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.

Iranian Spies Busted: Three Silicon Valley Engineers Charged with Stealing Google Trade Secrets and Funneling Data to Tehran

A federal grand jury has indicted three engineers for stealing hundreds of confidential files from Google and other tech giants, then smuggling the sensitive data to Iran.

The defendants, Samaneh Ghandali, 41, a U.S. citizen; her sister Soroor Ghandali, 32, an Iranian national on a student visa; and Samaneh’s husband Mohammadjavad Khosravi, 40, an Iranian national and legal permanent resident, were all residents of San Jose at the time of the theft.

Samaneh and Soroor previously worked at Google before joining another unnamed tech firm, while Khosravi, a former member of the Iranian army, was employed at a developer of system-on-chip (SoC) platforms, such as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon series used in high-end Android phones and Apple’s iPhones.

Charged with conspiracy to commit trade secret theft, theft, and attempted theft of trade secrets, and obstruction of justice, the trio allegedly exploited their insider access to steal processor security, cryptography materials, and Snapdragon SoC hardware architecture secrets that serve as valuable intel not readily available to competitors.

The trio routed the files through third-party platforms like Telegram, copied them to personal devices, and even photographed computer screens to dodge digital monitoring.

In a particularly brazen move, just before Samaneh and Khosravi jetted off to Iran in December 2023, she snapped photos of his work screen displaying company secrets.

While in Iran, devices linked to them accessed this pilfered info.

Google caught wind of the scheme in August 2023 when internal security flagged Samaneh’s suspicious activity, leading to her access being revoked.

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Armed man shot and killed after ‘unauthorized entry’ into Mar-a-Lago: Secret Service

A man in his early 20s was shot and killed early Sunday after allegedly breaching the secure perimeter of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, FLorida, the U.S. Secret Service announced.

The Secret Service said the incident occurred around 1:30 a.m. when the suspect made an “unauthorized entry” at the property.

The individual was observed near the north gate carrying what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can.

Agents and a deputy from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office confronted the man who was pronounced dead at the scene. 

No Secret Service or Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office personnel were injured, and no Secret Service protectees were present at the property at the time, officials said.

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Gavin Newsom Says We Can’t Have Voter ID Because No One Will be Able to Find Their Birth Certificate

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently appeared on Jim Clyburn’s podcast and suggested that we can’t pass the SAVE Act which would require voter IDs because no one, including him, would be able to find their birth certificates.

As an aside, why does Jim Clyburn have a podcast? Like, why is that even a thing?

Anyway, Newsom’s point is stupid, and so is Clyburn’s follow up. He falls back onto the ridiculous Democrat talking point about women being unable to get valid IDs because they changed their name when they got married.

Townhall reported:

Gavin Newsom Wants to Run the Country, but He Can’t Keep Track of His Own Birth Certificate

Democrats think that being ignorant of the law or just plain stupid means we can never enact certain laws, specifically laws that Democrats don’t like. The latest target of their feigned ignorance and stupidity is the SAVE Act, which would require voters to prove they are American citizens in order to vote in American federal elections. Democrats believe that not only are Black, poor, and women voters too incapable of getting an ID (something they need for almost every facet of life), but now they’re pretending they too just have no idea how to keep track of vital records like birth certificates.

Gavin Newsom wants to be the next president, but we don’t think that office should be held by someone who doesn’t know where his birth certificate is.

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Fire That Killed NASCAR Star Denny Hamlin’s Father Ruled Accidental But What Caused It Remains a Mystery

An investigation by North Carolina authorities into the fire that killed NASCAR star Denny Hamlin’s father has concluded.

On December 28, the home of Dennis and Mary Lou Hamlin caught fire.

As emergency services arrived on the scene, the couple was spotted in the front yard with significant injuries.

Dennis Hamlin, 75, succumbed to his injuries, but his wife, Mary Lou, survived.

Since the fire, Gaston County Emergency Management and Fire Services have been investigating the incident for the past month and have concluded their investigation, ruling the fire “accidental.”

However, the investigation concluded without ever determining what sparked the blaze in the couple’s bedroom.

Per AP:

The North Carolina house fire that killed NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin’s father and injured his mother has been ruled accidental but it’s still unclear what started it.

A report released by Gaston County Emergency Management & Fire Services said the Dec. 28 fire at the two-story home originated in a bedroom, but the “cause of ignition” is “undetermined.”

Otherwise, the investigation determined the fire as accidental, Gaston County spokesperson Adam Gaub wrote in an email Friday.

Hamlin’s parents, Dennis and Mary Lou Hamlin were found outside the home the evening of the fire suffering from catastrophic injuries, officials said. Dennis Hamlin, 75, later died, while his wife survived.

The home, located near Stanley about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Charlotte, was owned by a company that listed Denny Hamlin as its manager, according to government records.

Following the death of his father, Hamlin took to X to write, “Thank you to everyone who has reached out with condolences on my father’s passing.”

He added, “My mother continues to improve, and our family truly appreciates the outpouring of support and the respect for our privacy during this time.”

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Epstein Obsessed With Vatican, Conspired With Steve Bannon

Newly released documents from the Justice Department have cast fresh light on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s long-running fixation with the Catholic Church and his private exchanges with Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, about efforts to “take down” Pope Francis.

The tranche of emails and text messages, dating primarily from 2014 to 2019, reveals a pattern of mockery, ideological hostility, and political strategizing centered on the Vatican.

Epstein was convicted in 2008 of child sex offenses and later died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. 

The records showed that in the years between those events he remained engaged with powerful political and media figures — including Bannon — and expressed particular contempt for the Roman Catholic Church and its papacy.

The most politically charged revelations involve text messages exchanged in 2018 and 2019 between Epstein and Bannon, the former White House chief strategist who had become an adviser to Epstein in the years after he was found guilty of sex charges.

In a June 2019 message, Bannon wrote to Epstein: “Will take down [Pope] Francis. The Clintons, [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping], Francis, EU — come on brother.”

The language suggests that Francis was viewed by Bannon as part of a broader set of geopolitical and ideological adversaries.

At the time, Francis was a vocal critic of nationalism, xenophobia, and anti-immigrant policies — positions that placed him at odds with segments of the populist right and traditional Catholics.

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REPORT: Obama’s Hideous Presidential Center is Going to Cost Chicago Taxpayers A LOT MORE Than They Were Told

In addition to being ugly, the new Obama presidential center is going to be a massive financial burden on the people of Chicago.

They were sold a bill of goods about how the center was going to bring tourism and revenue to the city, but not so much about the costs.

In this sense, it is a perfect monument to Obama’s legacy. Overpriced and based on lies, much like Obamacare.

FOX News reports:

Bureaucrats hide true price of Obama Presidential Center as taxpayers hit with infrastructure bill

Former President Barack Obama once declared that his presidential center would be a “gift” to Chicago, but taxpayers are on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden costs related to the beleaguered project.

A Fox News Digital investigation shows taxpayers are now stuck footing the bill for surging public infrastructure costs required to support the project — and no government agency can provide an accounting of the total public cost, despite months of queries and FOIA requests…

When the project was approved in 2018, Obama pledged to privately fund construction of the expansive 19.3-acre campus in historic Jackson Park through donations to the Obama Foundation – a commitment that remains in place as the center’s construction continues to be privately financed.

But the extensive infrastructure required to make the campus operationally viable — including redesigned roads, stormwater systems, and relocated utilities — is publicly financed, and without those changes, the center could not function.

At the time, projections placed public infrastructure costs at roughly $350 million, split between the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago.

Eight years later, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) told Fox News Digital that approximately $229 million in infrastructure spending was tied to the site, up from its earlier estimate of roughly $174 million.

The $229 million figure reflects state-managed spending, which may include federal transportation funds routed through IDOT.

The report goes on to state that the agencies which are supposed to be overseeing the accounting on the project are not being upfront with taxpayers and are providing ‘estimates’ of ongoing costs.

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OpenAI failed to disclose Canadian trans shooter’s ChatGPT history in meeting with officials day after shooting

In a meeting with the British Columbia government, the day after a trans-identifying 18-year-old carried out a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, OpenAI did not disclose that it had been aware of concerning conversations the shooter had with its chatbot months prior.

The province said in a statement that OpenAI waited until the following day to ask its provincial contact to help connect the company with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. OpenAI handed over evidence that the shooter was banned from using ChatGPT after its automated screening systems flagged his chats last June, according to a company statement.

A previous report found that some employees had wanted the company to alert police about posts involving gun violence, but were ignored.

The Globe and Mail reported that, according to a statement from Premier David Erby’s office, a government representative met with OpenAI employees on February 11 about its interest in opening a satellite office in Canada. The following day, OpenAI requested contact information from the RCMP.

“That request was sent to the director of policing and law-enforcement services, who connected OpenAI with the RCMP,” the statement said. “OpenAI did not inform any member of government that they had potential evidence regarding the shootings in Tumbler Ridge.”

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JPMorgan Admits Closing Over 50 Trump Bank Accounts After January 6th

JPMorgan Chase has formally admitted that it terminated more than 50 accounts connected to President Donald Trump and his business operations in the wake of the January 6th protest.

The admission came in court filings responding to a lawsuit filed by Trump and the Trump Organization.

The suit names JPMorgan and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, of debanking the president as part of an orchestrated political attack.

According to documents submitted to the court, the closures affected accounts tied to Trump hotels, real estate projects, and retail ventures in multiple states, as well as his longstanding private banking relationship.

That relationship had handled personal financial matters, including assets linked to his inheritance.

The bank’s internal correspondence, included in the filing, does not cite a specific violation or financial irregularity.

In a letter dated February 2021, JPMorgan informed Trump that he would need to “find a more suitable institution with which to conduct business.”

“Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter,” it concluded.

The lawsuit alleges the bank “needed to distance itself from President Trump and his conservative political views,” effectively placing him on a blacklist.

“In essence, [JP Morgan] debanked plaintiffs’ accounts because it believed that the political tide at the moment favored doing so,” the lawsuit states.

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Trump DOJ Axes NY Immigration Judge Who Rubber-Stamped an Absurd 97 Percent of Asylum Claims

The Trump administration has fired New York immigration Judge Vivienne Gordon-Uruakpa, who boasted the highest asylum approval rate in the state at a staggering 97%.

The 66-year-old judge, known for her soft-on-asylum rulings, was terminated in September without fanfare, as part of a broader purge of lenient judges under Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Gordon-Uruakpa’s ousting came to light after she vanished from the downtown Manhattan courthouse website, where she had presided over cases.

A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed the site is up to date but declined to elaborate on the specific reasons for her firing, though an unnamed government official speaking to the New York Post pointed to her prolific record of granting asylum as the key factor.

Unlike lifetime-appointed federal judges, immigration court judges serve at the pleasure of the Attorney General and can be hired or fired, a power the Trump team is using as another tool to restore order.

Gordon-Uruakpa graduated from Fordham University and Howard University School of Law. Her courtroom became a virtual rubber stamp for asylum seekers, approving claims at a rate far exceeding her colleagues and contributing to the backlog of cases that critics say enabled illegal immigration under previous administrations.

This firing is not an isolated incident.

The Trump administration has axed more than 100 overly permissive immigration judges during his term.

Meanwhile, tougher judges like John Burns, known for denying asylum at high rates, have been promoted. He was named Acting Assistant Chief Judge in January.

The results are undeniable. Deportation rates are soaring, with nearly 80% of migrants seeking asylum being deported in the last quarter, according to Syracuse University’s TRAC program.

Illegal border crossings have also plummeted under Trump’s renewed enforcement policies.

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Fake Immigration Law Firm Busted in Brooklyn Federal Indictment

A five-count indictment was partially unsealed in the Eastern District of New York that charged five defendants with wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and two counts of false impersonation of an officer or employee of the United States.  

Three of the defendants, Daniela Alejandra Sanchez Ramirez, 25 of Ibagué, Colombia and Green Brook, New Jersey, Jhoan Sebastian Sanchez Ramirez, 29, of  Ibagué, Colombia and Green Brook, New Jersey, and Alexandra Patricia Sanchez Ramirez, 38, of Ibagué, Colombia, were arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Colombia with one-way tickets.  

Marlyn Yulitza Salazar Pineda, 24, of Ibagué, Colombia and North Plainfield, New Jersey, was arrested at a restaurant in New Jersey. 

A fifth defendant is not in U.S. custody.  

Daniela and Jhoan Ramirez, and Marlyn Pineda are immigration parolees, and Alexandra Ramirez is in the U.S. on a tourist visa. Daniela, Jhoan, and Alexandra Ramirez are siblings.  The four defendants who were arrested will be arraigned tomorrow morning at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn before United States Magistrate Judge Peggy Cross-Goldenberg.

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph V. Cuffari, Ph.D, Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, and Ryan Hill, Acting Special Agent in Charge, United States Customs and Border Protection, Office of Professional Responsibility, New York Field Office, announced the arrests and charges.

“As alleged, the defendants undermined the integrity of our immigration system by impersonating judges, law enforcement officers, and lawyers, and targeting vulnerable members of our community who sought to hire attorneys to help them navigate sensitive legal issues,” stated United States Attorney Nocella.  “The defendants brazenly stole their victims’ money and deceived them by sending fictitious documents and holding sham court proceedings. I commend our Office’s prosecution team and the law enforcement agents whose hard work has disrupted this elaborate and outrageous scheme.”

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