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Nov 2023 Mod notice:


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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#343351: Dec 13th 2020 at 11:27:47 PM

"I can think of worse ways to earn money than guarding a useless wall that the cartels will just dig a tunnel under."

Edited by M84 on Dec 14th 2020 at 3:28:46 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
coruscatingInquisitor circumlocutory square Since: Dec, 2013
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#343353: Dec 13th 2020 at 11:41:53 PM

I am totally shocked that the contractors the Trump administration hired are hypocritical grifters! /sarc

Disgusted, but not surprised
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#343354: Dec 13th 2020 at 11:51:35 PM

I'm struck by the words of Loki from The Order of the Stick: "It's hard to be a hypocrite when your guiding philosophy is 'do what's best for you.'"

And yet Trump manages.

Ayasugi Since: Oct, 2010
#343355: Dec 14th 2020 at 12:13:42 AM

I guess that's the difference between doing what's best for you and doing whatever feeds your ego the most.

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#343357: Dec 14th 2020 at 12:20:56 AM

Did Milo ever get anything from Trump?

Serious question.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#343358: Dec 14th 2020 at 12:22:11 AM

Ah, that moment when realization sets in...

Also, he didn't say "destroy" the party. He said: "BURN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY TO THE FUCKING GROUND".

[up] Well, he got deplatformed for his support. No wonder he is salty.

Edited by Redmess on Dec 14th 2020 at 9:26:09 PM

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#343359: Dec 14th 2020 at 12:29:33 AM

Milo was deplatformed because of his comments about sex involving children, not because of his opinions on Trump.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
AngrokVa indighost from america, unfortunately Since: Feb, 2012 Relationship Status: Saddled with unnecessary feelings
indighost
#343360: Dec 14th 2020 at 12:31:38 AM

Cross-posting from the Espionage thread: From Reuters: Suspected Russian hackers spied on U.S. Treasury emails

Hackers believed to be working for Russia have been monitoring internal email traffic at the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments, according to people familiar with the matter, adding they feared the hacks uncovered so far may be the tip of the iceberg.

The hack is so serious it led to a National Security Council meeting at the White House on Saturday, said one of the people familiar with the matter.

U.S. officials have not said much publicly beyond the Commerce Department confirming there was a breach at one of its agencies and that they asked the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI to investigate.

National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot added that they "are taking all necessary steps to identify and remedy any possible issues related to this situation."

The U.S. government has not publicly identified who might be behind the hacking, but three of the people familiar with the investigation said Russia is currently believed to be responsible for the attack. Two of the people said that the breaches are connected to a broad campaign that also involved the recently disclosed hack on FireEye, a major U.S. cybersecurity company with government and commercial contracts.

In a statement posted here to Facebook, the Russian foreign ministry described the allegations as another unfounded attempt by the U.S. media to blame Russia for cyberattacks against U.S. agencies.

The cyber spies are believed to have gotten in by surreptitiously tampering with updates released by IT company SolarWinds, which serves government customers across the executive branch, the military, and the intelligence services, according to two people familiar with the matter. The trick - often referred to as a "supply chain attack" - works by hiding malicious code in the body of legitimate software updates provided to targets by third parties.

In a statement released late Sunday, the Austin, Texas-based company said that updates to its monitoring software released between March and June of this year may have been subverted by what it described as a "highly-sophisticated, targeted and manual supply chain attack by a nation state."

The company declined to offer any further detail, but the diversity of SolarWind's customer base has sparked concern within the U.S. intelligence community that other government agencies may be at risk, according to four people briefed on the matter.

SolarWinds says on its website that its customers include most of America's Fortune 500 companies, the top 10 U.S. telecommunications providers, all five branches of the U.S. military, the State Department, the National Security Agency, and the Office of President of the United States.

The breach presents a major challenge to the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden as officials investigate what information was stolen and try to ascertain what it will be used for. It is not uncommon for large scale cyber investigations to take months or years to complete.

"This is a much bigger story than one single agency," said one of the people familiar with the matter. "This is a huge cyber espionage campaign targeting the U.S. government and its interests."

Hackers broke into the NTIA's office software, Microsoft's Office 365. Staff emails at the agency were monitored by the hackers for months, sources said.

A Microsoft spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did a spokesman for the Treasury Department.

The hackers are "highly sophisticated" and have been able to trick the Microsoft platform's authentication controls, according to a person familiar with the incident, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the press.

"This is a nation state," said a different person briefed on the matter.

The full scope of the breach is unclear. The investigation is still its early stages and involves a range of federal agencies, including the FBI, according to three of the people familiar with the matter.

A spokesperson for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said they have been "working closely with our agency partners regarding recently discovered activity on government networks. CISA is providing technical assistance to affected entities as they work to identify and mitigate any potential compromises."

The FBI and U.S. National Security Agency did not respond to a request for comment.

There is some indication that the email compromise at NTIA dates back to this summer, although it was only recently discovered, according to a senior U.S. official.

nova92 Since: Apr, 2020
#343361: Dec 14th 2020 at 12:37:46 AM

Vox: We know how to prevent up to 40 million people from being evicted. It's up to Congress to do it.

According to research by the Aspen Institute, nearly 40 million Americans could face eviction over the next several months. The only thing holding back the flood right now is the CDC's eviction moratorium order and a patchwork of state and local protections for renters.

But these moratoriums are only kicking the can down the road. Chief economist for Moody's Analytics Mark Zandi told the Washington Post that tenants could owe nearly $70 billion in back rent by year's end. And for landlords left holding the bag, there's been little relief, as they've been forced to take on the role of government - subsidizing housing for millions even as their own taxes, mortgage payments, and other expenses are due.

The moratorium is an imperfect solution, and one that leaves a number of renters and landlords hanging. But without Congress passing rental assistance or other stimulus, it's one of the few things helping keep Americans housed.


The CDC's eviction moratorium was an emergency measure; like a hastily applied bandage over a gaping wound, it was never a holistic solution, but it's what you do to keep yourself alive until you can get to a doctor.

It came together in something of a slapdash way: After a partial eviction moratorium from the CARES Act expired at the end of July, the lack of congressional action left a void of federal protections against eviction. Some states and localities enacted renters protections, but fearing a national emergency, experts, advocates, and tenants began sounding the alarm, pointing to the tangible public health risks of evicting people while a highly contagious respiratory disease was still spreading.

On September 4, the CDC responded to these concerns by invoking its authority under the Public Health Service Act to pass a broad eviction moratorium. The agency's justification was that evictions could lead to overcrowding and homelessness as those forced to leave their homes searched for alternative housing. It's hard to follow social distancing orders if you have to double-up at a friend's or family member's house, and it's impossible if you’re homeless and are forced to turn to shelters as a last resort.

Here's what it does: Until January 1, landlords cannot force tenants out of their homes due to a failure to pay rent, as long as the tenants legally declare they qualify for protection under the order.


The CDC policy prevents people from being evicted if they can't pay rent, but at the end of the day, someone has to pay...

The moratorium doesn't include debt forgiveness, and billions in back rent and late fees are accumulating.


The answer to this complicated problem is refreshingly simple: Give renters money so they can pay their landlords. Renters want to pay their landlords. They don't want to owe tens of thousands of dollars in back rent and late fees. And landlords want to keep their tenants: Eviction is expensive, frustrating, and emotionally fraught; moreover, finding a replacement tenant can be hard. Every expert I spoke with, as well as tenants and landlords, believes that rental assistance is the only holistic solution to stopping this crisis.

If sufficiently large, rental assistance could effectively stop evictions for nonpayment of rent because ... people could pay their rent. Rental assistance would reduce pressure for landlords to search for loopholes to evict their tenants officially or pressure their tenants to leave unofficially. It also ensures that mom-and-pop landlords have the funds they need to keep their buildings operating and keep America's affordable housing stock solvent.

So what's the problem?

...

Lobbyists say there's bipartisan support for some rental assistance, but the size and timing of a relief package that would include it is uncertain. Congress has struggled to get the votes necessary to pass a large stimulus package.

In the meantime, advocates say the most obvious - and needed - first step is simply not allowing the federal moratorium to expire on December 31. That alone could help stave off a looming eviction crisis in the dead of winter.

Edited by nova92 on Dec 14th 2020 at 12:38:54 PM

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#343362: Dec 14th 2020 at 12:53:21 AM

[up]But that's socialism!

I definitely get the problem. Eviction truces are a major pain in the butt for landlords, who are usually unable to recoup back rent when they do get a chance to evict someone who can't pay. It shouldn't fall on them to subsidize housing for the poor; that's the government's responsibility.

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#343363: Dec 14th 2020 at 12:59:31 AM

[up] You are missing the point here. These aren't people who can't pay the rent because they won't work or are too poor. They can't pay because they lost their job due to the pandemic. And given the sheer magnitude, we can't really afford to say "oh, just let them be evicted, it's not the landlords' problem". That's 40 million people we're talking about.

Besides, landlords can hardly afford to evict that many people either. That would ruin their business just as surely as it would ruin their tenants' lives.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#343364: Dec 14th 2020 at 1:07:03 AM

[up]No, I get that, but the effect is the same. People who've lost jobs to the pandemic can't make their payments, which means landlords can't make money. And I'm not really sure that the post-pandemic recovery will get that lost money back.

Hence why we need rental assistance yesterday.

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#343365: Dec 14th 2020 at 1:11:00 AM

So you think they should be evicted if that doesn't happen?

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
nova92 Since: Apr, 2020
#343366: Dec 14th 2020 at 1:22:29 AM

People can't afford to pay rent because the pandemic has wrecked havoc on people's livelihoods and many have lost their jobs. Ramidel is saying that the government should provide rental assistance, as suggested in the article, so that renters can pay their back rent to their landlords, and not get evicted. (Eviction moratoriums don't mean you don't owe the money - it just means your landlord can't evict you while they're in place. Tons of people are thousands of dollars behind in payments, and you can't extend eviction moratoriums indefinitely.)

(And I didn't include this bit in the original post because it was getting too long, but for many of these landlords, it's not like they're swimming in cash themselves - a ton of smaller landlords are struggling, too.)


[down] I think (though Ramidel can clarify better than me) that it's another term for eviction moratorium/pause.

Edited by nova92 on Dec 14th 2020 at 1:26:09 AM

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#343367: Dec 14th 2020 at 1:24:02 AM

I'm not really sure where that part about eviction truces came from.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#343368: Dec 14th 2020 at 2:24:28 AM

A different question is how many landlords lives are ruined if they never get the back payments.

Followed by the secondary question of why some people are buying property to rent if they then need the rent to cover the mortgage payments or something...

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#343369: Dec 14th 2020 at 2:25:44 AM

Presumably because they get enough of a profit margin out of it.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#343370: Dec 14th 2020 at 3:22:53 AM

Well, yeah. That's the landlord racket. You buy a house on a mortgage, and then you rent it out to some poor sap at a considerable mark-up, which is "justified" by the "services" you provide, which usually don't extend beyond "Google the cheapest possible plumber, and tell him to do the absolute minimum".

It's galling.

Edited by Kayeka on Dec 14th 2020 at 12:23:27 PM

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#343371: Dec 14th 2020 at 3:25:59 AM

That's a bit disingenuous, there are plenty of legitimate landlords who take good care of their tenants. And there wouldn't be much of a rental market without them, either. And presumably a lot more homelessness.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#343372: Dec 14th 2020 at 3:26:22 AM

It's arguably worse in the UK, since a good number of the people who make the laws there are landlords.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#343373: Dec 14th 2020 at 3:32:53 AM

[up][up]I don't want a rental market. It's a tax on being poor, paid directly to the holders of capital.

RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#343374: Dec 14th 2020 at 3:38:23 AM

How the hell do you arrive at the conclusion there would be more homelessness if some people didn't own multiple houses? Most homelessness exists because people can profit from housing. That and nimbyism.

Making places for people to live is trivially easy for governments whenever they have the slightest interest in it.

(Okay, I excluded voluntary homelessness because of mental difficulties and the like but the rental market hardly drives that)

Edited by RainehDaze on Dec 14th 2020 at 11:49:38 AM

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#343375: Dec 14th 2020 at 5:45:17 AM

Well, today's the day when the EC confirms Biden. But of course, not before our favorite president tweeted out a threat that EC is committing a crime if they vote in someone whose votes were full of fraud (false).


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