don't give me the it's never too late bs. Life happens, people have jobs, debts and rent to pay.

Going back to school when you're employed means debt, earning way less or nothing during your bachelor or master, stress, opportunities you're not aware of because you're simply not at your workplace anymore, unpaid overtime during those 2 to 3 years... the money you lose is more than what the bachelor / accreditation costs.

When does it start being a stupid idea? Is it when you're 30? 40? 50?

An FBI investigation into an alleged terror plot in Southern California bears the familiar hallmarks of the bureau’s long-running use of informants and undercover agents to advance plots that might not otherwise have materialized, court documents show.

The limited details available suggest an investigation that leaned heavily on a paid informant and at least one undercover FBI agent, according to an affidavit filed in federal court. The informant and the undercover agent were involved in nearly every stage of the case, including discussions of operational security and transporting members of the group to the site in the Mojave Desert where federal agents ultimately made the arrests.

“The question that immediately popped into my mind was that: There’s a reference to a confidential human source, but there’s no indication of how that source came to be,” said Brad Crowder, an activist and union organizer who was convicted in a case of alleged violent protest plans that involved a confidential informant. “It’s not totally out of the realm of possibilities that this idea was planted or floated by whoever this confidential human source might be.”

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/14004

An FBI investigation into an alleged terror plot in Southern California bears the familiar hallmarks of the bureau’s long-running use of informants and undercover agents to advance plots that might not otherwise have materialized, court documents show.

News of the plot surfaced Monday morning in a Fox News report that ran ahead of court filings or official statements. Within minutes, FBI officials amplified the story on social media.

“PROTECT THE HOMELAND and CRUSH VIOLENT CRIME,” wrote FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, a former podcaster. “These words are not slogans, they’re the investigative pillars of this FBI.”

The informant and the undercover agent were involved in nearly every stage of the case.

What followed, however, painted a more complicated picture.

The limited details available suggest an investigation that leaned heavily on a paid informant and at least one undercover FBI agent, according to an affidavit filed in federal court. The informant and the undercover agent were involved in nearly every stage of the case, including discussions of operational security and transporting members of the group to the site in the Mojave Desert where federal agents ultimately made the arrests.

The informant, who has worked other cases on the FBI’s payroll since 2021, had been in contact with the group known as the Turtle Island Liberation Front since at least late November, just two months after President Donald Trump designated “antifa” a domestic terrorism organization.

On the morning of December 15, FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrests, calling the plot “a credible, imminent terrorist threat.”

Yet the case had the familiar markings of FBI terrorism stings that stretch back more than two decades — hundreds of cases that have disproportionately targeted left-wing activists and Muslims, and, less often, right-wing actors.

“Bring Cases, Get Paid”

Since the September 11 attacks, the FBI has relied on informants to identify and build terrorism cases. The structure has created perverse incentives for potential informants. Their cooperation can get them out of criminal cases of their own and lead to handsome monetary compensation. The FBI’s call is simple: Bring cases, get paid.

Rick Smith, a security consultant and former FBI agent, said confidential sources are essential to investigative police work, but cautioned that they come with inherent baggage.

[

Related

FBI Counterterrorism Informant Spent a Decade Committing Fraud](https://theintercept.com/2020/12/29/fbi-counterterrorism-informant-wire-fraud-scam/)

“They’re sources, they’re not ordinary citizens,” Smith said. “They have either been compromised in some way, or they’re going to be paid. Either way, they’ve got some sort of skin in the game. They’re getting something out of it.”

In the years after 2001 attacks, the FBI created a market for cases involving left-wing activists and Muslims. After the January 6 Capitol riot, the bureau made clear to informants that right-wing extremism was a priority. Now, under the second Trump administration, the federal government’s focus is again turning to perceived left-wing extremism.

In September, days after the terror designation of antifa, Trump outlined his administration’s war on the left in a memo titled National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, or NSPM-7, which called for the National Joint Terrorism Task Force to coordinate with local offices to investigate alleged federal crimes by political radicals. The head of the federal prosecutor’s office in Los Angeles said on Monday that the Turtle Island Liberation Front arrests stemmed from Trump’s executive order.

[

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Post-9/11 Stings Targeted People Who Posed No Threat. They Remain in Prison.](https://theintercept.com/2021/08/29/duka-fort-dix-five-post-911-terror-stings/)

Key questions in the Turtle Island Liberation Front case, however, remain unanswered. It is still unclear how the FBI first identified the group or how long the informant had been embedded before the bomb plot emerged — a period defense attorneys say is central to any serious examination of entrapment, whereby defendants are coerced into crimes they would not otherwise commit, a frequent criticism of stings involving paid informants and undercover agents.

“The question that immediately popped into my mind was that: There’s a reference to a confidential human source, but there’s no indication of how that source came to be,” said Brad Crowder, an activist and union organizer who was convicted in a case of alleged violent protest plans that involved a confidential informant. “It’s not totally out of the realm of possibilities that this idea was planted or floated by whoever this confidential human source might be.”

Turtle Island Case

Despite comments from Attorney General Pam Bondi, Patel, and others characterizing the Turtle Island Liberation Front as a coherent group and a Signal chat called “Black Lotus” as an ultra-radical subset, there’s little evidence that any group by that name exists beyond a small digital footprint and a handful of attempts at organizing community events, including a self-defense workshop and a punk rock benefit show planned for February.

The Instagram page for the Turtle Island Liberation Front cited in the complaint had just over 1,000 followers as of Tuesday morning — after it was widely publicized — and its first post came in late July. The YouTube channel bearing the group’s name, which had just 18 subscribers as of Tuesday morning, was registered on July 17 and contains a single video posted on September 16.

Online, the group styled itself as radical and righteous. Its activists spoke in the language of solidarity with Palestinians and Indigenous people, railing against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and American power. On Instagram, they posted slogans and absolutes:

“Become a revolutionary.”

“America has always been the brutal evil monster that some of you don’t want to face.”

“Resistance is the deepest form of love.”

The informant did not, however, meet with the group on November 26 for its slogans.

According to the affidavit, the informant met up with Audrey Illeene Carroll, who went by the nickname Asiginaak. At the meeting, Carroll handed over eight pages covered with handwriting in blue ink. The document was titled “Operation Midnight Sun,” and laid out a plan to detonate backpack bombs at five separate locations on New Year’s Eve, when fireworks would mask the sound of explosions. The plan was unfinished. Beneath the list of targets were blank lines, marked: “add more if enough comrades.” (Carroll’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

Over the following weeks, the plot advanced, according to court filings. A Signal group was created for, in the participants’ words, “everything radical,” including the bomb plan itself. On December 7, the supposed bomb plot expanded to include an undercover FBI agent. At that meeting, Carroll distributed pages describing how to build the bombs. She said she already had 13 PVC pipes cut to size and had ordered two five-pound bags of potassium nitrate from Amazon, believing naively that a burner account she set up was keeping her anonymous. Delivery was scheduled for December 11.

The FBI allowed the plan to progress, with both an informant and an undercover agent actively participating.

The FBI had visibility into nearly every part of the supply chain: chemicals ordered online and pistol primers purchased at a retail store. Agents could have intervened at any stage. They didn’t. Instead, the bureau allowed the plan to continue, with both an informant and an undercover agent actively participating in the conspiracy.

On December 12, the group drove into the desert with an aim of testing the bombs. They took two vehicles: the informant in one, the undercover agent in the other. Riding with the undercover agent was Zachary Aaron Page, who went by the nickname AK. He suggested using cigarettes as a delayed fuse. In the other car, Carroll told another member that the desert exercise was a dry run for the New Year’s Eve attack.

“What we’re doing will be considered a terrorist act,” she said, according to the affidavit.

At the site, they pitched tents and set up tables. They laid out PVC pipes, charcoal, sulfur, gasoline, string, cloth, and protective gear. As they began assembling the devices, the FBI moved in. Overhead, an FBI surveillance plane recorded the scene as agents took into custody four alleged members of the Turtle Island Liberation Front including Carroll and Page, along with Tina Lai and Dante Gaffield. (An attorney for Page declined to comment, and lawyers for Gaffield and Lai did not immediately respond.)

[

Read our complete coverage

Chilling Dissent ----------------](https://theintercept.com/collections/chilling-dissent/)

**“**Nonpartisan Incentive Structure”

Terrorism prosecutions built around confidential informants have long drawn criticism, particularly over the risk of entrapment.

For more than a decade, legal scholars have argued that while these cases often resemble classic government inducement, they rarely meet the legal standard for entrapment. Courts define predisposition so broadly that ideological sympathy or recorded rhetoric is treated as evidence of a preexisting willingness to commit violence — a framework that effectively shields government-manufactured plots from meaningful judicial scrutiny.

That concern surfaced starkly in a previous sting operation involving the so-called Newburgh Four, in which an aggressive and prolific FBI informant steered four poor Black men into a scheme to bomb synagogues and attack an Air Force base. Years later, a federal judge granted the men compassionate release, describing the case as an “FBI-orchestrated conspiracy.”

Because informants can be so instrumental in building cases, their use can be leveraged by authorities to focus resources on investigations with more political overtones.

[

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The Informant at the Heart of the Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Was a Liability. So Federal Agents Shut Him Up.](https://theintercept.com/2024/03/06/gretchen-whitmer-kidnapping-informant/)

At times, the right has criticized the political nature of some cases. Among them was the case in which the FBI encouraged a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — a sting that the FBI’s Patel and Bongino harshly criticized back when they spent their days attached to the microphones of right-wing podcasts.

“There is a nonpartisan incentive structure that has become overly reliant on these kinds of confidential human sources,” said Crowder.

Crowder knows better than most. In 2008, he and fellow activist David McKay were arrested and charged with plotting to use Molotov cocktails at the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Despite deciding not to follow through with the plan, both ultimately pleaded guilty, with Crowder sentenced to two years in prison and McKay to four.

Part of the playbook, Crowder said, is for an informant to exploit their targets’ “righteous anger.”

The case against Crowder and McKay case hinged on the work of an FBI informant, Brandon Darby, who had been a prominent activist in anarchist circles in Texas and Louisiana. Crowder and McKay looked up to Darby, viewing him as a mentor and someone they hoped to impress or convince of their radical bona fides. In interviews over the years, they’ve alleged that Darby — who now works at Breitbart — was instrumental to their decision to cross the line from protest to discussing something more violent.

Part of the playbook, Crowder said, is for an informant to exploit their targets’ “righteous anger” — in the case of the Turtle Bay Liberation Front, rights violations in Palestine and ICE actions in Los Angeles. From there, authorities take advantage of the allege plotters’ political immaturity, walking hand in hand with them as they cross the line from legal dissent into illegal conspiracy.

[

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The FBI Paid a Violent Felon to Infiltrate Denver’s Racial Justice Movement](https://theintercept.com/2023/02/07/fbi-denver-racial-justice-protests-informant/)

The informant gets paid, the FBI gets a good headline that justifies their anti-terrorism budget, and the defendants are left to face the consequences, often without ever posing a real threat to public safety, Crowder said.

“On both sides you have a sort of momentum that develops,” Crowder said. “This ICE repression is crazy, and that feeds into a sort of hopelessness that drives a sort of nihilistic response that you see from people who have immature politics. And then that heartfelt but immature and irresponsible response plays into the incentive structure of the FBI.”

The post Longtime Paid FBI Informant Was Instrumental in Terror Case Against “Turtle Island Liberation Front” appeared first on The Intercept.

From The Intercept via This RSS Feed.

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.ml/post/40410090

https://archive.ph/czu8z

Looks like its going to be a pretty sweet pool

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is not publicly backing any candidate in the race to replace Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky in Illinois’s 9th Congressional District. But in private, the group is fundraising for Democratic state Sen. Laura Fine, who has distanced herself from AIPAC and said she isn’t seeking its endorsement.

AIPAC board president Michael Tuchin hosted a private fundraiser for Fine on Monday at his Los Angeles law office, where an Intercept reporter was turned away in the building’s front lobby. “The Intercept should not be here at all,” said a building security guard, relaying a message from fundraiser organizers.

After spending years exerting largely unchecked influence over elected U.S. officials, AIPAC appears to be putting more distance between itself and several of its preferred candidates this midterm cycle amid public outrage over Israel’s genocide in Gaza — and as a growing slate of progressive candidates position themselves explicitly against the group. But AIPAC and the broader pro-Israel lobby are still working to shape the next Congress to preserve the U.S.’s diplomatic alliance with Israel and maintain the steady flow of weapons shipments.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a suit on Monday against Samsung, Sony, LG, TCL, and Hisense, claiming in a press release that they "have been unlawfully collecting personal data through Automated Content Recognition ("ACR”) technology."

Paxton goes on to label ACR as "an uninvited, invisible digital invader," and in one of the five separately filed suits, he calls Samsung TVs "a mass surveillance system."

Fuck me, our justice system is beyond useless. Not even a financial contribution towards the tracks due to the damage done?

US imposes restrictions on Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria, in addition to initial list of 12 countries

Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Tuesday that further restricts and limits the entry of foreign nationals to the United States, the White House said.

The US has imposed full restrictions and entry limitations on nationals from five countries – Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria – in addition to the initial list of 12 countries. Full restrictions have also been imposed on individuals holding Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents, the White House said.

The move represents an intensification of Trump’s crackdown in the immediate aftermath of the shooting of two national guard members in Washington DC on 26 November. The suspected shooter is an Afghan national who served in a unit under the CIA in Afghanistan and was admitted to the US after its withdrawal from the country in 2021. He was granted asylum this year after being vetted.

<Please don't tell me this isn't a proper content for the community. THIS is tech right now.>

The rise of AI has left big tech companies performing mass layoffs and pushing artificial intelligence, chatgpt, and machine learning systems faster than the public can fully understand them. As investors pour billions into the next wave of automation, many are beginning to question whether the ai bubble is being built on genuine progress or on hype designed to inflate valuations. The pressure to dominate artificial intelligence has fueled mass layoffs, restructuring, and sweeping promises about what ai will eventually become, creating a widening gap between the narrative of innovation and the realities of the tech industry. Amid soaring expectations, concerns about an ai bubble burst continue to grow, especially as companies position automation as the future while quietly removing the workers who once powered their success.

Across the industry, the excitement around ai has transformed into an economic engine that rewards speed, disruption, and scale above all else. Tech leaders frame artificial intelligence as the cornerstone of a new economy, while investors treat every advancement as a signal for explosive growth. Yet the aggressive push for ai adoption has created instability, encouraging companies to chase breakthroughs without clear long-term strategies. This environment has led to speculation about whether the ai bubble is sustainable or whether the rapid expansion of big tech will eventually collide with financial limits, power shortages, and market exhaustion. As more companies cut costs under the banner of automation, the link between stock growth and real productivity becomes harder to trust.

Workers across the country are feeling the impact of this shift as mass layoffs accelerate in the name of “efficiency.” The fear of losing jobs to ai has created uncertainty in nearly every profession, from white-collar office roles to creative industries, customer service, and engineering. Many now worry that artificial intelligence is being used less as a tool for progress and more as a justification for reducing payrolls and protecting profits. This tension has fueled wider conversations about wealth inequality, big tech influence, and the expanding power of billionaires who shape the future of work. With each announcement of new automation tools, concerns about job displacement and long-term stability become harder to ignore.

The possibility of a market crash tied to artificial intelligence underscores the fragility of the current boom. Investors have seen similar patterns in past economic bubbles, where enthusiasm outran reality and companies relied on speculation to maintain growth. The momentum behind the ai surge has created a culture where breakthroughs are expected on a constant cycle, placing enormous pressure on companies to deliver results that may not be achievable. As questions grow about the limits of computation, energy demands, and the cost of scaling large-language models, many believe the hype surrounding ai could lead to a significant correction.

The conversation around the ai bubble reflects deeper anxieties about technology, power, and the future of the job market. As big tech reshapes the economy, people are increasingly aware of how artificial intelligence, automation, and corporate influence intersect with mass layoffs, wealth concentration, and economic instability. This moment represents more than a technological shift — it reveals a struggle over who benefits from innovation and who carries the consequences when that innovation is pushed too far.

#financialeducation #financialfreedom #history

0:00 Intro
0:23 Why The AI Boom Is Mirroring Bubbles Of The Past
0:46 Sam Altman On If AI Is “Too Big To Fail”
1:01 Why This RUSH For Data Centers Mirrors Every Bubble Of The Past
2:54 Why Your Tax Dollar Is Paying For The AI Data Centers
4:05 Why Companies Are Using Circular Financing 
4:43 The AI Circular Financing Is JUST Like The Dot Com Bubble
5:44 How In The World Is OpenAI Making These Deals…
6:31 Sam Altman Gets Triggered With AI Bubble Question
6:47 Why The U.S. NEEDS The AI Bubble
8:18 Why AI Is A Financial Bubble
9:43 Why Companies Are LYING About Mass “AI Layoffs”
11:23 Why The AI Bubble Is Almost Guaranteed To Burst 
13:49 Why Your Electrical Bills Are Going Up
15:47 Why It’s Not JUST Billionaires Building Bunkers (Real Life Experience)
17:58 Millionaires Are Building Bunkers While People Can’t Afford Groceries
19:22 Why I Don’t Believe AI Will Miraculously Create New Jobs 

But in praxis its even better !

And I mean for real, not the hex code.

This is Xcavator 2025 (NES Cartridge), a fully functional NES title built from Oberth’s original design of the same name. First developed at Incredible Technologies Inc., the company behind coin-op classics like Golden Tee Golf, Big Buck Hunter, and more, Xcavator was shopped around to multiple publishers across the country way back in 1991, but it never found a home, and was quietly archived and never looked at again.

Recently, the prototype's source code was discovered and rebuilt by the Video Game History Foundation from Oberth's development archives, which were donated by his family after his unfortunate passing. Incredible Technologies then graciously agreed to donate the rights to the game to the VGHF to use as a fundraiser for its charitable work.

The Video Game History Foundation then worked with Mega Cat Studios to finish the game, staying true to Oberth’s original vision and using the tools and environments that Oberth would have utilized himself to make the game whole.

iam8bit took it from there, creating a truly unique and authentically retro package for Xcavator 2025 that includes a 14-page manual loaded with more info on Oberth and Xcavator, written by the fine folks of the VGHF themselves. It’s exhibit-quality stuff, available for your very own collection.

Best of all, 100% of the profits from the Xcavator 2025 NES Cartridge will go to fund the Video Game History Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and teaching the history of video games.

This is a one-of-a-kind product made to support an important cause. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of video game history.

We know all about Trump, migration, the EU, Israel and all those international issues. But what crazy stupid thing is unique to the nutjobs in your country?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/40417187

The Murphy inquiry suggested bookmakers were grooming children with ads online, but Labor’s new social media ban on under-16s is viewed as a solution because it would, in principle, limit their exposure to such advertising online.