Author: HP McLovincraft

Seeker of rabbit holes. Pessimist. Libertine. Contrarian. Your huckleberry. Possibly true tales of sanity-blasting horror also known as abject reality. Prepare yourself. Veteran of a thousand psychic wars. I have seen the fnords. Deplatformed on Tumblr and Twitter.

DOJ questions ex-UnitedHealth doctors in probe into Medicare fraud: report

The Department of Justice questioned former UnitedHealth doctors as it investigates claims that the health insurance giant pushed staffers to make diagnoses that triggered higher Medicare payments, according to a report Wednesday.

The investigation, which dates back to at least last summer, concerns alleged efforts to encourage staffers to record certain diagnoses that trigger higher payments under Medicare Advantage, the program for seniors and the disabled, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Investigators for the Justice Department, FBI, and Health and Human Services Department have been asking for details on patient testing, procedures used to reach certain diagnoses and the process of sending nurses to patients’ homes, according to former UnitedHealth employees.

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

UnitedHealth, whose healthcare executive Brian Thompson was executed by an assassin last year outside a Midtown hotel, said it stands “firmly behind the integrity of our Medicare Advantage business.”

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WEF and UAE Launch AI Regulation Platform

The World Economic Forum (WEF), long known for promoting centralized influence over global governance, is now stepping into the heart of emerging technology regulation.

In partnership with the United Arab Emirates, the WEF has launched the Global Regulatory Innovation Platform (GRIP), a two-year initiative aimed at shaping how artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and other advanced technologies will be governed worldwide.

While framed as an effort to help governments keep pace with fast-moving innovation, GRIP positions the WEF to exert significant pressure over national regulatory demands. The project’s stated deliverables include a Global Regulatory Playbook, a Regulatory Future Readiness Index, and a Global Regulatory Innovation Hub, all of which are designed to influence how states craft their policies around new technologies.

“Innovation moves fast. Regulation must too,” said Børge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum. “GRIP enables governments to co-create policy frameworks that are agile, anticipatory, and ready for the technologies shaping our future.”

But behind the rhetoric of agility and inclusivity lies a deeper concern: the WEF’s expanding role in pushing specific regulatory frameworks that mirror its long-standing agenda of tightening control over digital speech.

This is not a neutral facilitator stepping in to help governments. It is a well-connected body with a record of advocating for top-down approaches to information governance, particularly in the world of online content.

In recent years, the WEF has frequently called for greater regulation of the internet, framing free expression concerns as secondary to the need to combat misinformation and “harmful content.”

These calls have often aligned with proposals to give tech companies and governments more authority to define and suppress disfavored narratives. GRIP now offers the WEF another vehicle to embed those priorities into the very structures governing AI development and deployment.

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Waste Of The Day: Puerto Rico, Guam, Others In Debt

Topline: The five inhabited U.S. territories are collectively $57.8 billion in debt and have issues with their financial statements that “can lead to poor financial decisions and lost access to capital markets,” according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

Key facts: The GAO suggested that the territories may struggle to repay their debt even more than the 50 U.S. states. The territories have high energy and import costs, extreme weather, economies that rely on just a few industries, and had a population decrease from 2010 to 2020.

Puerto Rico holds the most debt by far with $52.8 billion as of 2022, which is 47% of its gross domestic product. Guam ($2.5 billion of debt as of 2023), the Virgin Islands ($2.2 billion as of 2021), the Northern Mariana Islands ($121 million as of 2021) and American Samoa ($145 million as of 2023) are also struggling to balance their budgets.

If some of those statistics seem outdated, it’s because they are. The territories are supposed to release financial statements nine months after each fiscal year ends, but American Samoa is the only one meeting that deadline.

While Guam includes 2023 figures, it issued them seven months late.

The delays could hurt the territories’ credit rating, making future borrowing more expensive, according to the GAO. The territories also can’t be audited if they don’t have financial statements, which the GAO says will make it more difficult to identify potential fraud.

American Samoa is also the only territory properly managing its federal funds. The other four territories all had “questioned costs” in the most recent audits of their financial statements, which could mean “there was a violation or possible violation of a statute, regulation, or the terms and conditions of a federal award.” 

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Former CBP Officer Sentenced for Smuggling Cocaine from the U.S. Virgin Islands to Atlanta

Ivan Van Beverhoudt, 45, a former U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, will serve a 20-year prison sentence following his convictions for importing and possessing with intent to distribute over 15 kilograms of cocaine.

“Van Beverhoudt betrayed his badge by committing one of the very crimes he was entrusted to prevent—smuggling dangerous drugs into our country,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “Our office and its agency partners will hold accountable any law enforcement officer who abuses his authority for criminal ends, and Van Beverhoudt’s twenty-year sentence demonstrates that such abuse will be met with severe consequences.”

“This case highlights the severe repercussions for law enforcement officers who abuse their positions of trust,” said Steven N. Schrank, the Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Georgia and Alabama. “Ivan Van Beverhoudt’s attempt to smuggle over 15 kilograms of cocaine into the country was a grave violation, and thanks to the efforts of HSI and our partners, he will spend 20 years behind bars.”

According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: On January 10, 2020, Van Beverhoudt, a CBP officer, boarded a commercial flight from St. Thomas to Atlanta with 16 bricks of cocaine in his two carry-on bags. To avoid TSA screening in St. Thomas, Van Beverhoudt traveled in his official capacity with his loaded CBP-issued firearm. Upon arriving at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, a CBP-trained narcotics K-9 officer in the jetway alerted to Van Beverhoudt’s luggage, which led to the discovery of the cocaine. 

On February 24, 2025, following a five-day jury trial, Van Beverhoudt was convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, importation of cocaine into the United States, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. 

On July 8, 2025, United States District Judge J.P. Boulee sentenced Van Beverhoudt to 20 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, with valuable assistance provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General. 

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France detains Russian basketball star at request of US – AFP

Russian basketball player Daniil Kasatkin has been detained in France at the request of the US on suspicion of being a member of a hacker group, AFP reported on Wednesday evening.

Kasatkin, a point guard playing for Russia’s national team, was detained on June 21 at Charles de Gaulle Airport after arriving in France with his fiancée, AFP said.

At a hearing on Wednesday, a judge ruled to keep him in custody pending extradition.

The US alleges that Kasatkin, who had studied in the country, had negotiated ransom payments on behalf of a hacker gang that targeted around 900 companies and two federal institutions from 2020 to 2022.

The athlete denies any wrongdoing, his lawyer Frederic Belot told reporters, claiming that Kasatkin has “poor computer skills” and had bought a used computer that was “either hacked or a hacker sold it to him using another person’s name.”

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Lockheed Martin offers to rescue Mars mission from budget death

NASA’s beleaguered Mars Sample Return mission may get a reprieve from an unexpected source. Lockheed Martin has proposed a streamlined, lower-cost alternative that could slash the mission’s price tag by more than half.

Facing significant funding cuts across multiple programs, NASA’s ambitious international effort to retrieve Martian samples and return them to Earth is under threat. Already jeopardized by Russia’s withdrawal from the program following its invasion of Ukraine, the mission now faces potential cancellation due to shifting priorities within the current US administration.

Under new agency guidelines, NASA has been ordered to focus more on deep-space crewed missions to the Moon and Mars, along with other endeavors involving cutting-edge technology, while axing projects that have been marked by massive spending without a proportionate scientific return.

One prime candidate for the chop is the Mars Sample Return mission, which is a staggeringly ambitious international program involving many nations that is tasked with using multiple spacecraft to collect samples from the surface of Mars and then return them to Earth for in-depth laboratory analysis.

The mission’s first phase is already underway, with NASA’s Perseverance rover exploring the surface of Mars. As it traverses the dunes and dead river beds that last saw water two billion years ago, it’s been collecting drilling samples that have been sealed in special container tubes left behind on the ground like a paper trail in a cosmic game of Hares & Hounds.

The idea is that a second lander will eventually set down in the vicinity of the first and deploy a second rover that will follow the path blazed by the nuclear-powered Perseverance and collect the tubes. These will be stored in a special sealed container, which will be placed in a small rocket that will be fired into orbit around Mars where it will rendezvous with yet another spacecraft for return to Earth.

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Zelensky considers legalizing porn production

A petition demanding the legalization of pornography production in Ukraine has been forwarded to the country’s parliament for review, Vladimir Zelensky announced on Tuesday. The statement was published on his website after the initiative got more than 25,000 signatures, meeting the legal threshold that requires formal consideration.

The petition, authored by Ukrainian OnlyFans model Svetlana Dvornikova, calls for the decriminalization of adult content production, arguing that law enforcement resources should be directed toward investigating serious crimes rather than conducting “controlled purchases of intimate photos.” It requests legislative changes which would stop police from pursuing the individuals involved.

Pornography was banned in Ukraine in 2009, when then-President Viktor Yushchenko signed legislation that outlawed the possession, distribution, sale, and manufacture of such materials. 

Dvornikova’s petition, submitted on June 27, 2025, has quickly gained support. By early July, it had reached the required number of signatures, prompting Zelensky’s response.

In June, Dvornikova publicly urged Zelensky to support legalization. She claimed that her content had generated significant tax revenue for the state, yet she had faced two criminal cases — one for alleged tax evasion and another for the production of pornography. 

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Investigative Journalist Explains Why Epstein Case Will Never Progress…

Journalist Nick Bryant notes in this viral clip from the Shawn Ryan podcast that the Jeffrey Epstein case is being covered up by the federal government and will never progress because it would destroy their entire operational system.

“Epstein had cameras in all of his homes. Epstein was definitely a blackmail artist,” Bryant notes.

“The government wants to make sure that that does not come out. A huge part of our political system is predicated on blackmail,” he adds.

“If that dark, malignant corner of the intelligence that is using blackmail against our politicians and other people, if they were using children, that would make the American people erupt,” Bryant further urges.

He continues, “For that dark corner of intelligence, this is Omaha Beach. They’re not going to give an inch.”

“If you look at all the victims and all the perpetrators and all the procurers involved in the Epstein network … no one’s been indicted except for Ghislaine Maxwell,” the journalist explains.

“That really shows that our government, unfortunately, wants to stop it there,” he adds.

“Why is our government aiding, abetting child trafficking unless they’re protecting some very powerful people and a political process?” Bryant posits.

“That’s the only way that it makes sense,” he concludes.

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French Intelligence Chief: US Overstated Iran Strike Impact & We Don’t Know Where The Uranium Is

The head of France’s foreign intelligence agency stated Tuesday that last month’s Israeli and American airstrikes on Iran had destroyed only part of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, though the reality is that the exact whereabouts of the remaining material are unknown.

Chief of the country’s Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) Nicolas Lerner said in a televised interview the strikes had merely delayed Iran’s nuclear program by several months.

“Our assessment today is that each of these stages has been very seriously affected, very seriously damaged,” he said. “The nuclear program, as we knew it, has been extremely delayed, probably many months,” he added.

While France has some indications of where Iran’s uranium might be, Lerner emphasized in the remarks that definitive confirmation would only be possible once the UN’s atomic watchdog resumes inspections in the country; however, the problem is that Tehran just formally booted IAEA inspectors from the country.

“Today we have indications (on where it is), but we cannot say with certainty as long as the IAEA does not restart its work. It’s very important. We won’t have the capacity to trace it (the stocks),” Lerner said.

Iranian officials have accused IAEA officials of actually spying on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program, secretly passing information on to Tel Aviv and Washington, which helped with targeting in the recent 12-day war.

Lerner’s assessment somewhat partially aligns with the view of US intelligence and the military, given that last week Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the strikes likely pushed Iran’s nuclear ambitions back by one to two years.

But the Trump admin has consistently claimed that Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan had been destroyed, amid conflicting reports and some international pushback on his assertions.

Other Western officials have indicated a setback of merely “months”. And even some US intelligence officials have been quoted in CNN and the NY Times giving a similar assessment.

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New Jersey Lawmakers Are Considering 2 Bills To Heavily Regulate Homeschooling

New Jersey has as many as 94,518 homeschooled students, according to 2022 data from the National Home Education Research Institute. A series of bills being considered by the New Jersey Legislature aim to heavily regulate homeschooling and restrict parents’ and students’ educational freedom in the state.

In June, Assemblyman Sterley S. Stanley (D–East Brunswick) introduced Assembly Bill 5825, which would require all homeschooling parents at the beginning of the school year to send a letter to the local school district’s superintendent that includes the name and age of the student and the name of the instructor administering the home education program. Parents will also be mandated to share a copy of the homeschooling curriculum, “which shall be aligned with the New Jersey Student Learning Standards.” In addition to setting requirements for mathematics and science, state learning standards require lesson plans to cover issues such as climate change and diversity, equity, and inclusion in K-12 classrooms.

The bill would also require supervisors of the homeschooling program to maintain a portfolio of student records, such as writing samples, worksheets, and reading lists. The portfolio, which is to be submitted to the district superintendent annually, must also include a written evaluation of the student’s educational progress by a qualified evaluator. That person can be a licensed psychologist or teacher but not the student’s parent or guardian.

New Jersey is one of 12 states that don’t require families to check in with, obtain approval from, or file with the government to legally homeschool. Will Estrada, senior counsel at the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, tells Reason that no states currently require a homeschool curriculum to align with the public schools. Many parents, he adds, have pulled their children out of public school specifically because the public education system’s one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for their child’s individualized needs.

New Jersey is also considering A.B. 5796. Introduced by Assemblyman Cody D. Miller (D–Turnersville) in June, the bill requires homeschooling families to annually meet with a public school official for a basic child welfare check.

While preventing abuse is a noble goal, lawmakers’ concerns over the welfare of homeschoolers appear to be misguided. Estrada points to a 2022 peer-reviewed study that found homeschooled children do not face higher rates of abuse and neglect. The study incorporated nationally representative data from 1,253 “previously homeschooled and conventionally schooled (public and private schools) adults,” who were asked to anonymously report about school-age experiences of abuse and neglect. The survey found that the type of school students go to “is a non-issue” in determining the likelihood of abuse “after considering the role played by demographics” such as family structure, years in foster care, large family size, and household poverty. The report’s findings are supported by a 2017 study, which found that “legally homeschooled students are 40% less likely to die by child abuse or neglect than the average student nationally.”

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