Above the Law

An administrative law judge has ruled that Tesla and Elon Musk violated labor law in their treatment of employees advocating for a union:

Tesla Inc. committed a series of violations of the National Labor Relations Act in 2017 and last year, a judge ruled Friday.

The electric-car maker illegally threatened and retaliated against employees, according to Amita Baman Tracy, an administrative law judge in California.

Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 21, 2018

The judge’s order calls for Tesla to offer reinstatement and back-pay to a fired, pro-union employee, and to revoke a warning issued to another union supporter. The ruling also calls for the company to hold a meeting at its assembly plant in Fremont, California, that Musk must attend. Either he or an agent with the labor board must read a notice to employees informing them that the NLRB concluded the company broke the law.

It will no doubt be appealed to the NLRB, where the minions of newly appointed Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia will no doubt rule against the workers, because that is what they do.

Even if the NLRB rules against them,it is a marker.

Companies that mistreat their employees mistreat their customers as well.

Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

Iron Man director John Favreau has announcedthat he intends to direct a new Star Wars Holiday Special.

To my shame, I saw it when it came out, and that which is seen cannot be unseen:

Even though the Star Wars prequels received their fair amount of criticism from longtime fans of the sci-fi saga, nothing has ever received as much scorn as the totally weird Star Wars Holiday Special. Aired in 1978, the program took place after the events of Star Wars: A New Hope and followed Han Solo and Chewbacca as they tried to evade the Empire and get to the Wookiee home world of Kashyyyk in order to celebrate “Life Day” with Chewie’s father Itchy, his wife Malla, and his son Lumpy. Yeah, the Star Wars Holiday Special is quite a trip, and if Jon Favreau has his way, he’d like to create a new Star Wars Holiday Special for Disney+ someday.

No. Just no.

1 GB/S for $60/Month

A new community broadband network went live in Fort Collins, Colorado recently offering locals there gigabit fiber speeds for $60 a month with no caps, restrictions, or hidden fees. The network launch comes years after telecom giants like Comcast worked tirelessly to crush the effort. Voters approved the effort as part of a November 2017 ballot initiative, despite the telecom industry spending nearly $1 million on misleading ads to try and derail the effort. A study (pdf) by the Institute for Local Reliance estimated that actual competition in the town was likely to cost Comcast between $5.4 million and $22.8 million each year.

Unlike private operations, the Fort Collins Connexion network pledges to adhere to net neutrality. The folks behind the network told Ars Technica the goal is to offer faster broadband to the lion’s share of the city within the next few years:

………

The telecom sector simply loves trying to insist that community-run broadband is an inevitable taxpayer boondoggle. But such efforts are just like any other proposal and depend greatly on the quality of the business plan. And the industry likes to ignore the fact that such efforts would not be happening in the first place if American consumers weren’t outraged by the high prices, slow speeds, and terrible customer service the industry is known for. All symptoms of the limited competition industry apologists are usually very quick to pretend aren’t real problems (because when quarterly returns are all that matter to you, they aren’t).

The business model of Comcast, and Charter, and Verizon, etc. is to extract monopoly rents.

Providing better service, or serving customers, is simply not a part of their model.

Cuck Fomcast.

Of Course He’s Poisoning Us

The Trump administration is looking to eliminate California’s auto emissions waiver, which allows them to enforce stricter air standards.

I am not sure how they can do this, this waiver is written into the Clean Air Act, but when has the law ever stopped Trump and Evil Minions™:


The New York Times reports that the Trump administration will use a meeting at the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday to announce the revocation of California’s ability to set its own air pollution standards. The state’s authority was granted by a waiver that allows it to set pollution limits that are stricter than the federal government’s, which is now threatening the administration’s ability to roll back Obama-era standards for automobile fuel economy. This move has been rumored to be under consideration for months and sets up a legal showdown that will pit the federal government against California and the 13 states that plan to follow its lead.

………

During the initial implementation of the Clean Air Act, the Golden State was suffering from extensive smog problems and was granted a waiver that allowed it to set stricter pollution standards than those under the Clean Air Act. The waiver has since given the state significant leverage in negotiations regarding national automotive pollution controls, a position enhanced by the decision of a number of states to adopt whatever standards California sets. Due to the vast size of these states’ collective economies, car companies are compelled to meet its pollution standards or generate two different products: one for California and one for the rest of the country. Most have found it easier to simply involve California in negotiations from the start.

………

All of which would explain why the Trump administration would be interested in revoking the state’s waiver and why it’s already laid out arguments to justify doing so. The Times reports that this isn’t an indication that the EPA has decided what the new standards should be yet, simply that the agency is clearing the way to impose the standards when they’re ready.

But the Clean Air Act waiver mechanics are set up so that the EPA administrator must grant a waiver to any state wanting stricter standards unless the state is acting in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner or its standards don’t address “compelling and extraordinary conditions.” California would certainly have compelling arguments that climate change represents a compelling and extraordinary condition. And it’s near certain that the state would be willing to test those arguments in court.

Unfortunately, it will be a very close thing in the Supreme Court, because there are now a majority of right wing hypocrite hacks on the bench there.

I Am so Stoked about This

We now have reports that Gary Larson’s THE FAR SIDE Cartoon may be coming back in some form:

Gary Larson said goodbye to fans and the absurdist universe of The Far Side with his final comic on January 1, 1995, and since then the real world has done everything it can to live up to the inanity of his iconic comic strip. Unfortunately, the foolishness of 2019 isn’t nearly as enjoyable as sentient chickens and oversized suburban bugs. Now, the 21st century might be getting both of those creatures—along with aliens, cavemen, clever cows, and women with beehive hairdos—because for the first time in almost two decades, the cartoon’s official webpage has been updated. And unless this joke is on all of us, The Far Side will soon be returning.

 After sitting dormant since 1999, The Far Side‘s webpage was updated suddenly and without warning (which we first learned about at The Daily Cartoonist). It features a new cartoon of an explorer using a blowtorch to melt some of the strip’s most iconic characters from a large block of ice. Below it reads, “Uncommon, unreal, and (soon-to-be) unfrozen. A new online era of The Far Side is coming!” Since the cartoon itself is signed by Larson, it certainly appears he will be returning with all new comics for the first time in almost 25 years.

For the love of God, please make this true.

NPR Navel Gazing

I’m listening to the Cokie fest at NPR on the news of the death of Cokie Roberts of breast cancer.

I get that she is a significant figure from the early days of the network, and certainly her passing should be noted, but the wall-to-wall coverage was excessive.

If it had been Sy Hersh, or Bob Woodward, or Carl Bernstein, there would have been a 5 minute appreciation.

I understand that a number of people at National Public Radio feel this loss personally, but you are supposed to be journalists.

Suck it up, and leave space for other news.

I Figured That Bojo Would Have This in His Back Pocket

I’ve always wondered when one of the EU member nations might object to extending the UK’s exit date, because swuch a decision requires unanimity.

Well, it appears that Boris Johnson may have cut some sort of deal with Hungary to force a hard Brexit:

The European Union fears Boris Johnson is plotting to persuade Hungary to veto a Brexit delay, in a move that would dramatically raise the risk that Britain will fall out of the European Union without a deal.

Prime Minister Johnson said last week he’d rather be “dead in a ditch” than comply with a vote in Parliament forcing him to ask the EU to postpone Brexit beyond Oct. 31.

But officials at the EU — which is broadly in favor of an extension if it’s the only way to prevent a no-deal Brexit — privately voiced fears that one of their own leaders could help Johnson out. If a no-deal divorce is to be avoided, all remaining 27 member states would need to agree with Britain to extend the Brexit negotiating period at an October summit in Brussels.
EU officials privately acknowledge they could do little to stop a rebel leader wielding their veto. They worry that Johnson will try to convince Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has had his own clashes with Brussels over migration and steps to restrict democracy, to help him out. They think the U.K. sees Orban as an ally who will enjoy the opportunity to stand up against the European establishment.

Boris may be an upper class twit, but I figured that he’d find a partner in crime across the English Channel.

About F%$#ing Time

Police officers can often justify a search with six words: “I smelled an odor of marijuana.”

Courts in New York have long ruled if a car smells like marijuana smoke, the police can search it — and, according to some judges, even the occupants — without a warrant.

But in late July, a judge in the Bronx said in a scathing opinion that officers claim to smell marijuana so often that it strains credulity, and she called on judges across the state to stop letting police officers get away with lying about it.

“The time has come to reject the canard of marijuana emanating from nearly every vehicle subject to a traffic stop,” Judge April Newbauer wrote in a decision in a case involving a gun the police discovered in car they had searched after claiming to have smelled marijuana.

She added, “So ubiquitous has police testimony about odors from cars become that it should be subject to a heightened level of scrutiny if it is to supply the grounds for a search.”

It is exceedingly rare for a New York City judge to accuse police officers of routinely lying to cover up illegal searches, but Judge Newbauer’s decision does exactly that. Her decision also shows how marijuana’s status as contraband remains deeply embedded in the criminal justice system, even as the police and prosecutors have begun to wind down arrests and prosecutions for marijuana.

………

Barry Kamins, a former New York City judge and an authority on search and seizure law in New York, said Judge Newbauer was “the first judge to really express an opinion about this type of scenario.” He said the opinion brought to mind a court decision from 1970, in which a judge accused New York City police officers of lying in a similar fashion.

Police lie all the time about stuff like this, and it’s good that judges are beginning to express some skepticism about cops testilying.

So Not a Surprise

Deborah Ramirez had the grades to go to Yale in 1983. But she wasn’t prepared for what she’d find there.

………

During the winter of her freshman year, a drunken dormitory party unsettled her deeply. She and some classmates had been drinking heavily when, she says, a freshman named Brett Kavanaugh pulled down his pants and thrust his penis at her, prompting her to swat it away and inadvertently touch it. Some of the onlookers, who had been passing around a fake penis earlier in the evening, laughed.

………

“I had gone through high school, I’m the good girl, and now, in one evening, it was all ripped away,” she said in an interview earlier this year at her Boulder, Colo., home. By preying upon her in this way, she added, Mr. Kavanaugh and his friends “make it clear I’m not smart.”

Mr. Kavanaugh, now a justice on the Supreme Court, has adamantly denied her claims. Those claims became a flash point during his confirmation process last year, when he was also fighting other sexual misconduct allegations from Christine Blasey Ford, who had attended a Washington-area high school near his.

Ms. Ramirez’s story would seem far less damaging to Mr. Kavanaugh’s reputation than those of Dr. Ford, who claimed that he pinned her to a bed, groped her and tried to remove her clothes while covering her mouth.

But while we found Dr. Ford’s allegations credible during a 10-month investigation, Ms. Ramirez’s story could be more fully corroborated. During his Senate testimony, Mr. Kavanaugh said that if the incident Ms. Ramirez described had occurred, it would have been “the talk of campus.” Our reporting suggests that it was.

At least seven people, including Ms. Ramirez’s mother, heard about the Yale incident long before Mr. Kavanaugh was a federal judge. Two of those people were classmates who learned of it just days after the party occurred, suggesting that it was discussed among students at the time.

We also uncovered a previously unreported story about Mr. Kavanaugh in his freshman year that echoes Ms. Ramirez’s allegation. A classmate, Max Stier, saw Mr. Kavanaugh with his pants down at a different drunken dorm party, where friends pushed his penis into the hand of a female student. Mr. Stier, who runs a nonprofit organization in Washington, notified senators and the F.B.I. about this account, but the F.B.I. did not investigate and Mr. Stier has declined to discuss it publicly. We corroborated the story with two officials who have communicated with Mr. Stier; the female student declined to be interviewed and friends say she does not recall the episode.

………

Ms. Ramirez’s legal team gave the F.B.I. a list of at least 25 individuals who may have had corroborating evidence. But the bureau — in its supplemental background investigation — interviewed none of them, though we learned many of these potential witnesses tried in vain to reach the F.B.I. on their own.

Two F.B.I. agents interviewed Ms. Ramirez, telling her that they found her “credible.” But the Republican-controlled Senate had imposed strict limits on the investigation. “‘We have to wait to get authorization to do anything else,’” Bill Pittard, one of Ms. Ramirez’s lawyers, recalled the agents saying. “It was almost a little apologetic.”

It should surprise no one that Kavanaugh lied his ass off, and the FBI, likely at the direction at the DoJ, did its best to cover it up.

Unfortunately, even if the Dems were to control 2/3 of the Senate, the possibility of impeachment, or even a meaningful investigation are minuscule.

I would expect an appeal to Kavanaugh’s decency or sense of shame to have to fail as well:  There is no evidence that he has either.

Rule 1 of Facebook: Facebook Lies

Rule 2 of Facebook is see rule 1.

They lied about not doing location tracking on their users:

Facebook has been caught bending the truth again – only this time it has been forced to out itself.

For years the antisocial media giant has claimed it doesn’t track your location, insisting to suspicious reporters and privacy advocates that its addicts “have full control over their data,” and that it does not gather or sell that data unless those users agree to it.

No one believed it. So, when it (and Google) were hit with lawsuits trying to get to the bottom of the issue, Facebook followed its well-worn path to avoiding scrutiny: it changed its settings and pushed out carefully worded explanations that sounded an awful lot like it wasn’t tracking you anymore. But it was. Because location data is valuable.

Then, late on Monday, Facebook emitted a blog post in which it kindly offered to help users “understand updates” to their “device’s location settings.”

………

You may have missed the critical part amid the glowing testimony so we’ll repeat it: “… use precise location even when you’re not using the app…”

Huh, fancy that. It sounds an awful lot like tracking. After all, why would you want Facebook to know your precise location at all times, even when you’re not using its app? And didn’t Facebook promise it wasn’t doing that?

………

Well, yes it did, and it was being economical with the truth. But perhaps the bigger question is: why now? Why has Facebook decided to come clean all of a sudden? Is it because of the newly announced antitrust and privacy investigations into tech giants? Well, yes, in a roundabout way.

Surprisingly, in a moment of almost honesty which must have felt quite strange for Facebook’s execs, the web giant actually explains why it has stopped pretending it doesn’t track users: because soon it won’t be able to keep up the pretense.

“Android and iOS have released new versions of their operating systems, which include updates to how you can view and manage your location,” the blog post reveals.

That’s right, under pressure from lawmakers and users, both Google and Apple have added new privacy features to their upcoming mobile operating systems – Android and iOS – that will make it impossible for Facebook to hide its tracking activity.

So, Facebook is admitting that they lied only because continuing to lie is completely impossible.

F%$# Zuck.  Better yet, how about a serious investigation of allegation of fraud regarding false users and ad sales?

Amazon Abided

Is anyone surprised that now that Amazon has bought Whole Foods, it is cutting out medical benefits for a large portion of its workers?

I’m not.

Jeff Bezos fetishizes cruelty toward his employees:

Whole Foods is cutting medical benefits for hundreds of part-time workers, the company confirmed to Business Insider on Thursday.

The changes will take effect on January 1 and affect just under 2% of Whole Foods’ total workforce, a Whole Foods spokesperson told Business Insider.

Whole Foods has about 95,000 employees, so it means about 1,900 people will lose benefits.

The benefits that the company is cutting are offered to part-time employees who work at least 20 hours a week. The changes will not affect full-time employees.

Whole Foods said it was making the change “to better meet the needs of our business and create a more equitable and efficient scheduling model.”

When I hear, “Create a more equitable and efficient scheduling model,” I think irregular schedules and more precarious work situations.

In Bezos world, happy employees are a sign of failure.

Boeing Cannot Make Aircraft Anymore

The 767 first flew in 1981. The first cargo variant from the plant, as opposed to a conversion, was delivered in 1995.

And they cannot make the f%$#ing cargo tie downs work?

The financialization of Boeing is complete:

The U.S. Air Force has identified a potential new design flaw with the KC-46A tanker and banned the fleet from carrying cargo or passengers until a solution is found and delivered.

Multiple cargo locks embedded in the floor of the aircraft released inadvertently during a recent operational test and evaluation flight, according to a statement by Air Mobility Command (AMC).

………

An uncommanded release of the cargo locks could allow pallets of cargo or passenger seats to shift position during flight, potentially changing the center of gravity of the aircraft.

In response, the Air Force generated the third unresolved Category 1 deficiency report charged to the KC-46 program, AMC says. A Category 1 deficiency reflects an identified risk that jeopardizes lives or critical assets.

The Air Force agreed to accept the first KC-46 last January despite two Category 1 deficiencies still pending.

Seriously, whiskey tango foxtrot.

Live (Drunk) Blogging the Debates

10:48 pm:
Debate over, not listening to the talking heads.

I am not drunk enough.

10:44 pm:
Cory Booker says that, “The election is not a referendum on Donald Trump, it is a referendum on us.”

Very eloquent, and also a good strategy.

Julian Castro just used the southernism, “Y’all.” It did not sound authentic.

10:39 pm:
Checking Twitter, and I think that the heckle was, “3 million departed.”

They should have done this when immigration had been the subject. Also, they should ENUNCIATE.

Cory Booker just said “Dagnabit”.  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?  Take a drink.

10:33 pm:
Questions about resilience, and what your worst personal failure was.

Biden just got heckled. I cannot make out what is being said.

He’s asked about professional setbacks, and he mentioned his wife and daughter’s deaths in an auto accident, and his son’s death of cancer.

Warren talks about getting fired as a teacher because she is pregnant. Humble beginnings, drink by the Taibbi rules.

Sanders talks about his electoral failures before he becomes mayor of Burlington.

10:26 pm:
Ad break.
Alzheimers society advertising a lot too, as is some sort of student loan scam called Sofi, which sounds like a dotcom.

10:21 pm:
Julian Castro notes the documented fact that charter schools do not perform better than conventional public schools, and notes that they need more transparency and accountability.

Cory Booker comes out with a pro charter patter, and then goes back to environmental racism, which he has at least twice before.

10:18 pm:
Lindsay Davis calls out Biden’s racist statements in the 1970s.

Biden sputters word salad.

This format, and 10 people on stage, is exhausting.

10:10 pm:
Yang is a big backer of charter schools. F%$# that.

Buttigeig: Step 1 is to appoint a secretary of education who actually supports public education.

Lindsay Davis asks Warren if she is “in bed” with teachers unions. Lindsay Davis can go Cheney herself.

Warren mentions that she was a public school teacher. Good for her. (optional drink taken)

Sanders finally gets called on. Talks up his debt forgiveness.

10:06 pm:
Anthropogenic climate change: Moderate Jorge Ramos seems to be hostile to the idea of global warming.

Sanders is being studiously ignored on this question.

Andrew Yange is talking up “Democracy Dollars”. There is someone who did too much LDS in the 1960s. When does he start swimming with humpback whales?

9:53 pm:
Sanders to Biden: I never believed what Cheney and Bush said. Righteous!!! Drink, because it was epic.

9:48 pm:
Afghanistan. How the F%$# did we get out?

Biden now disavows the AUMF that allowed Bush to invade Iraq.

He claims that he’s a critic of the Iraq war. Bullsh%$.

9:42 pm:
Sanders makes a cogent statement about how “Free Trade” is really about labor arbitrage.

Biden cries, “Think of the intellectual property.” Not incoherent, but morally bankrupt.

Cory Booker: “I’m the only person on stage who finds Trudeau’s hair very menacing but they’re not a national security threat.” I laughed, and I am definitely got a buzz on.

Win from Taibbi:

I second this. DRINK if you think Kamala had a warmup edible tonight. https://t.co/C8jCAAnFVh

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) September 13, 2019

Harris sounds seriously off.

9:36 pm:
Trade policy questions, and the responses from everyone is fuzzy.

No one wants to come out against tariffs, so they are criticizing Trump’s incoherence.

Harris is really sounding awful.

9:26 pm:
Ad break. Notable ads:
The New York Times is advertising the sh%$ out of the debates.
I am depressingly sober. It’s what happens when I drink something with the alcohol content of a strong wine.

9:16 pm:
Beto speaks Spanish, Taibbi rules, drink.

9:11 pm:
Biden is challenged about Obama being deporter-in-chief. Good.

9:05 pm:
If Booker mentions that he moved to Newark one more time, I think that I am going to scream.

Warren says that Republican opposition to gun control is corruption. Warren, corruption, drink.

8:57 pm:
Kamala Harris was poorly prepped for this debate. She is sounding like an airhead, and she is not an airhead.

I think that someone convinced her that she needed to be more “Feminine” and it was a bad move.

Beto, “Hell yes, we are going to take your AR-15.” Swear word, drink.

O’Rourke sounds remarkably animated and sincere, because, IIRC, he is animated and sincere about the ammosexual threat.

Klobuchar called out McConnell. Drink.

8:49 pm:
Best question so far, a challenge to Kamala Harris about how she opposed law enforcement accountability, marijuana legalization, etc., as a prosecutor.

A close second is a question to Klobuchar over her awful record as a prosecutor.

8:45 pm:
Quote of the night so far, Beto O’Rourke: “We have a white supremacist in the White House, and he constitutes a mortal threat.”

I am impressed that O’Rourke is not doing his pre-El Paso shooting unity bullsh%$.

8:42 pm:
Andrew Yang, “I’m Asian, so I know a lot of doctors.” Sounds like Joe Biden stupid sh%$. (Drink)

8:38 pm:
So much sucking up to Barack Obama when discussing healthcare.

Julian Castro just said to Biden, “Did you just forget what you said 2 minutes ago?” Burn! (Drink)

8:33 pm:
Kamala Harris sure picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue. Complete word salad and invoking John f$#@ing McCain? (Drink)

8:30 pm:
Butgigeig says, “Damn,” quoting Sanders, and sounds completely uncomfortable doing so. Awkward, take a shot.

8:26 pm:
Elizabeth Warren says that she’s never met anyone who loves their insurance company. Too true. (No drink)

Sanders notes that Americans pay twice as much as everyone else in the world, Biden interrupted, “This is America.” Stupid sh%$ from Biden. Take a shot.

8:22 pm:
Stephanopoulos whines to Warren and Sanders about taxes, and refuses to consider the savings of single payer.

Sanders says damn. Take a shot.

8:18 pm:
Stephanopolous serves up a big slow one over the center of the plate for Biden, basically asking if Warren and Sanders are icky socialists.  Take a shot.

8:12 pm:
Sanders sounds a bit hoarse in his opening statement.

8:06 pm:
Castro’s opening statement had both Spanish and a sports reference.  2 Shots.

Yang just announced that his campaign will give 10 people $1000.00/month for a year.  Literally a lottery offer onin his opening statement.  Definitely a shot.

We are finally down enough candidates that they will all be on one stage, so I guess that I have to live blog this, so I will be drinking, because, forget it Jake, it’s ABC.

It’s only the primaries, so I’m doing Buttershots, Butterscotch liquor that is only 15% ABV.

I will be playing a drinking game based loosely on Matt Taibbi’s 3rd debate drinking game.

I will be posting at the top, with each update having a time in H:HMM pm format.

(On edit)
Watching on ABC and have some comments about ads.

WATB Central

For those of you who don’t know, WATB stands for Whiny Ass Titty-Baby, and in this case it is referring to the delicate snow flakes in Silicon Valley who will brook no criticism of the dumbest and most ill informed business plans:

The first rule of Silicon Valley venture capital is never insult a start-up. Founders are always killing it, disrupting the world or just plain 🙌🙌🙌.

 If a start-up is fizzling, shuttering or caught scamming? The socially acceptable response is total silence.

Everyone knows that. Except Jason Palmer.

 The start-up in question was AltSchool, a Mark Zuckerberg-backed project to turn school into a start-up experience. It had just announced it was pivoting out of existence after raising $174 million.

$174M lessons here. We passed on @Altschool multiple times, mainly because disrupting school was a terrible strategy, but also b/c founders didn’t understand #edtech is all about partnering w/existing districts, schools and educators (not just “product”) https://t.co/nPCjV83Zi4

— Jason Palmer (@educationpalmer) June 29, 2019

That single jab at a failed company sent the investor elite into conniptions.

……

Mr. Palmer believed he would save his investors money by not investing in a start-up that would have lost it. He was right. But in the cacophony of venture capitalist boosting, that became about emotion, and even soul.

……

By not knowing the rules, he showed exactly what those rules are, and just how the Silicon Valley positivity machine runs. For venture capitalists, Twitter is a place to sell. It’s a place to talk up portfolio companies. It’s a place to perform the industry pastime of “thought leading.”

What this sh%$ storm sounds like is what happens when someone running a Ponzi scheme gets challenged.

The idea that the white dudes, and they are very white, and very dude as a rule, must be handled with kid gloves because they are saving (or disrupting) the universe, when most of them are just working on brave new ways to break the law, or suck the marrow out of the public commons, is complete crap.

I long for the day when an aggressive anti-fraud investigation targets the Silicon Valley.

One Headline Says Everything About 9/11

The 9/11 Attacks Accomplished Every Goal That Osama bin Laden Wanted to Achieve

—Paste

Osama bin Laden never planned on militarily defeating the United States, he planned to trigger a response that would lead us to destroy ourselves.

Once again, I would suggest that anyone who hasn’t read Eric Frank Russell’s magnum opus Wasp, in which a man is sent to be an agent provocateur on the planet of an empire at war with Earth, and his mission is not to collect intelligence or do damage, but rather to provoke an overreaction by the authorities:

“Phew!” Mowry raised his eyebrows.

“Finally, let’s consider this auto smash. We know the cause; the survivor was able to tell us before he died. He said the driver lost control at high speed while swiping at a wasp which had flown in through a window and started buzzing around his face.”

“It nearly happened to me once.”

Ignoring that, Wolf went on, “The weight of a wasp is under half an ounce. Compared with a human being its size is minute, its strength negligible. Its sole armament is a tiny syringe holding a drop of irritant, formic acid, and in this case it didn’t even use it. Nevertheless it killed four big men and converted a large, powerful car into a heap of scrap.”

………

“However,” Wolf went on, “the problem becomes less formidable than it looks if we bear in mind that one man can shake a government, two men temporarily can put down an army twenty-seven thousands strong, or one small wasp can slay four comparative giants and destroy their huge machine into the bargain.” He paused, watching the other for effect, continued, “Which means that by scrawling suitable words upon a wall, the right man in the right place at the right time might immobilize an armoured division with the aid of nothing more than a piece of chalk.”

Give Me That Old Time Religion

It turns out that a church known as the Imperial Valley Ministry has been enslaving homeless people to line their own pockets.

This is old school religion, as any Pharaoh would agree:

Inside a beige bungalow in California’s Imperial Valley with a well-trimmed lawn and beds of pink flowers, the 17-year-old girl felt imprisoned. The doors were locked from the inside. The windows were nailed shut.

Like the other homeless and vulnerable people who came to Imperial Valley Ministries seeking shelter, food and rehab, the teenager was not allowed to leave without supervision, was not allowed to contact her family, to “discuss things of the world” or read any book but the Bible, according to federal prosecutors. Those who lived in the church’s group homes had to turn over their money and welfare benefits, their identification and all of their personal belongings, so that even if they wanted to leave, they couldn’t, prosecutors said.

Then, once they settled in, they were allegedly forced to panhandle up to nine hours a day for six days a week in parking lots and on street corners — turning over every penny to the church.

Finally the 17-year-old had enough: She busted through the locked window to escape, bleeding from the shards of glass, and ran to a neighbor to call the police.

Now, after her outcry helped propel an FBI investigation, the girl’s alleged captors — Imperial Valley Ministry’s religious leaders — were charged Tuesday with forced labor for allegedly luring in dozens of victims under false pretenses only to lock them inside group homes and compel them to panhandle for the church’s profit. Prosecutors also say a dozen ministry leaders defrauded taxpayers by taking guests’ welfare benefits. The victims gave the church permission to take up to 40 percent of their benefits to go toward their expenses. Instead, prosecutors say, IVM took everything.

U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer, of the Southern District of California, called it the “most significant labor trafficking prosecution” in his district in years.

“The indictment alleges an appalling abuse of power by church officials who preyed on vulnerable homeless people with false promises of a warm bed and meals,” Brewer said at a news conference Tuesday. “Instead these victims were held captive, stripped of their humble financial means, stripped of their identification, their freedom and their dignity.”

………

Victor Gonzalez, a former pastor who allegedly directed much of the conspiracy, denied he’d done anything wrong last year when the FBI raided the group homes and the main church office in El Centro, Calif., a small city in the arid Colorado Desert, just north of the Mexican border.

………

With the proceeds the church earned largely on the backs of the homeless, prosecutors said, church leaders opened 30 affiliate churches throughout the United States and Mexico, although the criminal conspiracy focuses on five group homes based in El Centro, Chula Vista and Calexico, Calif., from 2013 to 2018, when Victor Gonzalez was in charge.

………

The participants would immediately be forced to turn over all of their documents, money and belongings to the home supervisors, he said. They would then sign an agreement that laid out a strict set of rules and expectations, all designed to isolate them from the rest of the world. “There will be no use of the telephone,” Rule No. 3 said. “You have two meals daily except on Sundays,” sometimes a day of mandatory fasting, Rule 25 said. “If any of the above rules are broken there will be discipline,” Rule No. 28 said.

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If convicted of the forced labor conspiracy, benefits fraud and document servitude, Gonzalez and the 11 others could face up to 20 years in prison. Most will be arraigned Wednesday afternoon.

Not long enough.