NYT Reporters Advocate Tracking Gun Purchases Made With Credit Cards

The New York Times published an article on Monday suggesting that credit card companies surveil cardholders who purchase firearms. The NYT piece, authored by Andrew Ross Sorkin, noted that a number of mass shooters purchased their weapons and ammo using credit cards. Banks are required to alert federal authorities to purchases exceeding $10,000, but there are rules preventing them from seeing precisely what goods users are purchasing. Nonetheless, NYT’s Sorkin suggests that banks track purchases at sporting goods stores and gun shops and prevent cardholders from purchasing multiple firearms “in a short period of time” and report unusual spending patterns.

Sorkin expressed little concern about the privacy of consumers, instead leaving that to the credit card companies and banks he spoke to for the article. “We do not believe Visa should be in the position of setting restrictions on the sale of lawful goods or services,” Amanda Pires, a Visa spokeswoman, told NYT. “Our role in commerce is to efficiently process, protect and settle all legal payments. Asking Visa or other payment networks to arbitrate what legal goods can be purchased sets a dangerous precedent.”

MasterCard similarly touted the “privacy of [cardholders’] purchasing decisions.” The article does not confront the possibility that tracking credit card purchases could backfire by encouraging would-be mass shooters to use cash — thereby making their purchases even more discrete. There are also no suggestions as to what constitutes an “abnormal” gun purchase, such as how many guns, how much ammo, what cost, or what frequency.

Sorkin brushed off some of the criticisms of his article on Twitter, insisting that tracking purchases is about “saving kids” and not infringing on the ability of law-abiding citizens to purchase firearms. Some banks and credit card companies have already implemented policies that make it more difficult for customers to purchase firearms.

In June, Intuit abruptly stopped processing some transactions related to firearms, including a safety training class and gun-related clothing and coffee mugs. Intuit claimed the transactions violated its “face-to-face” policy for gun purchases, despite the fact that many of the guns purchased were sent to federally-licensed firearms dealers for customers to pick up after they completed a background check.

https://www.dailycaller.com/2018/12/24/new-york-times-track-gun-credit-card/

NYT Piece here:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/24/business/dealbook/mass-shootings-credit-cards.html?mtrref=www.dailycaller.com&gwh=47521DF597F075257643EC4903733163&gwt=pay

Kevin Spacey faces felony sexual assault charge, releases bizarre video titled 'Let Me Be Frank'

The announcement of the charge coincided with a video posted on Spacey's Twitter account showing him in character as Frank Underwood of "House of Cards."

Kevin Spacey is facing a felony charge for allegedly sexually assaulting the teenage son of a former Boston TV news anchor at a bar in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in July 2016, authorities said Monday. Spacey is due to be arraigned on a charge of indecent assault and battery at Nantucket District Court on Jan. 7, according to court documents.

The announcement of the charge coincided with the first post on Spacey's official Twitter account in more than a year: A three-minute video titled "Let Me Be Frank," which features Spacey speaking as Frank Underwood, his character from Netflix's "House of Cards." Spacey's previous most recent post was an October 2017 statement in response to actor Anthony Rapp's accusation that Spacey had made a sexual advance decades earlier, when Rapp was 14.

In the video posted to his account on Monday, Spacey appears to hint at the allegations. “You trusted me even though you knew you shouldn’t,” Spacey says in the video, filmed as he stands in a kitchen wearing a Santa Claus print apron. He later adds, "Soon enough you will know the full truth." Spacey also appears to address the decision to kill off his character on “House of Cards." “Despite all the poppycock, the animosity, the headlines, the impeachment without a trial. Despite everything," he says in the video. "Despite even my own death, I feel surprisingly good and my confidence grows each day that soon enough you will know the full truth.”

The Nantucket sexual assault claim against Spacey surfaced last year. Heather Unruh, a former anchor for Boston WCVB-TV, held a press conference in November 2017 where she said that her son was groped by Spacey in July 2016 while working at The Club Car in Nantucket. Her son was 18 at the time of the alleged incident. "The complainant has shown a tremendous amount of courage in coming forward," Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney for the accuser, said in a statement Monday. "Let the facts be presented, the relevant law applied and a just and fair verdict rendered."

Spacey, 59, was fired by Netflix in November 2017 as sexual assault accusations surfaced. Spacey also lost a role in a Ridley Scott film. A representative for Spacey did not immediately return NBC News' request for comment. Netflix declined to comment on Spacey's video.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kevin-spacey-faces-felony-charge-allegedly-groping-teen-nantucket-bar-n951671

View Let Me Be Frank here:

https://t.co/OzVGsX6Xbz

>>4455099

Indeed it is.

Netanyahu's coalition collapses; Israel heading to elections on April 9th

"With God's help, we will win," said Netanyahu, who vowed to form the same coalition after the election.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the parties in his coalition decided Monday to disperse the Knesset this week and initiate an early general election on April 9, 2019. Netanyahu boasted to his Likud faction that his coalition lasted four years and had key diplomatic, security and economic accomplishments. He said he could not initiate the election six weeks ago, when Avigdor Liberman resigned as Defense Minister and sparked a coalition crisis, because he wanted to first complete destroying tunnels on the Lebanese border in Operation Northern Shield.

"With God's help, we will win," said Netanyahu, who vowed to form the same coalition after the election. Leaders of coalition and opposition parties met with Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein summoned the party heads to formalize the process of dispersing the Knesset and come to an agreed-upon election date. Edelstein expressed pride in many of the laws the Knesset passed over its four years, specifically mentioning the Jewish Nation-State Law, but said he was disappointed in many lawmakers’ conduct and “verbal violence.” He expressed hope that the next Knesset will engage in more civil discourse.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said her ministry will begin working on the bill to dissolve the Knesset, which is set to be brought to all three plenum votes on Wednesday. Following the announcement of an election, party leaders made statements declaring victory. Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid, Zionist Union leader Avi Gabbay, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman all predicted that they would become prime minister in the election and the Joint List’s Ayman Odeh said Israeli Arabs will come out to vote in droves. Former prime minister Ehud Barak called it “the most important election since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.”

The early election was announced shortly after Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said he would vote against the Defense Ministry’s bill to enlist haredim into the IDF. Netanyahu blamed Lapid’s change of heart on the bill for it not being able to pass, calling it a contortion worthy of Harry Houdini. The Supreme Court said a haredi enlistment bill must be passed by January 15. Because the bill will not be passed by then, Netanyahu as defense minister would be breaking the law if he does not immediately enlist the haredi en masse, but he still could ignore the law.

The Likud could have still tried to pass the bill with the 61 MKs in the coalition, but the three MKs in the Agudat Yisrael party have said they would not vote for the bill if key changes are not made. Knowing that, coalition chairman David Amsalem instead tried to keep the bill in its current format and seek the support of the opposition Yesh Atid and Yisrael Beytenu parties who voted for it in its first reading.

But Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid called a press conference Monday to announce that Yesh Atid would not support the bill, even though he his prior effusive support for it. Lapid alleged that he had proof the Likud had made "dirty deals" under the table with the haredim and Finance Ministry officials were working on them.

Asked by The Jerusalem Post whether he heard from Finance Ministry officials who worked with him when he was their minister, Lapid said: "You don't reveal your sources, and neither will I." Yisrael Beytenu said its MKs would still have voted for the bill in it current format but also wants alleged deals with the haredim investigated. Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman told his faction he would not enter the next government unless the bill is passed in its current format.

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israel-headed-to-early-elections-in-April-575277