Fucking DNS mafia... they make me beg for my DNS every now and again, and just silently cut me off if I don't supplicate myself before them. I just don't want to pay money to have a name. Is that so hard?
Well at least I know now why no one's messages over the last 11 hours have been able to reach me.
#meta #dns #extortion
Tim Chambers
boosted
#BigTech Helped Bankroll the #EastWing Destruction
#Meta, #Amazon, #Microsoft, #Apple, & #Google have a lot riding on their relationships with the #Trump admin. They all cut checks for the ballroom.
#TechBros #plutocracy #billionaires #corporations #corruption #bribery #extortion #law #antitrust #regulations #AI #energy
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/10/white-house-east-wing-destruction-google-meta-apple-microsoft-amazone/
Then there’s the #tech companies — #Google, #Apple, #Microsoft, #Amazon, & #Meta.
The tech companies themselves have been awfully quiet about the project they’re helping to underwrite. Just to make sure they hadn’t missed it, MJ sent a photo of the demolished #EastWing — & requests for comment — to representatives of all of these companies. A Microsoft spox confirmed the company had made a contribution but offered no further comment. None of the others responded.
But #BigTech’s donations for #Trump’s pet cause come at a time when the industry’s giants have a lot riding on their relationships with the #WhiteHouse. In a marked shift from Trump’s first term, #tech leaders have spent most of the last 12 months singing the president’s praises as they navigate #antitrust cases, #tariffs, & #regulatory hurdles; fight for #contracts; & push for #policies that benefit their bottom lines.
The list of donors released by the #WhiteHouse includes the usual deep-pocketed #Republicans, such as #casino magnate #MiriamAdelson & private-equity mogul #StephenSchwarzman, but also a host of companies whose leaders have huge incentives to maintain good relations with an often vindictive head of state. They include #telecom giants & the #railroad giant Union-Pacific—which needs the #Trump admin’s sign-off on a proposed $85 billion merger with Norfolk Southern.
Then there’s the #tech companies — #Google, #Apple, #Microsoft, #Amazon, & #Meta.
The tech companies themselves have been awfully quiet about the project they’re helping to underwrite. Just to make sure they hadn’t missed it, MJ sent a photo of the demolished #EastWing — & requests for comment — to representatives of all of these companies. A Microsoft spox confirmed the company had made a contribution but offered no further comment. None of the others responded.
…If the destruction of the #EastWing is a shock, the #money that’s paying for it might be even more of a #scandal. The #WhiteHouse, eager to assure Americans that their tax dollars have not been diverted for a #vanity project, has emphasized that the #ballroom is being financed by individuals & major #corporations. Instead of going through a process to obtain & disburse federal funds, #Trump simply asked companies his admin is supposed to be #regulating to write checks [ #bribery / #extortion].
The list of donors released by the #WhiteHouse includes the usual deep-pocketed #Republicans, such as #casino magnate #MiriamAdelson & private-equity mogul #StephenSchwarzman, but also a host of companies whose leaders have huge incentives to maintain good relations with an often vindictive head of state. They include #telecom giants & the #railroad giant Union-Pacific—which needs the #Trump admin’s sign-off on a proposed $85 billion merger with Norfolk Southern.
#Trump is finishing what the British started. Despite promises that the #WhiteHouse would be unaffected by the addition of a $230 million #ballroom, the #historic #EastWing has in fact been demolished. The images of the site are so jarring that the #Treasury Department has reportedly ordered its employees to stop taking photos of it.
…If the destruction of the #EastWing is a shock, the #money that’s paying for it might be even more of a #scandal. The #WhiteHouse, eager to assure Americans that their tax dollars have not been diverted for a #vanity project, has emphasized that the #ballroom is being financed by individuals & major #corporations. Instead of going through a process to obtain & disburse federal funds, #Trump simply asked companies his admin is supposed to be #regulating to write checks [ #bribery / #extortion].
#BigTech Helped Bankroll the #EastWing Destruction
#Meta, #Amazon, #Microsoft, #Apple, & #Google have a lot riding on their relationships with the #Trump admin. They all cut checks for the ballroom.
#TechBros #plutocracy #billionaires #corporations #corruption #bribery #extortion #law #antitrust #regulations #AI #energy
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/10/white-house-east-wing-destruction-google-meta-apple-microsoft-amazone/
Greg Lloyd
boosted
#BrownUniversity Rejects #Trump #Extortion Attempt
#Brown was the second #university to turn down the *deal*, which would have given a #funding preference to #universities that agreed to conform to #conservative *values* including #censorship & restrictions on #InternationalStudents.
#law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/brown-university-trump-compact-funding.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
The proposal, for which the #Trump admin asked #Brown & 8 other universities to submit feedback by Monday, calls for limits on #InternationalStudents, potentially “abolishing institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle & even spark violence against conservative ideas,” & policies enshrining “that #AcademicFreedom is not absolute,” among other conditions.
#extortion #law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
The document, partially the brainchild of the #billionaire financier #MarcRowan, says that #schools are “free to develop models & values” other than the ones the #Trump admin proposed if they choose to “forego federal benefits.” And the government had dangled the possibility of “multiple positive benefits” for schools that agreed, including “substantial & meaningful federal grants.”
#extortion #law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #education #democracy #fascism #tyranny
“I am concerned that the compact by its nature & by various provisions would restrict #AcademicFreedom & undermine the #autonomy of #Brown’s governance, critically compromising our ability to fulfill our mission,” the #university’s president, Christina H. Paxson, told #Trump admin officials in a letter Wednesday.
#extortion #law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
The proposal, for which the #Trump admin asked #Brown & 8 other universities to submit feedback by Monday, calls for limits on #InternationalStudents, potentially “abolishing institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle & even spark violence against conservative ideas,” & policies enshrining “that #AcademicFreedom is not absolute,” among other conditions.
#extortion #law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
#Brown was the 2nd #university to rebuff the government’s proposal of so-called compact, after #MIT did so last week. But Brown’s decision was likely to carry extraordinary weight in #HigherEducation because it had previously reached a settlement with the #Trump admin to restore hundreds of millions in #federal #research #funding.
#extortion #law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
“I am concerned that the compact by its nature & by various provisions would restrict #AcademicFreedom & undermine the #autonomy of #Brown’s governance, critically compromising our ability to fulfill our mission,” the #university’s president, Christina H. Paxson, told #Trump admin officials in a letter Wednesday.
#extortion #law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
#Brown was the 2nd #university to rebuff the government’s proposal of so-called compact, after #MIT did so last week. But Brown’s decision was likely to carry extraordinary weight in #HigherEducation because it had previously reached a settlement with the #Trump admin to restore hundreds of millions in #federal #research #funding.
#extortion #law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
#BrownUniversity Rejects #Trump #Extortion Attempt
#Brown was the second #university to turn down the *deal*, which would have given a #funding preference to #universities that agreed to conform to #conservative *values* including #censorship & restrictions on #InternationalStudents.
#law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/brown-university-trump-compact-funding.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
#BrownUniversity Rejects #Trump #Extortion Attempt
#Brown was the second #university to turn down the *deal*, which would have given a #funding preference to #universities that agreed to conform to #conservative *values* including #censorship & restrictions on #InternationalStudents.
#law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/brown-university-trump-compact-funding.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Stefano Marinelli
boosted
Wow, the damage from that Red Hat GitLab breach seems to be getting worse by the day. Jeez.
The Crimson Collective, the cybercriminal gang claiming responsibility for breaching the repo and stealing over 500GB of data, now seems to be collaborating with other cybercriminal gangs to extort Red Hat.
From the article, the cybercrim alliance:
"threatens to publish a "multi terabyte of data haul of your most sensitive intellectual property" and accuses Red Hat of failing to safeguard what it claims are trade secrets and personal data, invoking GDPR and US state privacy laws. It also reckons Red Hat's doors were kicked in on September 13 – weeks before the company came clean about the break-in."
https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/07/red_hat_breach_new_claims/?td=rt-9bp
#redhat #gitlab #news #technews #cyberattack #breach #cybersecurity #security #cybercrime #crime #extortion
Wow, the damage from that Red Hat GitLab breach seems to be getting worse by the day. Jeez.
The Crimson Collective, the cybercriminal gang claiming responsibility for breaching the repo and stealing over 500GB of data, now seems to be collaborating with other cybercriminal gangs to extort Red Hat.
From the article, the cybercrim alliance:
"threatens to publish a "multi terabyte of data haul of your most sensitive intellectual property" and accuses Red Hat of failing to safeguard what it claims are trade secrets and personal data, invoking GDPR and US state privacy laws. It also reckons Red Hat's doors were kicked in on September 13 – weeks before the company came clean about the break-in."
https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/07/red_hat_breach_new_claims/?td=rt-9bp
#redhat #gitlab #news #technews #cyberattack #breach #cybersecurity #security #cybercrime #crime #extortion
vruz
boosted
The decision about whether to keep #JimmyKimmel on his late-night #ABC show depends on far more than his jokes. The choice is complicated by a web of #business & #regulatory considerations involving ABC’s parent company, other #media companies & the #Trump admin.
It’s the inevitable result of industry #consolidation that over years has built giant #corporations with wide-ranging interests.
#MafiaState #law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #extortion #tyranny
https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-kimmel-suspended-charlie-kirk-business-interests-fcc-f18546e00ba03980c03b4cda4c576aa8
Apparently that wasn’t enough.
In April, the #FCC sent a a blistering letter to #Disney CEO #BobIger saying it suspected the company was so thoroughly “infected” with “invidious” practices *favoring* *minorities* that it had no choice but to open an *investigation*.
Among other questions, the probe sought to determine whether Disney had really ended policies designed to ensure characters in its shows & its hiring practices favored “underrepresented groups.”
Meanwhile, a #Disney deal struck in January to buy a stake in the streaming service #FuboTV fell under scrutiny, too, with several reports that the #DOJ was investigating possible #antitrust violations.
The #FTC also launched a probe into whether Disney broke rules by gathering #personal #data from #children watching its videos without permission from parents. Disney settled the case earlier this month by paying $10M & agreeing to change its practices.
#ABC owner Walt #Disney Co., a massive organization with far-flung operations, frequently seeks #federal #regulatory approval to expand, buy or sell businesses or acquire licenses. And the #Trump admin has not spared the company from *investigations*, opening multiple inquiries in just the past few months to probe possible antitrust, programming & hiring *violations*.
#law #business #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #JimmyKimmel #media #consolidation #corporations #extortion #tyranny #MafiaState
#JimmyKimmel was suspended from his show this week following comments suggesting that fans of #CharlieKirk were trying to capitalize on the conservative activist’s assassination [they are]. Federal Communications Commission [#FCC] Chairman Brendan Carr called the remarks “truly sick” & suggested his agency would look into them.
Carr answers to #Trump, who’s already on record as *disliking* [despising] Kimmel’s comedy.
#law #ABC #Disney #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #media #extortion #MafiaState
The decision about whether to keep #JimmyKimmel on his late-night #ABC show depends on far more than his jokes. The choice is complicated by a web of #business & #regulatory considerations involving ABC’s parent company, other #media companies & the #Trump admin.
It’s the inevitable result of industry #consolidation that over years has built giant #corporations with wide-ranging interests.
#MafiaState #law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #extortion #tyranny
https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-kimmel-suspended-charlie-kirk-business-interests-fcc-f18546e00ba03980c03b4cda4c576aa8
#ABC owner Walt #Disney Co., a massive organization with far-flung operations, frequently seeks #federal #regulatory approval to expand, buy or sell businesses or acquire licenses. And the #Trump admin has not spared the company from *investigations*, opening multiple inquiries in just the past few months to probe possible antitrust, programming & hiring *violations*.
#law #business #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #JimmyKimmel #media #consolidation #corporations #extortion #tyranny #MafiaState