TYB
Fallen FTX founder SBF and his parents arrive at Bahamas court - as his Congressional testimony blames depression,claims he's victim of anti-Semitismand that his failed crypto exchange is SOLVENT and can cover $1.8B losses
December 13, 2022
Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in The Bahamas last night on fraud charges
He faces a total of 155 years in prison if convicted on all eight counts
The disgraced FTX founder, 30, planned to tell Congress the company is solvent
Prosecutors say he used it as a 'personal piggy bank' to fund his lavish lifestyle
He also made enormous donations to the Democratic party
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has arrived at court in The Bahamas flanked by his Stanford law professor parents and a police escort after being arrested on charges of fraud and money laundering.
Bankman-Fried is accused of defrauding investors out of $1.8billion by having them put their money on his crypto trading platform, FTX. The platform collapsed in November after Bankman-Fried filed for bankruptcy.
Federal prosecutors in New York and the SEC both say Bankman-Fried used the platform as a 'personal piggy bank' to fund a lavish lifestyle and make whopping political donations. He's been hit with eight counts of various fraud and money laundering charges and now faces 155 years in prison.
He maintains that he did nothing of the sort, and was going to tell Congress today that he could repay all of the people who have lost money 'tomorrow' if his assets were unfrozen, despite previously filing for bankruptcy.
Prosecutors in The Bahamas today argued that he should not be granted bail, insisting that he was a flight risk. He is in court currently in a blue and white shirt, and is not wearing handcuffs.
Combined, the criminal charges carry a maximum prison term of more than 150 years.
Bankman-Fried was due to give testimony today about his doomed platform before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services.
Forbes obtained a written copy of the testimony he was expected to give.
It began: 'I would like to start by formally stating under oath: I f****d up. I know that it doesn't mean much to say that I'm sorry. And so I'm dedicating as much of myself as I can to do the right thing by customers.
'When all is said and done, I'll judge myself primarily by one metric: whether I have eventually been able to make customers whole. If I fail our customers in this regard, I have failed myself.'
But over the next 18 pages, he blamed anti-Semitism, lawyers and even his own ex-girlfriend for the breakdown of his company.
He maintains that his business - at least the American branch of it - is still solvent.
'To the best of my knowledge, FTX US has been and remains solvent, and could pay all of its customers in full tomorrow.
'Unfortunately, the Chapter 11 team has frozen the FTX US exchange, blocking customers access to their account information and funds.
Sauce/more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11532899/SEC-charges-shamed-Sam-Bankman-Fried-defrauding-FTX-equity-investors-1-8BILLION.html
Poor Sam. Sam dindu.
Lauren Boebert clings onto her House seat by just 546 VOTES: Recount confirms Republican firebrand's Colorado victory by a 0.4% margin - after Democratic challenger gained just four more votes
December 13, 2022
Forced recount confirms Lauren Boebert will hold onto her House seat
The Colorado Republican won by just 546 votes in the nail-biting race
Democrat Adam Frisch earned just four more votes in the recount
Lauren Boebert narrowly held onto her House seat after an automatic recount confirmed Monday her reelection for a second term in Congress.
The combative Colorado Republican won her reelection bid against Democratic challenger Adam Frisch by 546 votes – a nail-biting race that showed her style might be swaying voters against her in the deep-red district.
The automatic recount was launched after the initial results showed Frisch and Boebert within 0.5 percent of each other in the election for House seat in Colorado's massive 3rd congressional district, which includes the entire western and most of the southern part of the state.
The results last month had Frisch 550 votes behind Boebert. In the recount, he netted just four votes – far from enough to close the gap.
Sauce/more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11531407/Recount-confirms-Rep-Lauren-Boebert-narrowly-won-reelection.html
Claire McCaskill has the most punchable face on TV.
Cambridge Dictionary changes definition of ‘man’ and ‘woman’
December 13, 2022
Cambridge Dictionary is being criticized by conservatives on social media for altering the definitions of the words “man” and “woman” to include people who identify as a gender other than their biological sex.
The definition of woman, which previously represented the longstanding view on sex, now states that a woman is “an adult who lives and identifies as female though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth.”
Similarly, a man is now defined as “an adult who lives and identifies as male though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth.”
This change was met with pushback from many, who argued that redefining society’s categorization of gender and sex is harmful and inaccurate.
“Cambridge Dictionary just dropped a new definition of ‘woman’,” Christopher Rufo, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, tweeted.
Rufo also pointed out that the dictionary used the pronoun “they” to describe the subject rather than “she”.
“Notice that the dictionary writers say ‘they may have been.’ They couldn’t bring themselves to write ‘she may have been,’ because they know they’re lying. That’s the tell,” he tweeted.
“Ceding linguistic territory to the radical Left. What could go wrong?” conservative commentator Rita Panahi wrote.
Daily Caller writer Mary Rooke wrote, “F-ing traitors to the truth. Cambridge Dictionary is only the latest. If we don’t stop them from erasing women our civilization is [not going to make it].”
1984 wasn't supposed to be a how-to manual. https://t.co/Qr6jJn0JYX
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) December 12, 2022
Adam Brooks, a British social commentator, questioned whether women are happy with the change.
“Oh wow, the @CambridgeWords dictionary definition of a woman is shocking, how did we get here? Surely women aren’t happy with this?” he wrote.
Dan McLaughin, a senior writer at National Review, argued the change is Orwellian. “1984 wasn’t supposed to be a how-to manual,” he tweeted.
President of Judicial Watch Tom Fitton tweeted, “War on women, update…”
Cambridge Dictionary’s alteration of the words “woman” and “man” reflect a growing trend on the left to reject the once universally accepted usage of those categories. In April, Fox News published a report that highlighted numerous Biden administration agencies’ failure to be able to answer the question: “What is a woman?”.
Sauce: https://nypost.com/2022/12/13/cambridge-dictionary-changes-definition-of-man-and-woman/
Parents told to scrub Snapchat from kids’ phones after Florida coach busted for paying for nude pictures
December 12, 2022
A Florida high school basketball coach and security guard has been arrested for allegedly paying young female students to send him explicit pictures on Snapchat.
Alton Edwards, 28, would allegedly pay his victims between $10 and $75 to send him the images after targeting them through social media, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office charged.
Sheriff William Snyder said his agency got an anonymous tip about Edwards’ scheme — and that they talked to seven teens who said they sent him nude pictures.
Snyder said parents need to be vigilant about the perils of online exploitation.
“Go to your child tonight and say, ‘I want to look in your camera and look at every single app that can hide pictures,'” Snyder told WPTV. “If your children have Snapchat, go home tonight and delete it.”
Edwards appeared to target vulnerable youngsters, Snyder said.
“It looks like his major (modus operandi) would be to find the girls on Snapchat, take a look at their friends and then just start probing,” he told the station “Really, it’s grooming. He finds a child who might be more vulnerable and he gets them to send pictures of them unclothed and sends them cash.”
The department said it will work with Snapchat to recover the images.
According to Snyder, Edwards has apparently been paying for pictures for several years — but no one spoke up until this month.
The Martin County School District is urging parents to get in contact if they think their kids may have been victimized by Edwards.
Edwards was charged with seven counts of solicitation of a minor and was being held Sunday on $350,000 bail, the TC Palm reported.
Sauce: https://nypost.com/2022/12/12/florida-coach-busted-for-paying-young-females-for-nude-pics/
Prominent DeSantis donor dies in apparent suicide during sexual misconduct probe
December 13, 2022
A prominent ally of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with unprecedented access to local authorities and reportedly under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct has died in what is being investigated as a suicide.
Kent Stermon, 50, of Jacksonville, was found dead in a truck parked outside the Atlantic Beach post office around 8 p.m. Thursday, the Florida Times-Union reported.
Stermon had been reported missing by his wife, Christie, after his heart monitor stopped earlier that day, the First Coast News reported.
Shortly after the discovery of his body, police announced they were investigating his death as a suicide.
Stermon was under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct at the time of his death, law enforcement sources told the Times-Union.
Speaking to the outlet last week, Sheriff T.K. Waters of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Stermon was the subject of an “active investigation” at the time of his death, but did not provide further details on the nature of the probe.
Stermon’s attorney, David Barksdale, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Stermon loomed large in local Jacksonville politics, as a generous supporter of Mayor Lenny Curry and former Sheriff Mike Williams.
He had a swipe access card to the sheriff’s office headquarters and other locations, which he used hundreds of times over the last five years, news station WJXT reported.
A spokesperson from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office told First Coast News that Stermon’s card was rescinded when Waters took office in late November, and the mega-donor “had been informed” of the decision.
The sheriff’s office and mayor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The defense contractor behind Total Military Management, Stermon also sat on the state university system’s Board of Governors. Records show that he and his wife made frequent contributions to Florida GOP candidates, including a $50,000 gift to a political action committee tied to DeSantis.
On Friday, DeSantis’ office said the governor and his wife were “shocked and saddened to hear of Kent’s passing.” A spokesperson also told Politico that the couple were unaware of the investigation into Stermon’s behavior.
Stermon’s ties to the state’s top lawmaker go back several years. In 2018, Politico reported that the then-congressman stayed in a condo co-owned by Stermon after being exiled from his district by redistricting in 2016.
“You wouldn’t have Ron DeSantis as governor without Kent Stermon,” Florida politics reporter A.G. Gancarski told First Coast News. “He was big with everything … in the state party.”
In the wake of Stermon’s death, some law enforcement veterans questioned the ethics of his seemingly unchecked access to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
“It was common knowledge to not only myself but to many employees that Mr. Stermon had high-level security access privileges to JSO facilities for years,” former sheriff’s office candidate Lakesha Burton told First Coast News.
“He made his heavy involvement in the inner workings and politics of the agency well known to all ranks.”
“You give that badge to the wrong person, and they’re connected to somebody out there who is doing the wrong thing, then you can walk in the building, do what you want to do and go back and give them information,” retired sheriff’s office detective Kim Varner concurred.
Sauce/more: https://nypost.com/2022/12/13/desantis-donor-kent-stermon-dies-in-apparent-suicide-amid-probe-report/
KEK
Micheal Hastings, POTUS..
'A plotline straight out of The Americans': Suburban New Hampshire husband who ran popular online craft store with wife and 'blended' into their neighborhood is indicted for 'smuggling nuclear and quantum computing tech to Russia'
December 13, 2022
Alexey Brayman was allegedly part of an international conspiracy to smuggle sensitive American technologies into Russia via Europe
His home, which he shares with his Russian wife, Daria, was allegedly a clearing house for the goods
Prosecutors say the equipment can be 'used in quantum computing, hypersonic and nuclear weapons development'
The conspiracy is a world away from the Braymans' reputation locally as 'the nicest family', who enjoy ice skating, basketball games and local art festivals
Brayman and six others face charge including conspiracy, money laundering, smuggling, and bank and wire fraud
An unassuming New Hampshire husband who runs an online craft shop with his wife has been charged over a conspiracy to supply Russia with high-tech equipment used in nuclear weapons development.
In an elaborate conspiracy likened to the plot of a TV spy drama, Alexey Brayman and his accomplices allegedly operated an international ring that smuggled sensitive technologies into Russia via Europe.
Brayman and his wife, Daria, share a quaint suburban home in Merrimack, New Hampshire, where they run an online craft store and night lights business.
That home is the clearing house where Brayman trafficked 'advanced electronics and sophisticated testing equipment used in quantum computing, hypersonic and nuclear weapons development and other military and space-based military applications', prosecutors allege.
The equipment 'could make a significant contribution to the military potential or nuclear proliferation of other nations or that could be detrimental to the… national security of the United States', it is claimed.
The case has come to light amid Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine - and growing concern in Moscow about its decreasing supplies of weapons and technology.
Sanctions on western electronics and technology by countries including America have made it increasingly difficult for Russia to source the equipment it needs for the war effort, which has killed thousands of civilians in Ukraine.
Details of the plot involving Brayman emerged in newly-unsealed court documents obtained by the Boston Globe.
The conspiracy is a world away from the Braymans' reputation locally as 'the nicest family', who enjoy ice skating, basketball games and local art festivals.
Indeed, pictures of the snow-dusted family home today show it's been decorated for the holidays with inflatables of Santa Claus, a snowman and a reindeer, along with a Christmas tree and fairy lights.
The equipment trafficked by Brayman - whose wife has not been charged - is said to include expensive semiconductors and other high-tech devices like oscilloscopes. This is considered 'dual-use' technology because it can be used in both civilian and military products.
Brayman received the equipment piecemeal from the co-conspirators whose tactics to conceal the conspiracy included using front companies headed by Russian businessmen, it is alleged.
He then sent on the technology to Germany and Estonia, which are described by authorities as 'common transshipment points for items ultimately destined for Russia'.
He is named in a 16-count indictment unsealed today, along with co-defendants Yevgeniy Grinin, Aleksey Ippolitov, Boris Livshits, Svetlana Skvortsova, Vadim Konoshchenok and Vadim Yermolenko.
Charges include conspiracy, money laundering, smuggling, and bank and wire fraud.
The charges follow a long-running investigation by authorities into the plot, which has been likened to The Americans, a TV drama about two Russia agents who pose as an American couple during the Cold War.
Konoshchenok has already been arrested in Estonia and Yermolenko was detained today in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Brayman was expected to surrender today.
A federal magistrate approved a search of the Brayman's home in October. The raid was carried out by FBI counterintelligence agents who searched for devices including computers and cellphones.
Sauce/more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11533907/Suburban-New-Hampshire-ran-craft-shop-wife-smuggled-nuclear-technology-Russia.html
Must have skipped the 10% for the big guy
Potato Lie #99,999,999
Biden falsely says he cut national debt by $1.7T — after increasing it $3.7T
December 13, 2022
President Biden wrongly claimed Tuesday that he lowered the national debt by $1.7 trillion — when in fact the debt grew by nearly $3.7 trillion during his first 23 months in office.
Biden made the error while using the terms “deficit” and “debt” interchangeably during remarks touting the slight decline in the annual inflation rate to 7.1% in November.
“We’ve done all of this while lowering the federal deficit in the two years we’ve been in office $1.7 trillion,” Biden said before incorrectly adding, “Let me say that again — $1.7 trillion we’ve lowered the federal debt.”
The national debt was roughly $27.75 trillion when Biden took office, according to the Congressional Research Service. It is about $31.43 trillion today.
Biden regularly touts the fact that the national deficit is declining, though fact-checkers note that much of the reduction is due to the expiration of bipartisan COVID-19 pandemic relief programs approved in 2020, rather than Biden’s own actions.
“No administration has ever cut the deficit that much,” Biden claimed Tuesday.
The federal deficit in fiscal year 2022, which ended Sept. 30, was the fourth-highest on record, according to the Treasury Department, with $1.38 trillion in federal spending beyond what authorities collected in revenue.
The US deficit topped out at $3.13 trillion in fiscal 2020 before declining to $2.77 trillion in fiscal 2021.
Last year, Biden signed a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill that passed without Republican support or revenue offsets. Opponents question the projected revenue to offset other large spending bills, including last year’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law and this year’s $280 billion bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, a $437 billion environmental and healthcare spending bill and a $270 billion veterans healthcare bill.
Sauce: https://nypost.com/2022/12/13/biden-falsely-says-he-cut-national-debt-by-1-7t-after-increasing-it-3-7t/
We can be Doctors! No test needed! All retards on deck! In other news, if anon thinks Doctors are bad now just hold on, it's getting a LOT worse..
Woke Ivy League students demand medical schools make the MCAT pass or fail to stop white applicants with 'wealth, resources and access to books and coaches' retaking $330 exam
December 13, 2022
Alessandro Hammond, of Harvard, and Cameron Sabet, of UPenn, called on the American Association of Medical Colleges to change the MCAT
The two Ivy League students said the tests should be changed into a pass-fail system that provides greater equity for applicants
Hammond and Sabet argued that white, wealthier students could afford to retake the pricey test to keep improving their grades
They said their proposed change would remove the advantage and force colleges to value the whole applicant rather than a single test score
Their argument mimics that of opponents against the LSATs, which the American Bar Association voted to drop as requirement for law school
Two woke Ivy League students have called on medical schools to change the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) over claims of racial disparities.
Alessandro Hammond, a Harvard med student, and Cameron Sabet, a University of Pennsylvania graduate student studying ethics in medicine, argued in a Washington Post op-ed piece white applicants have an unfair advantage through the test.
The duo wrote the exam 'clearly favors white applicants who have the wealth and resources to help them achieve competitive scores on the test — and disadvantages those from a lower socioeconomic background.'
They called on the American Association of Medical Colleges to make the MCAT, which carry a $330 fee, a pass-fail exam.
Hammond and Sabet's criticism against the MCAT comes nearly a month after the American Bar Association elected to scrap admissions test requirements for law schools over similar claims.
Sauce/more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11533597/Two-Ivy-League-students-say-med-schools-need-change-admissions-tests-racial-disparity.html