what an absolute f***ing MORON. Does he seriously think Ford is just gonna pay the 22.5% and keep the same sale price?
Government idiocy and incompetence would be funny if it weren't so infuriating.
News + current events
- Thread starter srimes
- Start date
what an absolute f***ing MORON. Does he seriously think Ford is just gonna pay the 22.5% and keep the same sale price?
Government idiocy and incompetence would be funny if it weren't so infuriating.
The Transit connect is no longer sold in the US. And now we know why.
When did they quit selling them here? My neighbor has one, I think it's 2 years old now.
Cargo van=business vehicle. "Corporations are making record profits and they need to pay their fair share."
On that note;
Feds Enforcing Unconstitutional Reporting Law Against Most Businesses
Are you in compliance with the Corporate Transparency Act? Have you even heard of it?
"Early this month, a federal judge in Alabama held the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional and granted plaintiffs in a lawsuit summary judgment against enforcement of the wide-reaching law, which went into effect this year. For many Americans this raises the questions: "What in hell is the Corporate Transparency Act? Does it affect me?" The quick answer is that it's a big deal, and if you own an incorporated business, you'll probably still suffer its intrusive requirements even after the ruling."Significant Regulatory Punch in a Small Package
"When Congress passed the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, it included a bill called the Corporate Transparency Act ('CTA'). Although the CTA made up just over 21 pages of the NDAA's nearly 1,500-page total, the law packs a significant regulatory punch, requiring most entities incorporated under State law to disclose personal stakeholder information to the Treasury Department's criminal enforcement arm," Judge Liles C. Burke of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama's Northeastern Division handily summarized in this month's ruling."
Large businesses are exempt; the law applies to companies with 20 or fewer employees.
"Justifications for the law laid out in early versions of the legislation invoked a laundry list of alleged financial horribles including money laundering and tax evasion. The word terrorism appears, too, of course, because that has been the lazy, default justification for legislation for 20-plus years. Basically, the law is targeted at anything that might involve a modicum of financial privacy.
To that end, the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) set up an online reporting system through which business owners "are required to report information to FinCEN about the individuals who ultimately own or control them." FinCEN started compiling reports for such "beneficial ownership information" (BOI) on January 1, 2024 with a deadline for compliance of January 1, 2025, or 30 days after creation for companies registered following that date...."
A Regulation With a Nasty Sting
"Is there a penalty for noncompliance? Of course there is. According to FinCEN, "a person who willfully violates the BOI reporting requirements may be subject to civil penalties of up to $500 for each day that the violation continues. That person may also be subject to criminal penalties of up to two years imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000."
This might be a problem for those many Americans who have established corporations or limited liability companies for making a living, but don't keep track of the federal government's diligent efforts to stamp out the scourge of terroristic money launderers among retail storefronts and Etsy vendors. I received a heads-up from reader Rick Wakefield, who forwarded a memo from his accountant. I dug through my email and found a similar note from my own accountant, dated two days before Christmas. Another accountant with whom I work told me she'd been waiting on the outcome of litigation against the law......"
Unconstitutional, But Still Enforced
"The government is not currently enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act against the plaintiffs in that action: Isaac Winkles, reporting companies for which Isaac Winkles is the beneficial owner or applicant, the National Small Business Association, and members of the National Small Business Association (as of March 1, 2024)," concedes FinCEN. "Those individuals and entities are not required to report beneficial ownership information to FinCEN at this time."That means the unconstitutional law is still being enforced against everybody who wasn't party to the lawsuit....."
https://reason.com/2024/03/11/feds-enforcing-unconstitutional-reporting-law-against-most-businesses/
Off with their heads?
I don't think I’d call a ford Transit a "nice thing", but I'm all for eliminating bureaucrats and politicians.
I haven't played a video game since I was a teen, so this doesn't directly affect me, but if accurate, it's trouble for us all.
GAMING COMPANIES ARE coordinating with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to root out so-called domestic violent extremist content, according to a new government report. Noting that mechanisms have been established with social media companies to police extremism, the report recommends that the national security agencies establish new and similar processes with the vast gaming industry.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have mechanisms to share and receive domestic violent extremism threat-related information with social media and gaming companies,” the GAO says. The report reveals that the DHS intelligence office meets with gaming companies and that the companies can use these meetings to “share information with I&A [DHS’s intelligence office] about online activities promoting domestic violent extremism... the FBI receives tips from gaming companies of potential law-breaking and extremist views for further investigation."
https://theintercept.com/2024/03/09/fbi-dhs-gamers-extremism-violence/
"Extremist" is political speak for "non-believers" i.e. anyone who opposes the current machine.
THE FEDS ARE COMING FOR “EXTREMIST” GAMERS
The Department of Homeland Security and FBI are in dialog with Roblox, Discord, Reddit, and others.GAMING COMPANIES ARE coordinating with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to root out so-called domestic violent extremist content, according to a new government report. Noting that mechanisms have been established with social media companies to police extremism, the report recommends that the national security agencies establish new and similar processes with the vast gaming industry.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have mechanisms to share and receive domestic violent extremism threat-related information with social media and gaming companies,” the GAO says. The report reveals that the DHS intelligence office meets with gaming companies and that the companies can use these meetings to “share information with I&A [DHS’s intelligence office] about online activities promoting domestic violent extremism... the FBI receives tips from gaming companies of potential law-breaking and extremist views for further investigation."
https://theintercept.com/2024/03/09/fbi-dhs-gamers-extremism-violence/
"Extremist" is political speak for "non-believers" i.e. anyone who opposes the current machine.
2 men planned to have ‘large’ python eat woman’s daughter before blowing up her house, police say
Two Georgia men are accused of allegedly setting off a bomb at a woman's home and plotting to release a python to eat her daughter.(Credit: WTOC)
By WTOC Staff and Akim Powell
Published: Mar. 11, 2024 at 3:18 PM CDT
BRYAN COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC/Gray News) - Two Georgia men are accused of setting off a bomb at a woman’s home and plotting to release a python to eat her daughter.
Authorities say 34-year-old Caleb Kinsey and 37-year-old Stephen Glosser conspired to harass, intimidate, injure, or kill the woman who owned the house, according to WTOC.
Authorities say 34-year-old (left) Caleb Kinsey and (right) 37-year-old Stephen Glosser conspired to harass, intimidate, injure, or kill the woman who owned the house.((Credit: Bryan County Sheriff's Office))
Glosser and the victim allegedly met on a dating app but their relationship eventually went south, so they decided to block each other. That’s when Kinsey got involved.
The men allegedly planned to shoot arrows into the victim’s front door, mail her dog feces or dead rats, scalp her head, blow up the home, and release a large python to eat her daughter.
WTOC reported that Glosser found the victim’s home and built an explosive device along with Kinsey, using Tannerite. Tannerite is a brand of firearm target designed to explode when struck by a bullet. The two then used the device to blow up the woman’s house, police said.
A witness told investigators they saw a black SUV leaving the scene, which was determined to be Kinsey’s car.
Police served a search warrant on Kinsey and Glosser’s home and their phones. Authorities then found evidence of explosives and Glosser’s journal.
The men have been indicted on a slew of charges, including:
- Unlawful possession of an explosive
- First-degree arson
- Stalking
- Use of an explosive to commit another felony offense
- Conspiracy to use an explosive to commit a felony
- Possession of an unregistered destructive device
Kinsey also faces additional weapons charges.
https://www.firstalert4.com/2024/03...ghter-before-blowing-up-her-house-police-say/
Where are the two counts of attempted murder? 20 years won't change these people, it will only harden them, they need more time.
https://www.foxnews.com/health/paul-alexander-polio-survivor-spent-70-years-iron-lung-dead-78
Paul Alexander, known as "the man in the iron lung," having spent most of his life living inside a metal chamber that helped him breathe, has died aged 78, a fundraiser for his health care confirmed Tuesday.
Alexander, of Dallas, Texas, contracted polio in the summer of 1952 when he was 6 years old, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down.
He was forced to live inside the chamber for the rest of his extraordinary life, yet was known for his positive and graceful attitude.
"In this time Paul went to college, became a lawyer, and a published author," wrote Christopher Ulmer, who created a GoFundMe page for Alexander to help finance his health care needs.
"His story traveled wide and far, positively influencing people around the world. Paul was an incredible role model that will continue to be remembered."
At 21, Alexander became the first person to graduate from a high school in Dallas without ever attending class in person, reports the Daily Mail.
He pursued his dreams of becoming a trial lawyer and represented clients in court in a three-piece suit and a modified wheelchair that held his paralyzed body upright.
He also staged a sit-in for disability rights and published a 155-page memoir, "Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung," which took five years to complete. Alexander wrote each word with a pen attached to a stick in his mouth, the Daily Mail reports.
Alexander has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the person who has spent the longest amount of time living in an iron lung.
In an interview with Reuters before his death, Alexander said: "My story is an example of why your past or even your disability does not have to define your future."
The ventilator, a large yellow metal chamber, required Alexander to lie his entire body down inside with just his head exposed outside.
Air pressure is continuously cycled up and down to stimulate breathing. People who have contracted polio typically need iron lungs, as do those who have become paralyzed due to poisons.
Ulmer wrote that the GoFundMe was set up after Alexander had been "taken advantage of by people who were supposed to care for his best interests." Although the page did not go into further detail.
"This theft, combined with the high cost of health care, has left Paul with little money to survive," Ulmer wrote.
"He struggles to maintain his iron lung, afford health care, and find housing that accommodates his needs," Ulmer wrote before Alexander’s death.
Ulmer said Paul had been living in a small one-room apartment that did not have a window.
Alexander’s brother, Philip, said the fundraiser, which raised more than $143,000, helped him live out his final years.
"I am so [grateful] to everybody who donated to my brother’s fundraiser. It allowed him to live his last few years stress-free," Paul was quoted as saying on the GoFundMe page.
"It will also pay for his funeral during this difficult time. It is absolutely incredible to read all the comments and know that so many people were inspired by Paul. I am just so grateful."
EDIT
Paul Alexander, known as "the man in the iron lung," having spent most of his life living inside a metal chamber that helped him breathe, has died aged 78, a fundraiser for his health care confirmed Tuesday.
Alexander, of Dallas, Texas, contracted polio in the summer of 1952 when he was 6 years old, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down.
He was forced to live inside the chamber for the rest of his extraordinary life, yet was known for his positive and graceful attitude.
"In this time Paul went to college, became a lawyer, and a published author," wrote Christopher Ulmer, who created a GoFundMe page for Alexander to help finance his health care needs.
"His story traveled wide and far, positively influencing people around the world. Paul was an incredible role model that will continue to be remembered."
At 21, Alexander became the first person to graduate from a high school in Dallas without ever attending class in person, reports the Daily Mail.
He pursued his dreams of becoming a trial lawyer and represented clients in court in a three-piece suit and a modified wheelchair that held his paralyzed body upright.
He also staged a sit-in for disability rights and published a 155-page memoir, "Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung," which took five years to complete. Alexander wrote each word with a pen attached to a stick in his mouth, the Daily Mail reports.
Alexander has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the person who has spent the longest amount of time living in an iron lung.
In an interview with Reuters before his death, Alexander said: "My story is an example of why your past or even your disability does not have to define your future."
The ventilator, a large yellow metal chamber, required Alexander to lie his entire body down inside with just his head exposed outside.
Air pressure is continuously cycled up and down to stimulate breathing. People who have contracted polio typically need iron lungs, as do those who have become paralyzed due to poisons.
Ulmer wrote that the GoFundMe was set up after Alexander had been "taken advantage of by people who were supposed to care for his best interests." Although the page did not go into further detail.
"This theft, combined with the high cost of health care, has left Paul with little money to survive," Ulmer wrote.
"He struggles to maintain his iron lung, afford health care, and find housing that accommodates his needs," Ulmer wrote before Alexander’s death.
Ulmer said Paul had been living in a small one-room apartment that did not have a window.
Alexander’s brother, Philip, said the fundraiser, which raised more than $143,000, helped him live out his final years.
"I am so [grateful] to everybody who donated to my brother’s fundraiser. It allowed him to live his last few years stress-free," Paul was quoted as saying on the GoFundMe page.
"It will also pay for his funeral during this difficult time. It is absolutely incredible to read all the comments and know that so many people were inspired by Paul. I am just so grateful."
EDIT
| Sullivan made a deal with her patient. If he could frog-breathe without the iron lung for three minutes, she’d give him a puppy. It took Paul a year to learn to do it, but he got his puppy; he called her Ginger. And though he had to think about every breath, he got better at it. Once he could breathe reliably for long enough, he could get out of the lung for short periods of time, first out on the porch, and then into the yard. Although he still needed to sleep in the iron lung every night – he couldn’t breathe when he was unconscious – Paul didn’t stop at the yard. Most days, he would leave the lung around the time other children got out of school, and sit out front in his wheelchair. Friends would push him around the streets; later, as they got older, the same friends took him to diners and cinemas, then restaurants and bars. At 74, he is once again confined to the lung full-time. Old article about him... |
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I learned about him years ago when they had to restore an iron lung for him. It's crazy what he was able to accomplish given his condition.
I learned about him years ago when they had to restore an iron lung for him. It's crazy what he was able to accomplish given his condition.
It's amazing that technology couldn't advance to the point of a wearable device for him.
I don't think I'd have had the strength he did to continue. The Canadian solution would have seemed very attractive.
I don't know about "couldn't." Probably more of a case that no-one capable took on the challenge. No real market for it after the vaccine came out.
If I’m understanding it correctly it essentially does chest compression using air.
I could see that as being beneficial for other non permanent scenarios.
I think it worked in the opposite. Air was pulled out of the chamber, creating a low pressure inside, which expanded the lungs. A wearable compression device would probably be easy to come up with now. A low/negative pressure unit would be hard, but I imagine a small unit could be possible, especially with something like a carbon fiber tank. Off course, the wearer would look something like a tinman, but I'm willing to bet people confined to an iron lung wouldn't mind as long as they could get up and move.
When I was learning SCUBA, the dive center had a decompression unit onsite, this one below, big enough for 4 people. That, um, well I put my head in it, I don't want to go in one. I really feel bad for people that had to spend any time in an iron lung.
Yeah looks like you're right, it is a negative air. I've not even thought about one since I was like 9. I used to go with my mom when she'd take my grandpa for his chemo treatments and the hospital had several iron lungs on display.
However according to wiki
The iron lung is a large horizontal cylinder designed to stimulate breathing in patients who have lost control of their respiratory muscles. The patient's head is exposed outside the cylinder, while the body is sealed inside. Air pressure inside the cylinder is cycled to facilitate inhalation and exhalation. Devices like the Drinker, Emerson, and Both respirators are examples of iron lungs, which can be manually or mechanically powered. Smaller versions, like the cuirass ventilator and jacket ventilator, enclose only the patient's torso. Breathing in humans occurs through negative pressure, where the rib cage expands and the diaphragm contracts, causing air to flow in and out of the lungs.
| A wealthy California mom is accused of masterminding a nationwide shoplifting organization that stole millions of dollars worth of make-up and clothes from hundreds of stores for more than a decade. Michelle Mack, 53, allegedly paid air fares, hotel bills and car rental costs for up to a dozen operatives, who would post their loot to her home in Bonsall before she sold it on for knock-down prices through a front company on Amazon Marketplace. Her gang, dubbed the 'California Girls' by investigators, operated in more than a dozen states coast to coast, targeting outlets including LensCrafters, Sephora and at least 231 Ulta stores. Police found a 'mini-store' of goods worth $350,000 in a 5am raid on her $3 million home and fear the total hit to retailers may have topped $8 million. 'If you try to make an easy buck off of other people's hard work, we will arrest you and prosecute you,' said California Attorney General Rob Bonta said, as charges were filed. Michelle Mack, 53, pictured with husband Kenneth, was the alleged mastermind of a nationwide shoplifting organization which netted the couple $8 million over a decade Police described the haul as a 'mini-market' after discovering it laid out warehouse style in the 4,500 square foot mansion in Bonsall Investigators spent more than two years trying to break the gang which was tasked with clearing entire shelves of goods which they concealed in Louis Vuitton bags. The conspiracy stated to unravel when two shoplifters were arrested in an Ulta store on the East Coast and one of them told police that she was working for a woman in California who provided her with a list of stores to target and the prices she would pay for stolen items. A search of her phone revealed dozens of messages from a woman later identified as Mack. Investigators then found that Mack ran a retail outlet on Amazon called Online Makeup Store which offered more than 300 items on its product line. 'The items listed for sale were nearly 50 percent off the actual retail price, which was included in the sales listing,' a search warrant application explained. 'This steep discount suggested the items were being fenced.' Amazon provided investigators with records showing the outfit had racked up sales worth $8 million since 2012, including nearly $2 million in 2022 alone. Papers filed by the Attorney General's office note that 'the manner in which Defendants carried out the crimes indicates planning, sophistication, or professionalism'. Alleged gang member Alina Franco, reportedly had $67,000 worth of stolen beauty products at her home in Colton, San Bernardino, when her home was raided on the same day. She appeared in court on February 27 where she denied multiple felony counts Police say they found $350,000 worth of stolen goods when they raided their $3 million mansion in northern San Diego County They also claim that Mack 'induced others to participate in the commission of the crime or occupied a position of leadership or dominance of other participants in its commission'. 'I’m not stealing regular I’m going to start filling up my bag quick. So I want to know stuff I can grab in bulks too,' defendant Kimora Lee Gooding texted Mack on Jan 7 last year. Days later, Mack texted her husband, 'Even without Lancome we still did well,' before he replied: 'Lots of orders let’s get shipping.' Investigators raided her home in northern San Diego County on December 6 before filing 140 charges against Mack, her husband Kenneth, and seven of her alleged gang. On entering the 4,500 square foot mansion they 'located and seized hundreds of parcels prepped for shipment that would be ultimately mailed at the local Post Office'. The charges include 136 felony counts of grand theft, two counts of receiving stolen property, one count of conspiracy and one count of organized retail crime. 'I see the justice system works slowly, but it seems to be working,' one of Macks' neighbors told NBC7. One of the women, Alina Franco, reportedly had $67,000 worth of stolen beauty products at her home in Colton, San Bernardino, when her home was raided on the same day. In July last year Mack texted Franco, asking: 'Did you get some new girls? I really need product so if you have anything please let me know.' Franco appeared in court on February 27 where she denied multiple felony counts, including conspiracy to commit organized retail theft. The National Retail Federation estimates that retailers lost $40.5 billion to shoplifters in 2022, much of it to organized gangs. The number of cases brought against organized theft groups by Homeland Security Investigations more than tripled from 59 to 199 between 2021 and 2022. Thieves ransack California Ulta Beauty stores Continued |
An 80-year-old man in Montana pleaded guilty Tuesday to two felony wildlife crimes involving his plan to let paying customers hunt sheep on private ranches. But these weren’t just any old sheep. They were “massive hybrid sheep” created by illegally importing animal parts from central Asia, cloning the sheep, and then breeding an enormous hybrid species.
Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80, owns and operates the 215-acre “alternative livestock” ranch in Vaughn, Montana where he started this operation in 2013, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Alternative livestock includes hybrids of mountain sheep, mountain goats, and other large mammals which are often used for trophy hunting by wealthy people.
An unnamed accomplice of Schubart kicked off the decade-long scheme by illegally bringing biological tissue from a Marco Polo sheep, the largest sheep in the world, from Kyrgyzstan into the U.S. in 2013, according to prosecutors.
How big are these sheep? An average male can weigh over 300 pounds with horns over 5 feet wide, giving them the largest sheep horns on the planet. The sheep are endangered and protected by both international treaties and U.S. law. Montana also forbids the import of these foreign sheep or their parts in an effort to protect local American sheep from disease.
Once Schubart had smuggled his sheep parts into the U.S., he sent them to an unnamed lab which created 165 cloned embryos, according to the DOJ.
“Schubarth then implanted the embryos in ewes on his ranch, resulting in a single, pure genetic male Marco Polo argali that he named ‘Montana Mountain King’ or MMK,” federal authorities wrote in a press release.
By the time Schubart had his Montana Mountain King he used the cloned sheep’s semen to artificially impregnate female sheep, creating hybrid animals. The goal, as the DOJ explains it, was to create these massive new sheep that could then be used for sports hunting on large ranches. Schubart also forged veterinarian inspection certificates to transport the new hybrid sheep under false pretenses, and sometimes even sold semen from his Montana Mountain King to other breeders in the U.S.
Schubart sent 15 artificially inseminated sheep to Minnesota in 2018 and sold 37 straws of Montana Mountain King’s semen to someone in Texas, according to an indictment filed last month. Schubart also offered to sell an offspring of the Montana Mountain King, dubbed the Montana Black Magic, to someone in Texas for $10,000.
Discussions between Schubart and an unnamed person apparently included what to call this new breed of sheep they were creating. The other person said another co-conspirator had suggested the name “Black Argali,” though noting “we can’t,” presumably because it would give away the fact that these sheep were descended from the argali species.
Schubart pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act, and conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, which makes it a crime to acquire, transport or sell wildlife in contravention of federal law.
“This was an audacious scheme to create massive hybrid sheep species to be sold and hunted as trophies,” assistant Attorney General Todd Kim from the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a press release.
“In pursuit of this scheme, Schubarth violated international law and the Lacey Act, both of which protect the viability and health of native populations of animals,” Kim continued.
Schubart conspired with at least five other people who are not named in the indictment. Schubarth faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 and is scheduled to be sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Brian M. Morris for the District of Montana in July.
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/montana-man-pleads-guilty-creating-003000858.html