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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://preview.redd.it/jf95ri19lwie1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=772e2a65f1c46a8014162ea83cf598a65828ba91\n\n***Photo above*** *- Russian Hacker Maksim Yakubets is arrested next to his Lamborghini Hurricane. Also arrested as part of the same scheme, but not shown: Maksim \"Bentley\" Galochkin, Mikhail \"Mango\" Tsarev, Maksim \"Maxhax\" Khalliullin, Maksim Rudenskiy, and Max Mikhailov. Does anyone else suspect the FBI still hasn't nailed down their true identities?* \n \nThe House of Representatives (Government Efficiency subcommittee) is holding hearings. The link below about Haywood Talcove, but it doesn’t specifically out him as a republican. Probably safe to say that as a Cybersecurity CEO and graduate of both Wharton and Yale, he looks and walks like a duck. \n \nTalcove shocked the committee – and this writer – by asserting that Covid 19 relief fraud is actually $1 Trillion. The generally accepted figure for the stolen funds is around $400 billion. Both democrats and republicans have agreed to this amount, because they jointly passed the covide relief legislation too. I suspect the true scale of the disaster is unknowable. Let’s bracket it at a minimum of $400 billion, and cap it at $1 Trillion. \n \nHaywood Talcove's testimony claims that $700 billion of this pandemic money went overseas to fraudsters. Because US government bureaucracy and its systems are virtually powerless to detect and prevent this sort of chicanery. \n \nThis part I CAN believe. The US government – from the Obama era to the present – has proved itself incapable of stopping hacks against our electric grid, water supply, pentagon, white house, defense contractors, hospitals, and schools. A local library was recently breached, and the attackers demanded $1 million ransom. Evidently fines on overdue books are thought to be lucrative by foreign hackers. \n \nAt this point someone with poor reasoning skills will point out that “not all of these attacks are state sponsored.” Duh . . . everyone concedes the obvious. That million-dollar library ransom wasn’t the 732nd People's Revolutionary Army hacking brigade from China. It was a couple of guys in a basement somewhere who are good with code. THESE are the kinds of guys who could set up a dummy corporation, invent fake payrolls and accounting records, and make off with millions in pandemic money. Are we all on the same page now? \n \nSo pandemic fraud isn't just about rappers with 10 gold chains rocking new Lamborghinis. That sort of fraud is easy to spot. It's hugely offensive, and casts a pall over the (good 10%) of America's rappers who aren’t constantly trash talkin about ho’s and threatening to bust a cap on some rapper from a competing label. The domestic appetite for Italian sports cars, vail ski condos, and private aircraft could never explain the $400 billion fraud estimate. The scale is too large. So Haywood Talcove is probably onto something. \n \nEven if pandemic fraud isn't $1 Trillion, the House subcommittee is making a point. Talcove is their star/first witness. He makes perfect sense. Our nation’s cybersecurity is $hitty, and government systems are antiquated and bug riddled. This is their rationale for opening the door for DOGE (department of government efficiency) to have access to monetary systems and tell us exactly how bad it is. And possibly expose more of the people who took conned us out of billions. \n \nDemocrats are desperate to prevent DOGE from any government access, through a blizzard of lawsuits. They continue to assert everything is fine. No problem. Change the channel back to Netflix. \n \nBut can democrats produce a witness of their own for the House Government Efficiency Subcommittee? Someone who can provide EVIDENCE that hacking is not a problem? That our electric grid, water supply, military, white house, hospitals (and libraries) aren’t under attack daily? \n \nI don’t think they can provide any such evidence. But I’m willing to keep an open mind and see who their rebuttal witness is. \n \nI’m just sayin’ . . . \n \n[**Witness at First DOGE Hearing Confronts Lawmakers with Scale of Covid Fraud: ‘They Stole $1 Trillion’**](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/witness-at-first-doge-hearing-confronts-lawmakers-with-scale-of-covid-fraud-they-stole-1-trillion/ar-AA1yVgdW?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=faefe202c8d040f1a5343ffa62e5cc7a&ei=60)"

ERROR: type should be string, got "https://preview.redd.it/vsviv6e60pad1.jpg?width=321&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f4e5195300893bd82c627e965cffced8bfdf43c\n\n***Photo above -*** *Oprah's 70-acre California mansion and estate. Want to guess how many millions of gallons of water it takes each month to keep this place looking like the Versailles Palace? Google doesn't know . . .* \n \nWe can’t take water for granted any more. Australia is enduring an 18-year drought. Which apparently began 18,000 years ago, during the peak of the ice age. Mexico City is in perpetual crisis. A dozen US cities are virtually out, including Buffalo, NYC, St Louis, Austin, Phoenix, and the entire state of California. \n \nIf I tried to describe how California delivers water, it would take a day and half. Suffice it to say, there are multiple state agencies involved, apparently not on the same page. Enter the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). They’re going to cut the supply by 40% over the next 15 years. As immigrants flood in by the hundreds of thousands (pun alert). And as crop production supposedly needs to expand, to feed a growing US population. See link below. \n \nCutting water use 40% is going to save gazillions of gallons, and billions of dollars, right? There’s no way to tell how much California residents pay for water now, because 95 different municipal and regional suppliers are involved, each with their own unique pricing, sources, and rules. Billions and billions (of dollars) as Carl Sagan would say. \n \nSo nearly cutting water consumption by half HAS to save big money, right? Not so fast. The SWRCB is NOT mandating cuts on consumers or corporations. It’s simply going to impose HUGE fines ($10,000 per day) on each of the 95 water suppliers which fail to achieve the top-down mandated cuts. Want to guess where those water agencies will recover the money? If you guessed \"from customers – through higher water bills\", go to the head of the class. \n \nAll this provides air cover for the California legislature in an election year. The new rule pretends people won't have to pay more. Water use will just magically slow to a trickle over the next 15 years. \n \nBy the way, this regulation was NOT drafted, debated, or voted on by the legislature. The SWRCB bureaucrats and heads of the 95 suppliers dreamed it up all by themselves. \n \nWhat this regulation DOESN’T do is provide more water. Californias rivers are completely tapped (Mexico has sued the USA because we virtually cut them off). Ground water is being pumped out to grow arugula and radicchio and marijuana. Photos of nearly empty reservoirs abound. \n \nLast time I looked at a map, California had more than 800 miles of Pacific coastline. And we’re worried about rising sea levels because not enough people drive a Tesla. So, the plan apparently is to continue to throw big tax breaks at well-to-do EV drivers, but NOT accelerate research and implementation of saltwater desalinization. Or purification and recycling of wastewater. (Australia is way ahead of us on this). Our government will stick with taxes, fines, and EV rebates. This is why they never invent anything good: EVs, Solar Panels, Artificial Intelligence, Marvel Cinematic Universe movies . . . politicians and bureaucrats only think in terms of taxes and rebates. \n \nHey, Elon Musk: instead of screwing around with Twitter, and building electric-car-only tunnels under Vegas, and plotting an escape to planet Mars, can you possibly have your engineers work on something we REALLY need? Like desalinization? Here’s a hint . . . solar panels may need to be involved. \n \nI’m just saying. \n \n[**~California Imposes Permanent Water Restrictions on Residents (msn.com)~**](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/california-imposes-permanent-water-restrictions-on-residents/ar-BB1psiSb?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=8232658d0c834793842c31cd60be5a01&ei=86)"

ERROR: type should be string, got "https://preview.redd.it/cx6wowo60x7d1.jpg?width=237&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1309e25a4dfb1b5e8a299c3e241658a4887f5a62\n\n***Photo above*** *- will the owner of this California mansion please return home at once? It's about to fall into the sea, and there will be a multi-million-dollar cleanup needed.*\n\nThe link below (MSN.com, picking up the “Markets Insider” report) does the best job I’ve seen this year of explaining why some people are NEVER going to be able to buy a house.\n\nFirst, the good news. US homebuilders DID complete 1.4 million new homes in 2023. That’s the highest in several years. The bad news? Almost none of these were in the cities with the biggest housing crises. You know . . . Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, San Jose, Portland (actually an island between the Columbia and Wilamette rivers). Austin is the only crisis city that doesn’t brag about water views.\n\nThat’s the problem. Everyone seems to want to live near the beach. Close enough to drive there on the spur of the moment. This is ESPECIALLY attractive if you’re some tech entrepreneur, because you can afford to live any damn place you please. The wage slaves? Not so lucky. They HAVE to scramble to find a crib in America’s most expensive cities, which for decades have been seeing more and more companies set up headquarters there. And these cities are now addicted to the taxes generated by those companies.\n\nThe non-coastal exception on the list – Austin – appears to be going bonkers because Elon Musk flipped California the bird, and moved Tesla nearby.\n\nEvidently if you want to live in any of the “flyover states” which progressives mock, there ISN’T a housing shortage, and you have a bunch of affordable options. THAT’s where most of the 1.4 million homes were built. Not adjacent to Beverly Hills, Bel Aire, or Nob Hill.\n\nBut the flyover states ARENT where people like Oprah, Bezos, Zuckerberg, and their insider circle of corporate elites want to live. They’re all at the shore.\n\nThere’s another problem. 1.4 million new homes may SOUND like a lot. But America saw 3.4 million illegal migrant “encounters” last year. What happens after an encounter? A Venezuelan gang member is handed a piece of paper with a hearing date and turned loose. Or put on a bus to some other city. So twice as many aliens are showing up here as new homes being built. If you’re confused on why this is a problem, NYC Mayor Eric Adams would like to chat. He’s spending $2.2 Billion annually (with a “B”) to feed, clothe, house, and investigate the crimes that migrants in his city commit.\n\nNo, Mr. Smart-Aleck. The solution is NOT to send illegal aliens en-masse to some other random city. They will just turn around and head back to the shore, because that’s where their friends and relatives are squatting, camping out, or in a migrant shelter.\n\nYou’d think with all the global warming discussion, people would be more cautious about living at the shore. I mean California IS going to *“tumble into the sea”* sooner or later (tyvm, Eagles). Florida’s home insurance rates are tripling because of hurricanes and flooding. New York City was supposed to have water 6 feet deep on Park Avenue by now, according to a 1985 NASA projection. Delayed, but for how long?\n\nThere was ANOTHER article recently. The new hot spot is (allegedly) Appalachia. Evidently you can buy land – lots of land – in former coal country and build your dream house there for about 10% of what it costs in a coastal state. Great if you’re a tele-commuter, or a retiree, I guess. Remember President Obama's program to retrain all the out of work miners as software coders? It didn't work. Maybe he should have offered them trade school instead – carpentry, electrician, plumbing, and HVAC. They’d be getting paid now, for sure!\n\nI’m just sayin’ . . .\n\n[**\\~Why America's housing shortage is getting worse, even as construction sees its biggest boom in 16 years (msn.com)\\~**](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/why-america-s-housing-shortage-is-getting-worse-even-as-construction-sees-its-biggest-boom-in-16-years/ar-BB1oAbB3?ocid=BingNewsSerp)\n\n[**\\~FACTSHEET: Final FY23 Numbers Show Worst Year at America’s Borders—Ever – Committee on Homeland Security (house.gov)\\~**](https://homeland.house.gov/2023/10/26/factsheet-final-fy23-numbers-show-worst-year-at-americas-borders-ever/)"

ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.businessofbusiness.com/articles/the-big-short-seller-probe-who-are-the-investors-on-the-dojs-list/\n\nThe Big Short Seller Probe: Who are the investors on the DOJ’s list?\n\nDozens of research and investment firms and individuals are reportedly entangled in the probe. Here are six of the top names.\n\nSam Klebanov\n\nShort sellers don’t typically have a reputation for making lots of friends. Over the past couple of years, many pressed some buttons by attacking reputations of company targets in research reports and on social media. They were also cast as villains by retail investors congregating on Reddit who fueled last year’s “meme stock” short squeeze.\n\nNow dozens of short sellers are embroiled in an expansive U.S. Department of Justice probe over potential trade abuses. As reported by Bloomberg recently, nearly 30 investment and research companies and three dozen individuals associated with them are part of the inquiry. It’s not clear yet who on the list is considered a “target” of the probe and who might just have information relevant to the investigation.\n\nIt’s also not clear yet what the specific allegations of wrongdoing might be. According to The Wall Street Journal, the possible conduct may include “spoofing,” a ploy to use fake orders to manipulate prices of stocks, or “scalping,” in which activist traders may recommend others take a position while secretly cashing out. Investigators are reportedly working closely with Columbia Law Professor Joshua Mitts, who has been highly critical of the impact of “pseudonymous” short sellers on the market. \n\nElon Musk (who has his own issues with securities regulators) welcomed the probe, possibly because it includes two investors that have shorted Tesla stock in the past. Musk is a longtime critic of short selling as a concept and has called it a “scam.” In a 2018 Tweet, he dubbed the SEC the “Shortseller Enrichment Commission” after settling a fraud charge with the agency that had caused a temporary decline in the price of Tesla’s stock.\n\nTo be sure, being involved in a probe or even being criminally charged is not proof of guilt. But the group of people ensnared in the investigation is a veritable who’s who of the short-selling world. We decided to take a closer look at some of the most well-known individuals on the list. Here are six of the top names. All either did not reply or declined our request for comment. Representatives for the DOJ also declined to comment.\n\nAndrew Left\nCitron Research\nAndrew Left is a veteran short seller whose name has long been synonymous with the practice. His company, Citron Research, has been uncovering fraud and identifying failing business models within public companies for over 20 years. Left makes frequent appearances on television to criticize companies that his company is shorting. Citron’s website boasts that its coverage led to regulatory action against fifty companies, including multiple stock delistings and even a 23-year prison sentence for an executive. \n\nNow the regulators may be coming after Left himself, as FBI agents reportedly seized computers at his home in 2021, according to Bloomberg News. Left says he doesn’t know why he is part of the investigation but stated that he intends to cooperate with authorities. \n\nLeft was one of the many short sellers that suffered heavy losses in last year’s GameStop short squeeze in the beginning of last year. The price of the GameStop’ stock jumped more than 1,625% in under a month after garnering a cult following among retail investors on platforms like Reddit and Twitter. After getting burnt on the bet, Citron research announced that it plans to stop publishing short reports and will focus on covering long-position investments.\n\nCarson Block\nMuddy Waters\nProminent short seller Carson Block was also subpoenaed by the DOJ and reportedly received an FBI search warrant that extended to his phones. Block’s research company, Muddy Waters is known for making claims about fraud and accounting problems in short-selling targets, particularly at Chinese companies. \n\nA number of stocks owe their disgraceful demise to an exposé from Muddy Waters. Block and his company first came to prominence when Muddy Waters uncovered massive fraud at the Canadian-listed Chinese forestry company Sino-Forest in 2011. Sino-Forest was promptly investigated by Canadian regulators and filed for bankruptcy shortly after. More recently, Muddy Waters spearheaded the takedown of Chinese coffeehouse chain Luckin Coffee with a report that laid bare inflated sales figures by as much as $310 million. The company’s stock has since been delisted.\n\nCarson Block is well known for his flamboyant style and scathing assessments of companies that he believes to be overvalued, often to the ire of the companies he criticizes. Vehicle electrification company XL fleet accused Muddy Waters of “factual inaccuracies and distortions” in response to a their report calling them “middle of the fairway SPAC garbage”. In their statement, XL Fleet hinted that Muddy Waters had slandered them to gain profit from the short position on the company stock. \n\nIn response to controversy, Block points to his impressive track record and insists that his main mission is “protecting investors.” \n\nGabriel Plotkin\nMelvin Capital Management \nMelvin Capital began 2021 with heavy losses on their short position in GameStop, which they held since 2014. At one point in January, the fund was bleeding more than $1 billion a day and ended the month with a 53% loss. \n\nPlotkin was among the many short sellers that testified before the Congressional Committee on Financial Services in the aftermath of the GameStop saga. He asserted that his fund’s short position in GameStop hinged on earnest expectations that the company's reliance on a physical retail model will lead to declining profits. He also denied any involvement in the decision of stock trading platforms to pause trading of GameStop shares amid the short squeeze. Plotkin assured lawmakers that he was “humbled” by the experience and promised to take action to protect investors from such situations in the future.\n\nMuch like its fellow GameStop short squeeze victim Citron Research, Melvin Capital has pivoted away from short bets. According to SEC filings, the fund is currently raising money for a new portfolio that will focus exclusively on long bets. \n\nNate Anderson\nHindenburg Research \nAs its name suggests, Anderson’s Hindenburg Research specializes in identifying (and profiting off of) corporate disasters.\n\nIts most notable target was electric vehicle company Nikola, which it claimed to be an “intricate fraud based on dozens of lies”. Hindenburg showed that a video demonstrating the functioning of the company’s electric truck was staged by rolling the truck down a hill. Nikola's stock subsequently also went downhill, losing nearly 80% of its value. The company agreed to pay $125 million to the SEC to settle a fraud investigation. The company's founder Trevor Milton has also been criminally charged with securities and wire fraud (and pleaded not guilty).\n\nAnderson is no stranger to having to play defense himself. A few years ago, Hindenburg Research was accused of defamation by Bollywood production company Eros, in response to a report alleging accounting irregularities. Hindenburg followed up with an exposé into egregious falsifications in Eros’ financial reporting, contributing to a sharp decline in its stock price.\n\nFellow short seller Marc Cohodes alleged that Hindenburg sources information from large funds, serving as a front for their short trades. Andrerson has brushed off those kinds of claims. He told New York Magazine that he attributes the DOJ investigation to the vengefulness of the enemies he made over the course of his long short selling career. \n\nBen Axler\nSpruce Point Capital\nUnlike Citron and Melvin Capital, Spruce Point Capital is a fund that’s part of the DOJ probe that is doubling down on short trading. Spruce Point founder Ben Axler tweeted praise about Left's short trading career on the heels of the announcement that Citron will be shifting focus towards long bets. Axler emphasized the importance of short trading research for the “flawed market system”. \n\nSpruce Point was founded in 2009 and has since contributed to the near total demise of at least five companies that it researched. Among its recent hits is Oatly, the dairy alternative producer that lost nearly 68% of its stock value after Spruce Point pointed to a number of alarming signs for the company’s prospects. Spruce Point reported 21% net growth in 2021, a tough year of multiple short squeezes and 18% growth for the Dow Jones.\n\nDaniel Yu\nGotham City Research\nGotham City Research is another fund that has remained committed to its short-selling strategy despite recent scrutiny. On the heels of the GameStop saga last year, the company said that “there have been worse times to get into”, so-called, “gentlemen short selling.\"\n\nGotham City is best known for its takedown of British country club turned insurtech company Quindell. Quindell’s shares crashed and the company filed for bankruptcy after Gotham City published a bombshell report questioning its stated profits. Quindell did end up winning a libel case against Gotham City after the latter neglected to put up a defense in court. "