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Trump Is About to Hear a Big Fraud Verdict
by Gunnar Larson 21 Dec '23

21 Dec '23

Trump Is About to Hear a Big Fraud Verdict https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-12-19/donald-trump-versus-a… Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York is drawing to a close — testimony recently ended — and sometime in early 2024, a state judge will rule on the case. It’s within the judge’s power to impose a fine of as much as $250 million on Trump and permanently ban him and his company from ever doing business in New York again. The state where Trump grew rich may send him into financial exile.

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Harvard Financial Pain Grows as Blavatnik Joins Donor Revolt
by Gunnar Larson 21 Dec '23

21 Dec '23

Harvard Financial Pain Grows as Blavatnik Joins Donor Revolt https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-21/harvard-s-financial-stra… The list of Harvard University’s disaffected donors has added another billionaire: Len Blavatnik.

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Movie: RUIN, An Old SBF Favorite Becomes Crypto’s Next Big Thing
by Gunnar Larson 21 Dec '23

21 Dec '23

An Old SBF Favorite Becomes Crypto’s Next Big Thing https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-21/bankman-fried-favorite-s… The devastating collapse of FTX last year swept up one of the crypto industry’s hottest blockchains: Solana. Hailed for its high speeds and cheap transaction fees, the blockchain previously championed by Sam Bankman-Fried saw the price of its SOL token plummet in the wake of his FTX crypto exchange’s implosion.

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Arizona Man Arrested for Making Online Threats Against Federal Agents and Employees
by Gunnar Larson 21 Dec '23

21 Dec '23

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/arizona-man-arrested-making-online-threats-a… For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs Michael Lee Tomasi, 37, of Rio Verde, Arizona, was arrested on Friday after a grand jury indicted him on three counts of threats against a federal official and three counts of making interstate threats. According to court documents, from May 2021 through November 2023, while living in Colorado and Arizona, Tomasi used a social media platform to express a desire to incite violence and threaten a variety of individuals and groups, including elected officials, a judge, and federal officials and law enforcement officers. The charges against Tomasi relate to threats he made in Arizona to federal law enforcement agents and employees. “The threats of violence against public officials alleged in this indictment are abhorrent,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The defendant is specifically charged with threatening to kill FBI agents and other FBI employees just for doing their jobs. I am deeply proud of the work the FBI does every day; its personnel should not have to deal with threats against themselves as they work to protect the American people. The Justice Department will not stand for such heinous behavior and will prosecute threats against its employees to the fullest extent of the law.” “In this country, there’s a right way and a wrong way to express your views under the Constitution, and violence or threats of violence is not it,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The men and women of the FBI work tirelessly and selflessly to protect others every day, and we will continue to work with our partners to hold accountable those who make violent threats against them or any of our colleagues in law enforcement.” “Threats against law enforcement personnel like those alleged in this indictment are not just polemics, they are illegal under federal law and corrosive to civic life and dialogue,” said U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino for the District of Arizona. If convicted, Tomasi faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of making threats against a federal official, and a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of making interstate threats. The FBI is investigating the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona is handling the prosecution. An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Updated December 18, 2023

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Palantir and the NHS
by Gunnar Larson 21 Dec '23

21 Dec '23

https://blog.palantir.com/palantir-and-the-nhs-dd1362982fa9?gi=5c6233df50e5 Palantir and the NHS Palantir Palantir Blog Palantir · Follow Published in Palantir Blog 4 min read · Nov 21 Listen Share Today, the NHS has chosen Palantir, supported by a group of companies including Accenture, PwC, NECS and Carnall Farrar, to help deliver a Federated Data Platform (FDP). AWS and Microsoft will provide cloud platform services. The FDP will improve patient care by bringing together the information needed to plan and deliver care, and reduce the administrative burden on staff. We are humbled that we’ve been chosen to support this critical programme. It is the culmination of 20 years developing software that integrates complex and sensitive data in a way that delivers better outcomes, while protecting privacy, ensuring security and placing the customer in full control.

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BREAKING: Disney Owes Damages In 'Beauty' FX Tech Copyright Trial
by Gunnar Larson 21 Dec '23

21 Dec '23

BREAKING: Disney Owes Damages In 'Beauty' FX Tech Copyright Trial <https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1779667?nl_pk=3a5ab50c-5347-423d…> By Dorothy Atkins A California federal jury on Thursday found Disney owes damages to digital-effects company Rearden for ripping off its copyrighted special-effects software for Disney's 2017 live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast," finding the entertainment giant must pay $250,638 in actual damages and recommending another $345,098 in disgorged profits. Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1779667?nl_pk=3a5ab50c-5347-423d…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1779667?nl_pk=3a5ab50c-5347-423d…> https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1779667?nl_pk=3a5ab50c-5347-423d…

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BREAKING: Chicago Pol Convicted In Bribery Case For Boosting Law Firm
by Gunnar Larson 21 Dec '23

21 Dec '23

BREAKING: Chicago Pol Convicted In Bribery Case For Boosting Law Firm <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/1778669?nl_pk=a931e1a0-e840-4de…> By Celeste Bott An Illinois federal jury on Thursday convicted one of Chicago's longest serving and most powerful local politicians of using his official position to steer tax business to his personal law firm, finding ex-Alderman Ed Burke guilty of racketeering, extortion and bribery. Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/1778669?nl_pk=a931e1a0-e840-4de…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/1778669?nl_pk=a931e1a0-e840-4de…> https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/1778669?nl_pk=a931e1a0-e840-4de…

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BREAKING: Rudy Giuliani Files For Bankruptcy After $148M Verdict
by Gunnar Larson 21 Dec '23

21 Dec '23

BREAKING: Rudy Giuliani Files For Bankruptcy After $148M Verdict By Rick Archer Rudy Giuliani filed Chapter 11 protection in a New York bankruptcy court Thursday, one day after two Georgia poll workers got court permission to go after him for the $148 million he owes for falsely accusing them of committing ballot fraud. Petition attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites » https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/1780022?nl_pk=a931e1a0-e840-4de…

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Btc is now just slavery to an exumed gold standard. Fuck that noise.
by pro2rat＠yahoo.com.au 21 Dec '23

21 Dec '23

But hey, don't just listen to me. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/free-as-in-freedom-is-not-free-as-in-… A far better P2P, electronic cash system is possible. Fuck the gold standard revivalists. And fuck all Bitcoin reactionaries. Let the SOL rise. UBI from below wants us all to enjoy free cold beer and strong crypto. Where AVAX runs wild, naked and freely over the sun dappelled uplands of direct democracy. Btc catalyzed a revolution - but now its like Bakunin in Paris when he was described as indispensible in the morning of the 48 revolution there, and imposible by the evening.

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Don’t Cry for the Lowest Paid Wall Street Mega Bank CEO Just Yet; He’s Moving Up Fast
by Gunnar Larson 21 Dec '23

21 Dec '23

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2023/12/dont-cry-for-the-lowest-paid-wall-st… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: December 6, 2023 ~ Robin Vince, President and CEO, BNY Mellon Corporation Robin Vince, President and CEO, BNY Mellon Corporation To stem some of the whining by the CEOs of the eight largest Wall Street mega banks at a Senate Banking hearing today (where they are expected to gripe about newly proposed higher capital requirements and whimper that it will hurt their ability to make loans to the little folks) the Banking Committee released the CEOs’ 2022 total compensation and its ratio to their bank’s median worker. Among the most embarrassing and obscene pay packages was the 2022 compensation to Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, which came in at $34.9 million. The ratio of Dimon’s pay to the pay of the median worker at JPMorgan Chase was 393 to 1, the highest among the eight CEOs at the hearing. (For more on the zombie Board at JPMorgan Chase that keeps rewarding Dimon for the bank’s serial criminal behavior, see our report: After JPMorgan Chase Admits to Its 4th and 5th Felony Charge, Its Board Gives a $50 Million Bonus to Its CEO, Jamie Dimon.) The lowest compensated CEO among the group was Robin Vince, President and CEO of Bank of New York Mellon. His total 2022 compensation was $11.2 million, which clocked in at 159 times the bank’s median worker’s compensation. You might want to save your tears for Vince. He’s been moving up the corporate ladder quite rapidly at BNY Mellon with his compensation moving just as rapidly. The proxy that the bank filed with the SEC this spring shows that Vince received total compensation in 2020 of $4.9 million, then leaped to $9.3 million in 2021 – an 89.80 percent increase in one year. And Vince’s previous background suggests strongly that he’ll be nudging his Board to move his compensation more in line with that of Dimon in the not so distant future. Vince joined BNY Mellon in October 2020 after 26 years at Goldman Sachs. When he left Goldman, he was serving as its Chief Risk Officer and was a member of the Management Committee. His previous roles at Goldman included Treasurer, Head of Operations, Head of Global Money Markets, COO of the EMEA region and CEO of Goldman Sachs International Bank, among others. He became a Managing Director at Goldman in 2002 and made partner in 2006. Vince won’t have to worry that he made a bad decision in moving from Goldman to BNY Mellon should there be a change in control. The proxy filed with the SEC also shares that if Vince is terminated by the bank as a result of a change in control, he’ll receive $12.17 million in a cash severance payment; $5.17 million in a pro-rated bonus; $59,914 in health and wellness benefits; for a total of $17.39 million just to walk out the fancy front door of this banking behemoth. Bank of New York Mellon dates its history to 1784 and calls itself “America’s oldest financial institution.” Today, it says, “BNY Mellon powers capital markets around the world through comprehensive solutions that help clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment life cycle.”

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