, giving him unique visibility into some of America’s most sensitive space programs. SpaceX, which operates the Starlink service, won a $1.8 billion classified contract in 2021 and is the primary rocket launcher for the Pentagon and NASA. Musk has a security clearance that allows him access to certain classified information.” At the same time that Musk was chatting it up with Putin, the Russian dictator was on a U.S. sanctions list over his illegal invasion of Ukraine and bombing of its cities and towns. Immediately upon learning about the Wall Street Journal article, NASA administrator Bill Nelon called for a government investigation, citing national security concerns. Musk owns the Twitter social media platform, which he renamed “X.” According to DownDetector data and comments posted on its website, Twitter (X) was inaccessible for much of yesterday to users in the U.S. and countries around the globe. According to Musk, it was under “a massive cyberattack.” That Musk cannot put up adequate firewalls to protect Twitter (X) from many hours of global outages is not a comforting thought for a man being allowed by Trump to send teams of his software engineers to tap into federal government computer systems. The dangerous threats to U.S. national security, trust by our allies, market stability, consumer and business confidence, which directly impacts the U.S. economy, of this Musk/Trump/Russia realignment will no doubt come up when Trump meets with corporate CEOs today. Will any have the courage to break their silence on the subject? The fact that the Dow is down another 361 points as of 10:03 a.m. EDT this morning suggests that the worst is yet to come. FacebookTwitterWhatsAppLinkedInEmail

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After Banning the Associated Press, Trump Is Now Targeting Specific Journalists That He Wants to See Fired
by Gunnar Larson 11 Mar '25

11 Mar '25

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2025/03/after-banning-the-associated-press-t… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: March 10, 2025 ~ Donald Trump Donald Trump Last Thursday, while taking questions from the press in the Oval Office (where the 59-Pulitzer Prize winning Associated Press is still banned by Donald Trump) the President called out by name two MSNBC news program hosts that he said “should be forced to resign.” The journalists are Nicolle Wallace and Rachel Maddow, both of whom have doggedly connected the dots for their viewers on Trump’s grifting and unsavory alignment with his largest campaign donors and with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump’s attack on these two specific journalists followed a more general attack on the MSNBC cable network on February 18 during a Sean Hannity interview. Five days later, Joy Reid, another MSNBC program host – and one of Trump’s worst critics – learned that her program had been abruptly cancelled. (See our report: News Host Joy Reid Raises Threat of Trump Selling U.S. to Putin; Ten Days Later Her Show Is Cancelled.) We have been monitoring the evening news reporting at MSNBC since our report on the cancellation of the Joy Reid program. If Trump expected his attacks to silence his on-air critics at the network, he has failed. The program hosts have, instead, doubled down. This past Friday evening, after showing scenes of protests across the United States against Trump, Maddow said this: “The latest Reuters-Ipsos polling shows that while Americans did approve of Trump on foreign policy by two points in January – 39 to 37 [percent], they now disapprove of Trump on foreign policy by 13 points, 50 to 37 percent. When Americans are asked whether they personally sympathize more with Ukraine or Russia, 56 percent of Americans say Ukraine, 3 percent say Russia. 3 percent! Trump is in lonely territory here.” The Maddow program is followed on MSNBC by a news program hosted by Lawrence O’Donnell at 10 p.m. On Friday evenings, standing in for O’Donnell is another MSNBC host, Ali Velshi. Last Friday, Velshi spared no mercy on the Trump-Elon Musk administration, stating this: “We’ve entered the Trump-Musk funhouse. Nothing is as it seems. Things are deliberately distorted, deliberately absurd, deliberately untrustworthy, and that is by design. “It’s to keep you disoriented as the world as we know it is smashed and reshaped. “Our task is to try to find the exit; to not be put off course by the wavy mirrors showing us a fake reality. “So we’re going to talk later about how Elon Musk is on the ballot in Wisconsin in an election coming up in three weeks. [Figuratively, that is.] “Voters still have the last word in America. So we’ll see what they say. “There’s a Governor’s race in Virginia, a state seriously impacted by Musk’s DOGE chainsaw. “Donald Trump is a 78-year old man with a bottomless need for attention and a tortured relationship with facts. “Elon Musk is the richest man on earth — wealth created in no small part thanks to your taxpayer dollars – who is a freak. He reportedly has 14 kids with 4 different women; wants to colonize Mars; admits to using drugs on the regular, and claims to be running multiple companies and the U.S. government simultaneously while posting 1000 times a week on social media. “He’s not a normal person. And while Americans can tolerate that in a tech tycoon, they didn’t vote for that guy to be president. Which is kind of what he is now.” For more background on Musk’s drug use, see our report: The U.S. Government Is Plowing Billions into SpaceX, Overlooking Drug Use, Sex Parties, and Elon Musk’s Coziness with Putin. Trump is attempting to replace capitalism with corporate fascism/authoritarianism while juggling the tricky task of keeping his disparate benefactors happy with his performance and trying to silence any media that fails to fall in line. Most of Trump’s benefactors are 1 percenters, like Trump himself. They can’t be too happy this morning. At 7:37 a.m., Dow futures were down over 400 points.

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a new generation
by Michiel 10 Mar '25

10 Mar '25

A generation is ready to take the next steps. It's up to us now. Quantum is happening sooner than we thought. Governments are coming to bring backdoors to the encryption we fought for. We need to update the ways we organise ourselves; who's down to help? Mf

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Remove my account
by ilsa 10 Mar '25

10 Mar '25

Please delete my membership in the cypher punks please Ilsa Bartlett Institute for Rewiring the System http://ilsabartlett.wordpress.com http://www.google.com/profiles/ilsa.bartlett www.hotlux.com/angel <http://www.hotlux.com/angel.htm> "Don't ever get so big or important that you can not hear and listen to every other person." -John Coltrane

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Gunner
by ilsa 10 Mar '25

10 Mar '25

Please remove Gunner from my email list immediately Ilsa Bartlett Institute for Rewiring the System http://ilsabartlett.wordpress.com http://www.google.com/profiles/ilsa.bartlett www.hotlux.com/angel <http://www.hotlux.com/angel.htm> "Don't ever get so big or important that you can not hear and listen to every other person." -John Coltrane

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Delete
by ilsa 10 Mar '25

10 Mar '25

Remove my account Ilsa Bartlett Institute for Rewiring the System http://ilsabartlett.wordpress.com http://www.google.com/profiles/ilsa.bartlett www.hotlux.com/angel <http://www.hotlux.com/angel.htm> "Don't ever get so big or important that you can not hear and listen to every other person." -John Coltrane

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confusing email not intended for cypherpunks
by Karl Semich 04 Mar '25

04 Mar '25

my stolen possessions were not in the car. the thief made off with tens of thousands of dollars worth of almost everything i own and engage regularly, as well as all my identifying documents like my birth certificate and passport, and also thousands of dollars of cache and all my old cards including my drivers license, all my laptops, ipads, cell phones, repair parts, motors for making robots, a high-end robot vacuum. it looks like they stole all the old broken devices i'd accumulated over the years to repair. and all my clothes, underwear and warm clothes; all my luggage from visiting my family over the holidays i've lost it some of us are saying authorities (the fbi?) are doing this to us, maybe because we never properly followed up after posting something that sounded like a murder confession over a decade ago and having them get involved ARE YOU THE AUTHORITIES?? i have been assuming that you are a criminal (some kind of human trafficking crime organization) who wants me to think you are the authorities. I do _NOT MEAN TO ACCUSE YOU_. I am TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE AND HOW TO BE YOUR FRIEND

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