Tag: Robber Barons

What The Hell Is “Anti-Weaponization Fund”?

I have been hearing this term, anti-weaponization fund, a lot in recent days…..but just what the Hell is it and how does it work?

Thanx to Axios we can have our answer….

President Trump sued his own administration, settled and will now spend $1.776 billion of taxpayer money to pay people who say the government targeted them politically.

Why it matters: The “Anti-Weaponization Fund” turns a personal Trump settlement into a new government program, shields decisions on who gets the money from the courts and limits information about what the public knows about where the funds go.

The backstory: Trump sued the IRS and Treasury in January for $10 billion over the 2019 leak of his tax returns. The settlement gives Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization a formal apology but no money, and it bars the IRS from auditing Trump’s past tax returns.

  • Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, created the Anti-Weaponization Fund with the Treasury Department’s Judgment Fund.

How it works: The attorney general will handpick the five-member commission that decides who will collect money from the fund, which ends in December 2028.

  • Those decisions can’t be appealed or challenged in court. The settlement does not require public disclosure of payouts.
  • The settlement lets the fund spend part of the $1.776 billion on itself, including staff, travel and facilities. The Justice Department and the White House did not answer Axios’ question about whether there is any cap on those costs.

There is so much more….

https://www.axios.com/2026/05/20/trump-anti-weaponization-fund-judgment-fund-explainer

Donny spends more time with the court systems than he does running the country….and when he does focus on the country he is running it into the ground.

Anyway the Fund and Blanche…..

The nomination of Todd Blanche to be the next permanent attorney general has foundered in part over a controversial “anti-weaponization fund.” On Friday, President Trump offered a strong defense of the fund, which could further complicate Blanche’s road to confirmation, reports CNN. Blanche, the acting AG, has said the fund is “dead,” but GOP Sens. Thom Tillis and John Cornyn want a written guarantee he won’t revive the $1.8 billion measure. Critics call it a slush fund for Trump allies.

In his Friday post, Trump insisted the fund wouldn’t benefit him personally, but would compensate “victims of government abuse,” per Reuters. The president stopped short of saying the fund should be revived, but his lengthy defense of it may give further ammo to other senators wary of its resurrection. Trump also insisted that Blanche, “a good man, should be immediately approved” as AG. On Thursday, the president floated the idea of temporarily withdrawing the nomination until Tillis and Cornyn leave the Senate in January. The fund stems from Trump’s settlement of a lawsuit with the IRS, another source of controversy, and GOP senators on Thursday blocked an attempt to modify that deal.

Donny is so full of shit…he does NOTHING that does not benefit him….PERIOD!

Then acting AG issued a edict….

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued an order Sunday evening formally rescinding plans to create a $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate allies of President Trump.

The order came after Republican Senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn threatened to block Blanche’s confirmation for the permanent position to lead the Justice Department.

“The Attorney General’s May 18, 2026 Order establishing the Anti-WeaponizationFund (“Fund”) is rescinded and shall have no force or effect,” the order states.

“For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Order is intended to contradict or otherwise be contrary to prior representations by the Department of Justice that the Fund is not operative. No Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid. Nevertheless, several frivolous lawsuits have been filed challenging the Fund, and at least one court has declined to dismiss those claims as moot,” it continues. “This Order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/todd-blanche-anti-weaponization-fund-order/

Wassup with this?  I do not trust this turn.

Enough said.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Looking For A Career Change?

In these unsettling days of employment flux many are looking for ways to make more money….I mean AI is taking jobs right and left…..college degrees are worthless and there has got to be a better way to earn a good living.

Well Bubba there is……the uber rich are concerned with their safety….the society seems to be getting more hostile to the Robber Barons with each passing week….

America’s richest are jittery, and a growing group of “meat shields” is cashing in. That’s the term one bodyguard-in-training uses in Grayson Schaffer’s deep dive into the industry for GQ. For the record, bodyguards use the term “protector,” though the leader of a team is usually the BG, or bodyguard. Whatever the term, more aspirants are flocking to executive-protection courses like the one run by Elijah Shaw, a former protector for 50 Cent and Usher who now trains others to keep billionaires, tech titans, celebrities, and politicians safe. Schaffer drops into Shaw’s weeklong Las Vegas class, where students practice pulling “principals” off the X, or point of attack, and learn that the job is more about advance work than gunplay.

The story zooms out to explain why business is booming: high-profile killings and attacks on CEOs, governors, figures such as Charlie Kirk, and even the president—all part of rising political violence as tracked by Princeton’s Bridging Divides Initiative. This trend of “stochastic terrorism” has corporate security budgets swelling. Shaw and his peers say the real work happens long before an attack, in mapping exits, anticipating threats, and swallowing ego. Trainees are reminded—repeatedly—that running away with the client beats winning a fight. The job, as one trainee puts it, is being a literal human buffer—an “oversized butler” with a plan.

Read the full story.

There you have it….you too can become a ‘meat shield” for the ultra wealthy….stand between them and a society that is slowly letting the hatred boil to a roar.

It is coming.  Do you want to stand between a fucker that cares little for your safety as long as he can make it to the bank on time.

I am too old but if I were not then they could kiss my ass….my advice learn to defend yourself you pampered twats

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is This A Coming Trend?

“When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right.”  Victor Hugo

A couple of years ago some guy pooped a CEO of a health corporation…..and he has become some what of a cult hero.  I have heard people whine about his wife and kids but no one whines about the wife and kids of those denied healthcare by his organization.

Was this the start of a budding revolution?

Luigi Mangione, the man awaiting trial in the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is fast becoming a symbol of a new wave of ideologically-motivated violence, argues the Washington Post‘s editorial board. Investigators say his case inspired last year’s deadly shooting at the Manhattan skyscraper home to the NFL headquarters. The editorial board highlights other cases—including a California warehouse arson that caused an estimated $500 million in damage and a firebomb attempt at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s Texas home—in which suspects allegedly referenced Mangione.

The Post notes the 27-year-old, who has pleaded not guilty in Thompson’s murder and awaits a trial this fall, has taken on “folk hero” status among some on the radical left, with a legal defense fund pulling in $1.46 million from more than 40,000 donors. Federal prosecutors say his supporters increasingly see violence as a substitute for political or ideological argument, supercharged by online anonymity and social media. The editorial insists there’s no justification for such attacks—against tech leaders, health executives, or anyone else.

For the full argument and examples, read the editorial here.

Full disclosure–I do not rust the WaPo to be forthcoming with the news…..but I include it for the sake of my readers….

That aside it seems the recently violent acts are seemingly accelerating….recently, last week, a disgruntle employee of a paper company set fire to a warehouse…..

A California warehouse worker accused of torching his workplace allegedly cast himself as a kind of anti-corporate avenger, prosecutors say. Authorities say 29-year-old Chamel Abdulkarim set multiple fires early Tuesday inside a 1.2-million-square-foot Ontario warehouse packed with Kimberly-Clark paper products while about 20 others were on site, then posted video online that appears to show a hand igniting stacks of paper as a voice complains about worker pay, the Los Angeles Times reports. In texts afterward, he allegedly compared himself to Luigi Mangione—the man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO in New York—and wrote, “I just cost these [expletive] billions.”

Federal prosecutors say Abdulkarim also posted videos arguing workers aren’t paid enough to live and texted complaints about the “1%” and corporate shareholders. The blaze destroyed roughly $500 million in goods and the $150 million building, per local officials, and grew so fast firefighters had to withdraw and fight it defensively; about 175 responded before the six-alarm fire collapsed the roof. No one was injured, KTLA reports. Abdulkarim, an employee of third-party distribution company NFI Industries, was arrested later that morning. He faces one count of aggravated arson and six counts of arson of a structure in state court, with a potential sentence of 10 years to life, ABC 7 reports. He is also expected to face federal charges.

I believe some of his words were….this did not have to happen if you paid a livable wage”…

Not to fear the culprit has been arrested…

Next came a fire bomb of AI guru Altman’s house…..

The man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home in San Francisco has been charged with attempting to kill Altman and a security guard at the residence, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Monday. Daniel Moreno-Gama, who also faces multiple federal charges, faces two counts of attempted murder and attempted arson in California state court, the Washington Post reports.

  • Authorities allege the 20-year-old threw the incendiary device about 4am Friday, setting an exterior gate at Altman’s home alight before fleeing on foot, police said. Less than an hour later, Moreno-Gama allegedly went to OpenAI’s headquarters and reportedly threatened to burn down the building. Moreno-Gama was opposed to artificial intelligence, writing about AI’s purported risk to humanity and “our impending extinction,” according to court documents.
  • This was not spontaneous. This was planned, targeted and extremely serious,” said FBI San Francisco Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo during a press conference. On Monday morning, FBI agents went to Moreno-Gama’s home in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston, where they spent several hours before leaving. He has been charged by federal prosecutors with possession of an unregistered firearm and damage and destruction of property by means of explosives. The criminal complaint does not name Altman or OpenAI but both have confirmed they were the targets of the attack. No injuries were reported.When Moreno-Gama was arrested Friday, officials found a document on him in which he “identified views opposed to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the executives of various AI companies,” court documents say. The document discussed AI’s purported risk to humanity and “our impending extinction,” according to the criminal complaint. Authorities allege Moreno-Gama traveled from his home in Texas to San Francisco and visited Altman’s home early Friday morning.”
  • “We are only at the beginning of this investigation, but if the evidence shows that Mr. Moreno-Gama executed these attacks to change public policy or to coerce government and other officials, we will treat this as an act of domestic terrorism and together with our law enforcement partners prosecute him to the fullest extent allowed by law,” US Attorney Craig Missakian said in a statement, per Reuters.
  • The document in which Moreno-Gama discussed his opposition to AI also made threats against Altman, officials said. “Also if I am going to advocate for others to kill and commit crimes, then I must lead by example and show that I am fully sincere in my message,” Moreno-Gama is alleged by authorities to have written in the document.
  • Advocacy groups that have issued grave warnings about AI’s risks to society condemned the violence. PauseAI said in a statement that the suspect had no role in the group but joined its forum on the social media platform Discord about two years ago and posted about 34 messages there, none containing explicit calls to violence but one that was flagged as “ambiguous.” Discord said Monday that it has banned Moreno-Gama for “off-platform behavior.”

Interesting, eh?

But not to worry the pampered billionaire is safe….

The man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home in San Francisco has been charged with attempting to kill Altman and a security guard at the residence, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Monday. Daniel Moreno-Gama, who also faces multiple federal charges, faces two counts of attempted murder and attempted arson in California state court, the Washington Post reports.

  • Authorities allege the 20-year-old threw the incendiary device about 4am Friday, setting an exterior gate at Altman’s home alight before fleeing on foot, police said. Less than an hour later, Moreno-Gama allegedly went to OpenAI’s headquarters and reportedly threatened to burn down the building. Moreno-Gama was opposed to artificial intelligence, writing about AI’s purported risk to humanity and “our impending extinction,” according to court documents.
  • This was not spontaneous. This was planned, targeted and extremely serious,” said FBI San Francisco Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo during a press conference. On Monday morning, FBI agents went to Moreno-Gama’s home in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston, where they spent several hours before leaving. He has been charged by federal prosecutors with possession of an unregistered firearm and damage and destruction of property by means of explosives. The criminal complaint does not name Altman or OpenAI but both have confirmed they were the targets of the attack. No injuries were reported.
    • When Moreno-Gama was arrested Friday, officials found a document on him in which he “identified views opposed to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the executives of various AI companies,” court documents say. The document discussed AI’s purported risk to humanity and “our impending extinction,” according to the criminal complaint. Authorities allege Moreno-Gama traveled from his home in Texas to San Francisco and visited Altman’s home early Friday morning.

Then a couple of days later Altman’s house once again a target….

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s San Francisco home may have been targeted by two alleged attacks in a span of three days, with police announcing a pair of arrests in the latest incident, the San Francisco Standard reports. Around 1:40am Sunday, a Honda sedan allegedly drove past Altman’s property in Russian Hill, then stopped; the passenger extended a hand out the window and appeared to fire a shot toward the Lombard Street side of the estate, according to a police report citing security staff and surveillance video. No injuries were reported. The Standard frames the alleged shooting as an attack on Altman’s home, but the San Francisco Chronicle notes that has not yet been confirmed by police.

Police say a license plate captured on camera led them to a residence on Taylor Street, where officers detained Amanda Tom, 25, and Muhamad Tarik Hussein, 23, without incident and recovered three firearms. Both were booked on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm. The alleged shooting followed a Friday morning episode in which a 20-year-old Texas man, Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama, is accused of hurling a Molotov cocktail at Altman’s gate from Chestnut Street; security extinguished the flames, and the suspect was later arrested after making threats at OpenAI’s Mission Bay headquarters, authorities say. The suspect has been linked to a Discord server called PauseAI, which is against the development of frontier AI models; the group quickly disavowed the alleged attack, Business Insider reports.

After the first incident, Altman wrote a lengthy blog post reflecting on it. “There was an incendiary article about me a few days ago. Someone said to me yesterday they thought it was coming at a time of great anxiety about AI and that it made things more dangerous for me. I brushed it aside,” he wrote. “Now I am awake in the middle of the night and pissed, and thinking that I have underestimated the power of words and narratives.”

While I was writing news came across of more warehouse fires….

there are now reports of six different Warehouse or storefront fires that have happened across the United States in the last three days five of which are in different states. currently there have been two in California one in Queens New York another in Ohio at an Amazon location another in Pennsylvania and a final one in New Jersey. They’re pretty hard to look up, I’m suspecting to keep the trend from catching on.

Fascinating.

Is this the beginning of a revolt against technology or against the insanely rich?

Sorry but I cannot work up much sympathy.

“A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past.”

I have been waiting a long time for this….Let it begin!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Good News For Some

If you are a normal working stiff then there has been very little to call ‘good news’…..but if you are among the ‘robber barons’ then you should be all smiles.

Bonus season is back on Wall Street, at least on paper. Axios reports that the average bonus for New York City securities industry workers hit $246,900 last year, a 6% jump from the previous year, according to a new report from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Total profits in the securities industry climbed more than 30%, to $65.1 billion, while the overall bonus pool reached a record $49.2 billion, up 9%. The gains were fueled in part by heavy trading during market volatility linked to tariffs enacted by the Trump administration.

Bloomberg reports it’s the highest bonus pool on record, going back to 1987. There’s a caveat, however, per Axios: Adjusted for inflation, the bonus pool actually reached its highest level in 2006 at $53.7 billion, and it remains below the highs of 2020 and 2021, when pandemic-era markets and deal-making surged. The comptroller’s estimate is based on income tax withholding data for New York City employees and excludes stock options and other types of deferred pay.

DiNapoli said Wall Street’s strength is a plus for state and city budgets that depend heavily on its tax revenue, but he cautioned that weaker job growth and geopolitical tensions could pressure the industry, as well as the broader economy. Fortune reports that this year’s bonus outlook “is already darkening,” with the outlet noting some of the city’s budget planning “may … be too rosy,” with some targets seemingly “out of reach.”

If you are a billionaire then all is coming up roses…..the rest of us peons are struggling with day to day life.

Eat The Rich!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”