180195833
submission
Nicholas Grayhame writes:
The Daily Beast reports: Elon Musk’s social media site X has rolled out a new feature in an effort to increase transparency—and unwittingly revealed that many of the site’s top MAGA influencers are actually foreign actors. The new “About This Account” feature, which became available to X users on Friday, allows others to see where an account is based, when they joined the platform, how often they have changed their username, and how they downloaded the X app. Upon rollout, rival factions began to inspect just where their online adversaries were really based on the combative social platform—with dozens of major MAGA and right-wing influencer accounts revealed to be based overseas....
Dozens of major accounts masquerading as “America First” or “MAGA” proponents have been identified as originating in places such as Russia, India, and Nigeria. In one example, the account MAGANationX—with nearly 400,000 followers and a bio reading “Patriot Voice for We The People”—is actually based in Eastern Europe. An Ivanka Trump fan account, IvankaNews, has 1 million followers and frequently posts about the dangers of Islam, the threat of illegal immigration and support for Trump. That account is based in Nigeria. ...
Donald Trump and several close associates were investigated for conspiracy or coordination with Russia during the 2016 election. Two of Trump’s campaign members were indicted. Certain content creators are paid for tweets that drive engagement on the site formerly known as Twitter, which gives them a financial incentive to cash in on the divisive nature of U.S. politics. For those in countries like Nigeria or Bangladesh, the American dollars paid by X for their work can make a big difference to their lives. X payouts are calculated on the basis of engagement from verified premium accounts with content on X.
180099695
submission
Nicholas Grayhame writes:
ProPublica, in collaboration wish FRONTLINE, investigated the Dramatic "Commando" Midnight Raid in the South Shore of Chicago: >On the night of the raid, heavily armed federal agents zip-tied Jhonny Manuel Caicedo Fereira’s hands behind his back, marched him out of his Chicago apartment building and put him against a wall to question him.
As a Black Hawk helicopter roared overhead, the slender, 28-year-old immigrant from Venezuela answered softly, his eyes darting to a television crew invited to film the raid. Next to Caicedo, masked Border Patrol agents inspected another man’s tattoos and asked him if he belonged to Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang that the Trump administration has designated a terrorist group.
Until that moment, Caicedo’s only interaction with law enforcement in his two-and-a-half years in the United States had been a traffic stop two weeks earlier for driving without a license or insurance, according to the records we reviewed. Chicago police had run a background check on him and found no prior arrests, no warrants and no evidence that he was in a gang. Caicedo said he had a pending asylum application, a steady job at a taco joint and a girlfriend whose daughter attended elementary school across the street.
None of that mattered. The U.S. government paraded him and his neighbors in front of the cameras and called their arrests a spectacular victory against terrorism. But later, after the cameras had gone, prosecutors didn’t charge Caicedo with a crime. They didn’t accuse him of being a terrorist. And after a brief hearing in immigration court, the government sent him back to the country he had fled nine years earlier. ...
Caicedo’s quiet deportation contrasted with the drama of his capture during one of the most aggressive and highly publicized immigration raids carried out in a U.S. city in recent history. Shortly after midnight on Sept. 30, some 300 agents from Border Patrol, the FBI and other agencies stormed the 130-unit apartment complex. SWAT teams rappelled from a helicopter, knocked down doors and hurled flash-bang grenades. They arrested 37 immigrants, most of them Venezuelans, who authorities say were in the country illegally. Agents also zip-tied and, for several hours, detained many U.S. citizens.
Soon afterward, President Donald Trump’s administration released a slickly produced video of the operation. Officials said they had captured two “confirmed” members of Tren de Aragua, including one on a terrorist watch list. Stephen Miller, the White House homeland security adviser and architect of the nationwide immigration crackdown, declared that the building was “filled with TdA terrorists,” that the raid had “saved God knows how many lives” and that it was “one of the most successful law enforcement operations that we’ve seen in this country. ...”
Federal prosecutors have not filed criminal charges against anyone who was arrested. Nor have they revealed any evidence showing that two immigrants arrested in the building belonged to the Tren de Aragua gang, or even provided their names. ...
As the detained men have gone to immigration court, many have asked to be sent back to Venezuela. ProPublica has observed eight of their hearings, and not once has a government attorney mentioned any pending criminal charges or membership in Tren de Aragua. Instead, judges have simply ordered them deported, like Caicedo, or have granted them voluntary departure — a sign that they are not seen as a serious threat and can apply for return to the United States.
That “raises a legitimate question as to whether any of the people in that building were really considered susceptible to prosecution,” said Mark Rotert, a former federal prosecutor and defense attorney in Chicago. “Do they really believe they have people who are members of a violent organized crime gang? If they believe they have people who fit that criteria, I would be very surprised if they were satisfied with only deporting them.” ...
To read, or to hear, the rest of the investigation go to ProPublica.
179820222
submission
Nicholas Grayhame writes:
KTLA reports: California will begin offering its own brand of low-cost insulin in 2026, becoming the first state to contract for and sell an affordable version of the drug to residents, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, insulin glargine pens, a long-acting insulin analog used in the management of diabetes, will be available to consumers for no more than $55 for a five-pack of 3 mL pens, averaging $11 per pen.
... California previously launched a similar initiative for naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal medication.
Newsom has signed related measures to curb drug costs, including legislation capping insulin copays at $35 per month and tightening regulations on pharmacy benefit managers.
178629628
submission
Nicholas Grayhame writes:
Remember several GOP congressmen taking credit for providing funding for various projects in their districts even though they voted against the bills that authorized such funding? Well, the tradition continues ProPublica reports that "Many of the same Republican lawmakers who have targeted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for cuts have collectively directed thousands of constituents’ complaints about banks, credit cards, loans and other products to the agency."
From the article:
"Data obtained by ProPublica through a public records request shows that many of the same Republican members of Congress who have targeted the CFPB for cuts have collectively routed thousands of constituent complaints to the agency.
Rep. Darrell Issa of California and Rep. Rob Wittman of Virginia, for example, voted to reduce the CFPB’s budget. Yet each of their offices has referred more than 100 constituents to the CFPB for help, among the most of any House members. The office of Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who also voted for the CFPB cuts, has routed more than 800 constituent complaints to the agency, the most of any current lawmaker from either party, ProPublica found. ...Overall, members of Congress have steered nearly 24,000 complaints to the CFPB since it opened its doors in 2011. Roughly 10,000 of those were referred by the offices of current and former Republican lawmakers, ProPublica found."
