https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/26/22747918/theranos-devos-due-diligence-fraud-trial

The verge has been covering the Holmes trial, and this stood out for me on their way to losing 100 million:

Theranos said a lot of things to Lisa Peterson that made the company seem credible when she evaluated it on behalf of the crazy-wealthy DeVos family. One of the things that stood out as a reason to trust Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes? Its devices didn’t need FDA approval.

That made it seem more credible that the machines worked, said Peterson, who works on investments for the DeVos clan (including former secretary of education Betsy DeVos), and who testified today during US v. Elizabeth Holmes.

Source: Ars Technica



Well, apparently, whoever relaunched REvil wasn’t the brightest bulb. Last night, Reuters reported that several countries working together took down the ransomware gang using one of the criminal organization’s favorite tactics—compromised backups.

Though the FBI isn’t commenting on the matter, private-sector cybersecurity experts and a former US official confirmed the operation, Reuters reports. “The FBI, in conjunction with Cyber Command, the Secret Service, and like-minded countries, have truly engaged in significant disruptive actions against these groups,” Tom Kellermann, VMware’s head of cybersecurity strategy and an adviser to the US Secret Service on cybercrime investigations, told Reuters. “REvil was top of the list.”



The newfound success against the slippery gang stems in part from the new legal freedom to pursue such criminal operations. US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco recently determined that ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure are a national security threat on par with terrorism. That allowed the Justice Department to bring in assistance from the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies.

“Before, you couldn’t hack into these forums, and the military didn’t want to have anything to do with it,” Kellermann said. “Since then, the gloves have come off.”



Read more: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/10/fbi-others-crush-revil-using-ransomware-gangs-favorite-tactic-against-it/?comments=1&start=40

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So Biden has unleashed the hounds as it were. I'm not sure how I feel about offensive cyberoperations being carried out by the military / NSA against Russian civilians, but maybe this will have an effect.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/5/22710848/taylor-swift-scooter-braun-masters-glenn-youngkin-virginia-mcauliffe

Weeks before Virginia’s gubernatorial election, the campaign for Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe is reaching out to an unexpected constituency: Taylor Swift fans.

On Tuesday, the McAulliffe campaign launched a series of Facebook, Instagram, and Google search ads highlighting his opponent Glenn Youngkin’s role in the controversial purchase of Taylor Swift’s master recordings in 2019. The buyout of Swift’s masters has been a point of bitter contention for the singer and her fans and could be an unexpected liability in the upcoming race.

Last year, Youngkin — the Republican nominee for Virginia governor — retired as co-CEO of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group before launching his 2021 gubernatorial bid. At Carlyle, Youngkin worked with the media executive Scooter Braun to acquire Big Machine Label Group, taking control of all of Swift’s master recordings and, for a time, refusing to sell them back to the singer. Several months later, Swift called on Carlyle to intervene in the deal, saying that the acquisition made it more difficult for her to perform her own music and produce her Netflix documentary named after her record Reputation.

Source: Stat News

“Unfortunately, I am unable to support one of the 16 titles in front of the Energy and Commerce Committee,” Peters said, referring to the provision that includes Pelosi’s drug pricing plan.

The panel has not yet voted, and the drug pricing vote is expected as soon as Tuesday. If all three members follow through, the measure would fail.

A spokesperson for Energy & Commerce Chair Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said that the markup is ongoing, and that Pallone is working to ensure all provisions are passed out of committee.

Peters, Rice, and Schrader all voted to pass a nearly identical version of Pelosi’s drug pricing bill in December 2019, and all voted again in June 2020 to pass a health care package including the policy. Those were messaging bills that didn’t have a path to passage in the Republican-led Senate last Congress, however.



Read more: https://www.statnews.com/2021/09/14/house-moderates-rebel-against-pelosi-drug-pricing-plan-leaving-bills-fate-uncertain/?utm_campaign=rss

LeagleEagle just posted his celebration video for 2 million subscribers, its fairly epic and would be enjoyed by many Rudy lovers

Source: ABC News

House Democrats' attempt to pass an extension of the eviction moratorium via unanimous consent request failed late Friday ahead of a six-week recess. The moratorium will end Saturday.



"Everybody knew this was happening. We were sounding the alarm about this issue," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., told reporters in a gaggle outside Pelosi's office. She was joined by Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., who has been outspoken about the time she spent homeless in pushing for the extension of the moratorium.

"The court order was not yesterday, the court order was not Monday, the court order was a month ago," Ocasio Cortez continued. "We had a financial services hearing about it, members were bringing alarms to the administration about it."

"The fact that the [White House] statement came out just yesterday is unacceptable. It is unacceptable," she said. "I want to make that very clear, because the excuses that we've been hearing about it, I do not accept them."



Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/house-fails-to-extend-eviction-moratorium-ahead-of-6-week-recess/ar-AAMLwIr?ocid=entnewsntp

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I agree with AOC that this is a clusterfuck. In a lot of states if they pass it in two weeks it will be soon enough to prevent evictions, but in many southern states there will be thousands or more homeless in two weeks.

https://twitter.com/jonstewart/status/1417557259886940162?s=20

A promo for Jon's new show, its worth watching.

or someone on her production crew. Look at the spelling of the sign at 2:08 and a few more times in the video. I've only seen that spelling here and DailyKos -- it dates back to Cindy's Gold Star protest at the Bush Ranch.

?start=130

Source: Bloomberg Law

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that PennEast Pipeline Co. can sue New Jersey to secure key land-use rights for its 116-mile natural-gas project in a decision that gives the industry new leverage in dealings with state officials.

The justices, voting 5-4, said New Jersey wasn’t protected by sovereign immunity given the federal approval for the PennEast project.

The ruling is a boost for a pipeline that would carry as much as 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from northern Pennsylvania to New Jersey. PennEast, a joint venture of five companies including Southern Co. and Enbridge Inc., still must secure state-level permits, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Brandon Barnes.

At issue at the Supreme Court was a provision in the U.S. Natural Gas Act that lets pipeline companies use the federal government’s eminent domain power. After the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the pipeline in 2018, PennEast sued to gain access to more than 40 parcels that are either owned or partially controlled by New Jersey.



From Scotusblog: https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/penneast-pipeline-co-v-new-jersey/

Holding: A certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission pursuant to Section 717f(h) of the Natural Gas Act authorizes a private company to condemn all necessary rights-of-way, whether owned by private parties or states.



Read more: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/supreme-court-clears-penneast-pipeline-to-sue-for-land-rights

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Weird lineup of Judges on this one as well.

Source: NYTimes via MSN

The investigation into what may be the deadliest accidental building collapse in American history has just begun, but experts who have examined video footage of the disaster outside Miami are focusing on a spot in the lowest part of the condominium complex — possibly in or below the underground parking garage — where an initial failure could have set off a structural avalanche.

Called “progressive collapse,” the gradual spread of failures could have occurred for a variety of reasons, including design flaws or the less robust construction allowed under the building codes of four decades ago, when the complex was built. But that progression could not have occurred without some critical first failure, and close inspections of a grainy surveillance video that emerged in the initial hours after the disaster have given the first hints of where that might have been.

“It does appear to start either at or very near the bottom of the structure,” said Donald O. Dusenberry, a consulting engineer who has investigated many structural collapses. “It’s not like there’s a failure high and it pancaked down.”



Explanations for an initial failure at the bottom of the building could include a problem with the deep, reinforced concrete pilings on which the building sits — perhaps set off by an unknown void or a sinkhole below — which then compromised the lower columns. Or the steel reinforcing the columns in the parking garage or first few floors could have been so corroded that they somehow gave way on their own. Or the building itself could have been poorly designed, built with substandard concrete or steel — or simply with insufficient steel at critical points.



Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/possible-failure-point-emerges-in-miami-building-collapse/ar-AALvJr3?ocid=entnewsntp

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Interviews and reviews with a large number of engineers all saying cause can't be determined yet -- and that the issues identified in the 2018 report may or may not be that important to the failure.