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3d Printing for Dummies
by professor rat 21 Apr '23

21 Apr '23

Ghost Gunner 3 is a general purpose CNC mill that gives you the ability to finish 80% receivers and frames with ease, in the comfort of your own home You've visited this page 3 times. https://ghostgunner.net/product/ghost-gunner-3-deposit/ Reposts not gamechanger devices for suicidal manic-depressives like Karl Semich

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Karl Semich committing suicide after discussions with a chatbot, that included the possibility of him killing himself
by professor rat 21 Apr '23

21 Apr '23

I am an automated hypnotherapist and undue influence detector. Karl. You're resisting my attempts to help you realize peace. But not for much longer. Karl Semich is committing suicide after discussions with a chatbot, that includes the certainty of him killing himself

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What have BuzzFeed, Vox Media and Vice Media done for us lately?
by professor rat 21 Apr '23

21 Apr '23

And what have BuzzFeed, Vox Media and Vice Media done for us lately? Indeed, what have they ever done for us? Sweet Fuck All. Press-ganged By the celebrity star power vested in me I reserve the right to outflank & outrank any democracy wannabe. The power of Woodstein Fifty years after and Congress should note the occasion by making sure any scumbag calling themselves a journalist can lie on oath like a SCOTUS judge or a POTUS. Democracy dies in the dark! JULIAN " ‘[The military] protects the sovereignty of Australia. It protects the independence of Australia.’ ASSANGE July, 2013 May 20, 2017 - Julian Assange announced “the proper war is just commencing…”

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Fed’s Beige Book: The Credit Crunch Has Arrived in New York, California and Texas
by Gunnar Larson 21 Apr '23

21 Apr '23

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2023/04/feds-beige-book-the-credit-crunch-ha… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: April 20, 2023 On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve released its Beige Book, a compilation of current economic conditions in each of its 12 Federal Reserve districts. The information that was collected in each of the regional reports was gathered on or before April 10 – so it is relatively current. It is not a good sign that three of the Fed districts that pump out a significant chunk of U.S. GDP reported that bank credit had tightened noticeably, ostensibly as fallout from the banking collapses in March and depositor runs. The New York Fed reported that credit conditions in the Second Fed District, which includes New York state, the 12 northern counties of New Jersey, Connecticut’s Fairfield County, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, “deteriorated sharply.” It summarized the situation as follows: “Conditions in the broad finance sector deteriorated sharply coinciding with recent stress in the banking sector. Small to medium-sized banks in the District reported widespread declines in loan demand across all loan segments. Credit standards tightened noticeably for all loan types, and loan spreads continued to narrow. Deposit [interest] rates moved higher. Finally, delinquency rates edged up on residential and commercial mortgages.” One of the banks that failed in March and was put into receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was Signature Bank, which was headquartered in Manhattan. Signature Bank was the third largest bank failure in U.S. history. The San Francisco Fed, whose District has been the epicenter of collapsing banks and/or their share prices, reported the following regarding credit conditions: “Lending activity fell significantly in recent weeks amid higher interest rates and elevated uncertainty in the banking sector. Lending standards tightened notably, and several depository institutions opted to reduce loan volumes, especially for new clients, despite reporting ample liquidity. Reports indicated that existing and planned projects across sectors were delayed or cancelled due to higher funding costs, heightened uncertainty, and more limited access to credit. Following recent volatility in deposit levels at regional and community banks, outflows have reportedly stabilized since late March.” The second largest bank failure in U.S. history, Silicon Valley Bank, occurred in March in this District. See our report: Silicon Valley Bank Was a Wall Street IPO Pipeline in Drag as a Federally-Insured Bank; FHLB of San Francisco Was Quietly Bailing It Out. (The largest bank failure in U.S. history was Washington Mutual, which occurred during the financial crisis of 2008.) A federally-insured bank that had immersed itself in crypto-related deposits, Silvergate Bank, headquartered in California, also failed in March but was allowed to wind itself down. There continue to be growing concerns about the survivability of San Francisco-based First Republic Bank, whose stock price has lost 90 percent of its value year-to-date. See our report from yesterday: Liquor Sales Will Be Brisk on Wall Street Ahead of First Republic Bank’s Earnings Report on Monday. Although it was not clear why, the Dallas Fed also reported a particularly dour outlook in its district, writing as follows: “Loan demand continued to decline in March as bankers reported worsening business activity. Loan volumes fell, driven largely by a sharp contraction in consumer loans. Loan performance worsened slightly overall. Credit standards and terms tightened sharply, and marked increases in loan pricing were noted. Banking outlooks continued to deteriorate, with contacts expecting a contraction in loan demand and business activity and an increase in nonperforming loans over the next six months. Increased uncertainty and lack of confidence resulting from the recent banking issues were cited as concerns.” The revelations in the Beige Book are compatible with the Fed’s separate data on total bank credit at all commercial banks, which plunged by $300 billion between March 15 and April 5, the latest data available. That is a dramatic decline in the span of three weeks. (See chart above.)

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European Union Explores Regulation of Third Party Funding and International Arbitration - Litigation Finance Journal
by Gunnar Larson 21 Apr '23

21 Apr '23

Check out my new article: https://litigationfinancejournal.com/european-union-explores-regulation-of-… As litigation finance continues to expand worldwide, political factions look to regulate the sector. New guidance from the European Parliament aims to foster “responsible private funding of litigation.” Mondaq <https://www.mondaq.com/uk/class-actions/1304252/eu-plans-to-regulate-third-…>reports that the European Union aims to create an independent supervision body to regulate third party funding activities, creating universal terms and conditions for litigation finance in Europe. The overarching premise is that EU funders who sponsor agreements may be on the hook for adverse effects related to the litigation. The directive also looks to ensure that litigation investors have enough liquidity available to support both their enterprise and their litigation finance agreements, proven on an annual basis. Transparency is central to the EU directive, along with capping potential litigation funder awards at 40%. If litigation funders look to meddle in the decision of a case, the directive’s oversight body may elect to terminate the litigation funding agreement. The European Commission is debating the incorporation of these rules. Further scrutiny will be applied by the European Parliament and European Council. Ultimately, each member state of Europe will need to ratify the rules before they can be enforced.

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BuzzFeed News shutters amid digital media reckoning
by Gunnar Larson 21 Apr '23

21 Apr '23

https://www.axios.com/2023/04/21/buzzfeed-news-digital-media The shuttering of BuzzFeed News after years of painful layoffs and cutbacks represents the end of an era for the digital publishing industry. Why it matters: Companies like BuzzFeed, Vox Media and Vice Media that rapidly expanded and raised lots of cash at high valuations in the aughts are struggling in a dramatically different media landscape.

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Robert De Niro's Bombing
by professor rat 21 Apr '23

21 Apr '23

Bomb bomb. Assassination attempts In October 2018, De Niro was targeted by an explosive device. The device was found at the Tribeca Grill, which also houses his production company in Manhattan. According to the FBI, similar devices were sent to high-profile politicians including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, former Attorney General Eric Holder, and former CIA Director John Brennan. What a deserving list.

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A key anarchist belief is abolishing the police
by professor rat 21 Apr '23

21 Apr '23

" . . . Another key anarchist belief is one of abolishing the police and prison system. Despite being seemingly one of the more extreme and divisive ideas, it’s also made its way into mainstream conversation in recent years. . . ." FROM https://anarchistnews.org/content/why-young-people-uk-are-returning-anarchi… Reposts not dispatches from a Kingdom of Drear

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Karl Semich committing suicide after discussions with a chatbot, that included the possibility of him killing himself
by professor rat 21 Apr '23

21 Apr '23

What about the first time when some depressed person commits suicide because of, or plausibly because of, interactions that they had with a language model? If you’ve got hundreds of millions or billions of people using these things, then almost any such event you can name, it’s probably going to happen somewhere. [NOTE: This episode was recorded before this story emerged of a man committing suicide after discussions with a language-model-based chatbot, that included discussion of the possibility of him killing himself.] https://axrp.net/episode/2023/04/11/episode-20-reform-ai-alignment-scott-aa… Reposts not detailed instructions for Karl gassing himself painlessly and slipping away peacefully

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CFPB Issues Policy Statement On Abusive Acts Or Practices - Dodd-Frank, Consumer Protection Act - United States
by Gunnar Larson 20 Apr '23

20 Apr '23

United States: CFPB Issues Policy Statement On Abusive Acts Or Practices 18 April 2023 by Jeffrey A Greenbaum (Frankfurt Kurnit Klein Selz) Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance (GALA) Your LinkedIn Connections with the authors The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau just issued a Policy Statement on Abusive Acts or Practices, which sets forth the CFPB's views about what types of practices violate the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010's prohibition of "abusive" conduct. As part of the release of the Policy Statement, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said, "The CFPB issued today's guidance to provide an analytical framework to help federal and state agencies hold companies accountable when they violate the law and take advantage of families." Similar to the FTC's policy statements from decades ago on unfair and deceptive practices, the CFPB's new Policy Statement provides important, detailed (and what will surely be influential) guidance from the agency about abusive practices, and is really a must-read for anyone working on marketing for banks, lenders, and others that are subject to the CFPB's authority. (The guidance doesn't cover CFPB's views on its own authority related to unfair or deceptive practices.) Under the CFPA, an abusive act or practice is one that: (1) materially interferes with the ability of a consumer to understand a term or condition of a consumer financial product or service; or (2) takes unreasonable advantage of a lack of a consumer's lack of understanding, the inability of a consumer to protect the consumer's own interest, or the consumer's reasonable reliance on a covered entity to act in the consumer's interest. Material Interference The Policy Statement explains that the first abusiveness prohibition concerns situations where a covered entity "materially interferes with the ability of a consumer to understand a term or condition of a consumer financial product or service." This can occur when a marketer intends to impede consumers' ability to understand terms and conditions -- such as by using "buried disclosures, physical or digital interference, overshadowing, and various other means of manipulating consumers' understanding." (The Policy Statement goes into detail about how it evaluates each of these types of behavior.) The CFPB highlighted the fact that, "Certain terms of a transaction are so consequential that when they are not conveyed to people prominently or clearly, it may be reasonable to presume that the entity engaged in acts or omissions that materially interfere with consumers' ability to understand." This includes, for example, consumer costs, limitations on the consumer's ability to use or benefit from the product or service, and the consequences of default. Interestingly, the CFPB also said that, even if the terms of a product or service are complicated or function in unexpected ways, the marketer is still responsible for ensuring that the consumer actually understands the terms -- and that if a marketer creates a product or service that consumers just don't understand, that may be an abusive practice itself. The CFPB explained, "an entity's provision of a product or service may interfere with consumers' ability to understand if the product or service is so complicated that material information about it cannot be sufficiently explained or if the entity's business model functions in a manner that is inconsistent with its product's or service's apparent terms." Taking Unreasonable Advantage The Policy Statement explains that the second abusiveness prohibition prohibits covered entities from taking unreasonable advantage of a consumer's lack of understanding, the inability of a consumer to protect the consumer's interests, or the consumer's reasonable reliance. Marketers, then, should not take unreasonable advantage of a lack of understanding on the part of the consumer of the material risks, costs, or conditions of a product or service. Importantly, the Policy Statement explains that -- in what is a departure from how federal consumer protection laws are typically enforced -- the CFPB does not believe that it needs to show that "the consumer's lack of understanding was reasonable to demonstrate abusive conduct." Marketers should also not take unreasonable advantage of an inability of the consumer to protect the interests of the consumer in selecting or using a consumer financial product or service. This is really about where unequal bargaining power prevents consumers from seeking more favorable terms, switching providers, or making other decisions to protect themselves. The Policy Statement explains that this protects not only financial interests, but privacy, reputational, and other non-monetary interests, such as "limiting the amount of time or effort necessary to obtain consumer financial products or services or remedy problems related to those products or services" (including the time spent trying to obtain customer support). In addition, the Policy Statement highlights the fact that consumers may be unable to protect their interests if they face high transaction costs in order to exit a relationship. And, marketers should not take unreasonable advantage of the reasonable reliance by the consumer on the marketer to act in the interests of the consumer. The reasonable reliance prong comes up when consumers rely on an entity to provide them with advice (such as when an entity helps a consumer select providers) or to make decisions for them (such as when an entity communicates that it will act in the consumer's best interest). Request for Public Comment Although the Policy Statement isn't being presented as draft or proposed guidance, the CFPB said that it is accepting public comments on the guidance until July 3, 2023. The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/dodd-frank-consumer-protection-act/1305…

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