May 2025 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Congressman Casten: Trump’s Assault on the Rule of Law Is Causing Capital Flight Out of U.S. by Foreign Investors
by Gunnar Larson 12 May '25

12 May '25

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2025/05/congressman-casten-trumps-assault-on… *By Pam Martens and Russ Martens <https://wallstreetonparade.com/about-3/about/>: May 5, 2025 ~* <https://wallstreetonparade.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Congressman-Sean-…> Congressman Sean Casten, Democrat of Illinois Donald Trump’s assault on the rule of law is now the ubiquitous and defining feature of his administration. That assault also represents the gravest threat to the national security of the United States, its economic standing, and the stability of the U.S. financial system. Take, for example, what has happened recently. Last Wednesday, Congressman Sean Casten, Democrat of Illinois, stated the following in an open meeting of the House Financial Services Committee: “For the first time in my memory, foreign investors are not only fleeing U.S. equities but are fleeing U.S. Treasuries. I met with banks last week – banks under our jurisdiction – who said that the international community is putting a risk premium on investments in the United States because of regulatory risk and because they question whether the rule of law that they depend on to execute contracts in the United States will be executed as it will be in European markets where that capital is running to. “So, if you need to tell yourself before you go to bed that you’re a deficit buster, fine, but just acknowledge you’re lying. This is not about deficit busting. This is about making rich people richer, and that’s it.” Casten was referring to the latest efforts of the Trump administration to gut regulatory agencies that provide oversight of Wall Street’s entrenched history of fraud and lawlessness. The ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), released a statement last week explaining the latest assaults as follows: “Now is the time for Congress to step up. Instead, Committee Republicans are cosigning this destruction and helping Trump and Co-President Elon Musk dismantle the agencies responsible for helping bring down costs, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau [CFPB]. Today, they are slashing the Bureau’s budget by 70%… “Republicans are also pushing to gut the Financial Stability Oversight Council and Treasury’s Office of Financial Research – agencies designed to prevent another financial crisis like in 2008. They are eliminating funding for affordable housing construction despite a national homelessness crisis. And they are so desperate to do Trump’s bidding that they’re eliminating another agency that doesn’t cost taxpayers anything, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board [PCAOB], which oversees auditors to prevent frauds like Enron and ensure that companies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party are on the up and up.” The plan to kill the PCAOB has received scant media coverage but the language to kill its independence and fold it into the Securities and Exchange Commission appeared in a Memorandum <https://docs.house.gov/meetings/BA/BA00/20250430/118145/HMKP-119-BA00-20250…> released by the Republican leadership of the House Financial Services Committee last Wednesday. Neutering the PCAOB would be completely in line with Trump’s efforts right out of the starting gate. On February 10, Trump issued an Executive Order <https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/pausing-foreign-cor…> that suspended the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for 180 days, giving an all clear to U.S. corporations to bribe officials in foreign countries to get business deals approved. The order bars federal prosecutors from starting any new FCPA investigations, enforcing new actions and orders a review of existing FCPA investigations to “restore proper bounds” on applying the FCPA law. In early March the Trump administration gutted another anti-corruption law, the Corporate Transparency Act, which had become law in 2021. Its goal is to curb anonymous shell companies from money laundering in the U.S. behind a curtain of darkness. It requires that the true owners of these shell companies file beneficial ownership information into a federal registry established by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and it imposes stiff fines and up to two years in prison for failure to do so. Quietly, with little public notice, on March 2 Trump’s newly installed Treasury Secretary (hedge fund honcho Scott Bessent <https://wallstreetonparade.com/2024/11/donald-trumps-treasury-nominee-made-…>) announced that he would not enforce the Corporate Transparency Act as the law was written. The statement from the Treasury Department said this <https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0038>: “The Treasury Department is announcing today that, with respect to the Corporate Transparency Act, not only will it not enforce any penalties or fines associated with the beneficial ownership information reporting rule under the existing regulatory deadlines, but it will further not enforce any penalties or fines against U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies or their beneficial owners after the forthcoming rule changes take effect either. The Treasury Department will further be issuing a proposed rulemaking that will narrow the scope of the rule to foreign reporting companies only. Treasury takes this step in the interest of supporting hard-working American taxpayers and small businesses and ensuring that the rule is appropriately tailored to advance the public interest.” In May of last year, Trump was unanimously convicted on 34 felony counts by a 12-member jury in New York of falsifying business records. His credentials on what constitutes ethical business practices would thus seem to be highly suspect. Last evening, the CBS News program, *60 Minutes*, aired a segment on Trump’s assault on law firms <https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-orders-target-law-firms-some-lawyers-say…>, including Big Law firms, which had taken on clients whose interests were adversarial to Trump’s personal, business or political interests. In recent weeks, Trump has signed Executive Orders that barred these law firms from the grounds of federal courthouses where they need access in order to represent clients and threatened to cancel the federal contracts of their clients. A senior partner at one of the law firms told *60 Minutes* that within hours of the Executive Order being signed by Trump, his major clients were threatening to drop the firm as its counsel. Mark Elias, one of the lawyers targeted by name in Trump’s Executive Orders, agreed to be interviewed by *60 Minutes*. Elias had this to say: “It is trying to intimidate them the way in which a mob boss intimidates people in the neighborhood that he is seeking to either exact protection money from or engage in other nefarious conduct. I mean, the fact is that these law firms are being told, ‘If you don’t play ball with us, maybe somethin’ really bad will happen to you.’ ” John Keker is a prominent attorney and Democrat in San Franciso. He was asked by the *60 Minutes* moderator of the segment, Scott Pelley, this: “If the president brings the legal profession to heel what situation is the country in then?” Keker responded: “No rule of law. You’re in a dictatorship. That’s what’s happened in China. It happened in Russia. These are legal systems that look like legal systems, but in fact are controlled by a dictatorship.” On May 1, *Newsweek reported <https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-poll-dangerous-dictator-2066852>* on a new poll that found that 52 percent of Americans view Trump as a “dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy.” *Related Article:* *Trump’s Attacks on Big Law, Universities, and the Media Have a Common Goal: Silence Dissent Against Authoritarian Rule <https://wallstreetonparade.com/2025/03/trumps-attacks-on-big-law-universiti…>*

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[ot][spam][crazy][personal] thinkpad tp25 anniversary edition
by Karl Semich 08 May '25

08 May '25

i’ve been using a gift tp25 for some years. it’s a special lenovo laptop edition that is similar to the t470 and t480. as the years have passed, it gets harder to find information on repairing this laptop online. last time or two ago i replaced the system board, i engaged a long list of substitute part numbers for system boards that would fit and boot. i haven’t found this list again. i originally made it by looking at simple commonalities on support.lenovo.com and ebay.com , but simple search terms do not return as many results now as they did before, and support.lenovo.com is only showing one system board now for my model number. i’m seeing these values in the bios atm: bios ver: N1QETA3W ec ver: N1QHT54W model: 20K70004US unit serial: PF12XKZP board serial: L1HF83M000D cpu: i7-7500u 2.7ghz uuid: 1f4bfcc-2c71-11b2-a85c-955ac813bb93 os license: SDK0J40697 oa3 id: 3305102936368 may have made copy mistakes the problem i have right now is that the system does not charge, instead emitting a pungent smell for some time after the charger is plugged in. i removed the bottom cover but

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Fwd: FOIL Request No. 2023-096828 - Larson - LendingClub.com September 11 Board of Directors
by Gunnar Larson 03 May '25

03 May '25

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Gunnar Larson <g(a)xny.io> Date: Wed, Oct 23, 2024, 5:40 AM Subject: Fwd: FOIL Request No. 2023-096828 - Larson - LendingClub.com September 11 Board of Directors To: <FOIL.Appeals(a)dfs.ny.gov>, JeanBaptiste, Pascale (DFS) < Pascale.JeanBaptiste(a)dfs.ny.gov> Cc: <letitia.james(a)ag.ny.gov>, Garrett, Carmen (DFS) < Carmen.Garrett(a)dfs.ny.gov>, Reader, Shaun <sreader(a)curtis.com> Dear Department of Financial Services (NY-DFS): xNY.io - Bank.org elects to appeal FOIL Request No. 2023-096828 concerning LendingClub.com's September 11 Board of Directors resignation of the (soon to be) former Superintendent. NY-DFS is aware that LendingClub.com wrote xNY.io - Bank.org back without delay when we contacted them seeking relevant information. NY-DFS is no more special than LendingClub.com and as such our appeal today is now filed. Thank you, Gunnar ✌️ -- Gunnar Larson xNY.io - Bank.org 917-580-8053 ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: JeanBaptiste, Pascale (DFS) <Pascale.JeanBaptiste(a)dfs.ny.gov> Date: Tue, Oct 22, 2024, 3:26 PM Subject: FOIL Request No. 2023-096828 - Larson To: Gunnar Larson <g(a)xny.io> Cc: Garrett, Carmen (DFS) <Carmen.Garrett(a)dfs.ny.gov> Dear Gunnar Larson: Please see the attached determination in response to your FOIL request. Thank you. SENT VIA EMAIL (G(a)xny.io) October 21, 2024 Gunnar D. Larson xNY.io – Bank.org 406 West 25th Street New York, NY 10001 Re: Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL”) Tracking No. 2023-096828 Dear Gunnar D. Larson: I write in response to the FOIL request that you submitted to the New York State Department of Financial Services (“Department”), which has been assigned the above-referenced tracking and requests in pertinent part: “Dear Sir or Madam: Please submit any and all records related to the LendingClub.com September 11 Board of Directors resignation below. The date of the resignation is in question. You may understand the sensitive nature of the date of the resignation Gunnar Larson Sun, Oct 24, 2021, 5:06 PM to Anuj, Investor, Press Hello there: Thank you very much for the reply. Gunnar On Sun, Oct 24, 2021, 11:36 AM Anuj Nayar wrote: Hi Gunnar On September 11, 2021, in connection with her nomination to serve as superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, Adrienne Harris notified us of her resignation, effective September 12, 2021, from the Company’s Board. Details can be found in the 8k filed on 9/15/21 (below) https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK- 0001409970/bbc437e4-2920- 4d5d-8e0d-86bca622f0ca.pdf From: Gunnar Larson Date: Saturday, October 23, 2021 at 9:37 AM To: Investor Relations , Press Cc: Gunnar Larson Subject: [EXT] LendingClub: Current Board of Directors CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Madam or Sir: Good day to you. Surveying market research, I was wondering if you can kindly confirm, from LendingClub's July 15, 2021 press release: Is Ms. Adrienne Harris currently a member of LendingClub's board of directors? https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lendingclub-appoints- adrienne-harris-to-its- board-of-directors-301335198.html#financial- modal [prnewswire.com] Reviewing your website, Ms. Harris is not referenced:https://www.lendingclub.com/company/leadership Bloomberg and other sources do not reference Ms. Harris as a LendingClub board member: https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/LC:US [bloomberg.com] Sending you the very best regards. Thank you, Gunnar -- Gunnar Larson - xNY.io [xny.io] | Bank.org [bank.org] MSc [unic.ac.cy] - Digital Currency MBA [unic.ac.cy] - Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ip) G(a)xNY.io +1- 646-454- 9107 New York, New York 10001.” Your current request is an exact duplicate of a request that you previously submitted to the Department on January 26, 2022, which was assigned the tracking number 2022- 089773 and reads as follows: “Dear Sir or Madam: Please submit any and all records related to the LendingClub.com September 11 Board of Directors resignation below. The date of the resignation is in question. You may understand the sensitive nature of the date of the resignation. Gunnar Larson Sun, Oct 24, 2021, 5:06 PM to Anuj, Investor, Press Hello there: Thank you very much for the reply. Gunnar On Sun, Oct 24, 2021, 11:36 AM Anuj Nayar wrote: Hi Gunnar On September 11, 2021, in connection with her nomination to serve as superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, Adrienne Harris notified us of her resignation, effective September 12, 2021, from the Company’s Board. Details can be found in the 8k filed on 9/15/21 (below) https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001409970/bbc437e4-2920- 4d5d-8e0d-86bca622f0ca.pdf From: Gunnar Larson Date: Saturday, October 23, 2021 at 9:37 AM To: Investor Relations , Press Cc: Gunnar Larson Subject: [EXT] LendingClub: Current Board of Directors CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Madam or Sir: Good day to you. Surveying market research, I was wondering if you can kindly confirm, from LendingClub's July 15, 2021 press release: Is Ms. Adrienne Harris currently a member of LendingClub's board of directors? https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lendingclub-appoints- adrienne-harris-to-its-board-of-directors-301335198.html#financial-modal [prnewswire.com] Reviewing your website, Ms. Harris is not referenced:https://www.lendingclub.com/company/leadership Bloomberg and other sources do not reference Ms. Harris as a LendingClub board member: https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/LC:US [bloomberg.com] Sending you the very best regards. Thank you, Gunnar -- Gunnar Larson - xNY.io [xny.io] | Bank.org [bank.org] MSc [unic.ac.cy] - Digital Currency MBA [unic.ac.cy] - Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ip) G(a)xNY.io +1- 646-454-9107 New York, New York 10001.” On January 19, 2023, the Department denied your previous request pursuant to Public Officers Law § 89(3) as not reasonably described because it did not clearly describe the records sought to enable the Department to conduct a reasonable search for such records. Notwithstanding this denial, the Department advised you that, in August of 2021, the Superintendent resigned from the Board of Directors of the Lending Club, effective September 12,2021. Consequently, the Department considers your current request to be duplicative of the one assigned tracking number 2022-089773, which resulted in a final Department determination. An agency is not required to consider duplicate requests for records for which it has already made a final determination. see Walker v. Roque, 137 A.D.3d 643, 643-44 (1st Dep’t 2016) (affirming dismissal of Article 78 petition because FOIL request at issue was “duplicative of [petitioner’s prior] FOIL request seeking essentially the same materials pertaining to the same criminal case, notwithstanding that the prior request was more detailed than the instant request,” and because petitioner was precluded from challenging denial of prior request); Zarvela v. Banks, 117 A.D.3d 1070, 1071 (2d Dep’t 2014), lv. to appeal denied, 24 N.Y.3d 906 (2014) (affirming denial of petition as a “belated attempt to seek judicial review of [a] prior determination” that was “duplicative” of the instant request); Garcia v. Division of State Police, 302 A.D.2d 755, 756 (3d Dep’t 2003) (affirming dismissal of petition where FOIL request was “nearly identical” to a prior request that agency had denied and “more specific” than an even earlier request FOIL request that was the subject of a prior Article 78 proceeding); Pennington v. Clark, 1 A.D.3d 912, 912 (4th Dep’t 2003) (recognizing that “[i]f two FOIL requests are duplicative, the court may dismiss the proceeding challenging a determination of the latter request, as a belated attempt to seek judicial review of the denial of the first request”) (citations omitted). Additionally, there has been no change in circumstances, i.e., no additional records in possession of the Department since the January 19, 2023 determination. see Corbin v Ward, 160 A.D.2d 596, lv. denied 76 N.Y.2d 706, 706 (1st Dep’t 1990) (petitioner may not “obtain reconsideration of [a] prior request without any change in circumstances”). Based on the foregoing, the Department will not consider your current FOIL request because it is duplicative of a request that you previously submitted, and for which the Department has already made a final determination. Moreover, there has been no change in circumstances since that determination was made. Accordingly, your request is denied as duplicative and is now closed. Pursuant to N.Y. Public Officers Law § 89(4), you may appeal this determination within 30 days by sending an email to FOIL.Appeals(a)dfs.ny.gov. Very truly yours, Pascale Jean-Baptiste FOIL Officer

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[crazy][personal] Contixo TD1 Dragonfly
by Karl Semich 02 May '25

02 May '25

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Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson proceeded to go on a romantic date night in New York City after the former cheerleader disrupted his CBS interview. The former New England Patriots head coach and his girlfriend were spotted all dressed up while exiting the Ritz-Carlton New York hotel Monday night. 📸: Backgrid https://trib.al/6VoG2Nc
by Gunnar Larson 01 May '25

01 May '25

Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson proceeded to go on a romantic date night in New York City after the former cheerleader disrupted his CBS interview. The former New England Patriots head coach and his girlfriend were spotted all dressed up while exiting the Ritz-Carlton New York hotel Monday night. 📸: Backgrid https://trib.al/6VoG2Nc https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02caeBRSPZB3UFs7EzrLU3eh…

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BREAKING: The U.S. and Ukraine have signed a deal to create the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund — the long-awaited mineral deal that gives the U.S. rights to Ukrainian rare earth, both sides announced Wednesday. Read more: https://abcnews.visitlink.me/5zpwUx
by Gunnar Larson 01 May '25

01 May '25

BREAKING: The U.S. and Ukraine have signed a deal to create the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund — the long-awaited mineral deal that gives the U.S. rights to Ukrainian rare earth, both sides announced Wednesday. Read more: https://abcnews.visitlink.me/5zpwUx https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02rjFFpHU6wX9t7JvMbyYBX1…

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WATCH LIVE: President Trump leads America in prayer
by Gunnar Larson 01 May '25

01 May '25

WATCH LIVE: President Trump leads America in prayer https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews/videos/987740750229246/?sfnsn=mo&mibextid=…

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SEE IT: Gulf of America hats debut at President Trump's cabinet meeting. 🇺🇸
by Gunnar Larson 01 May '25

01 May '25

SEE IT: Gulf of America hats debut at President Trump's cabinet meeting. 🇺🇸 https://www.facebook.com/100050477829942/posts/pfbid0vz4aRY4vVEMLsQeviDXAb3…

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Harvard Seeks To Move 'Swiftly' In $2B Fund Freeze Suit
by Gunnar Larson 01 May '25

01 May '25

Harvard Seeks To Move 'Swiftly' In $2B Fund Freeze Suit <https://www.law360.com/health/articles/2329808?nl_pk=0f5983ea-0173-4e74-85e…> By Julie Manganis Harvard University is seeking to move as quickly as possible to get to the merits of its suit challenging the Trump administration's $2.2 billion funding freeze, asking a Massachusetts federal judge to expedite discovery and briefing. 2 documents attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/health/articles/2329808?nl_pk=0f5983ea-0173-4e74-85e…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/health/articles/2329808?nl_pk=0f5983ea-0173-4e74-85e…>

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WATCH LIVE: Kamala Harris delivers first major speech since leaving office
by Gunnar Larson 01 May '25

01 May '25

WATCH LIVE: Kamala Harris delivers first major speech since leaving office https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18TehkKeU1/

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