Last month, the newsrooms reported that Musk’s tunneling company, The Boring Co., has been lobbying elected officials for months to allow it to build tunnels under Houston for flood mitigation. Boring has proposed digging two 12-foot-wide tunnels beneath Buffalo Bayou — the main waterway running through central Houston — to carry stormwater out of neighborhoods and toward the Gulf of Mexico during major storms. Experts say, however, that larger tunnels, closer to 30 to 40 feet in diameter, could carry far more water and be more effective.

Musk’s proposal carries a lower price tag than the estimated cost of the larger system the flood control district has spent years and millions of dollars studying. But that’s partly because the two are strikingly different proposals.

Flood control experts also maintained that the reduced price is somewhat proportional to the reduced capacity of Boring’s narrower tunnels. Two 12-foot tunnels would provide less than one-fifth of the volume that a single 40-foot tunnel offers.

That means they would divert less water from vulnerable areas than one large tunnel.

Fact-Checking Elon Musk’s Response to Our Investigation on Boring’s Houston Flood Tunnel Plan

Musk said his proposal to build tunnels to address Houston’s chronic flooding woes would work, after an investigation raised questions about the plan’s effectiveness. But experts say his plan has key technical and logistical challenges.

^ProPublica

TL;DR:

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) revealed that the US Treasury is finalizing a ban on privacy tools, specifically private cryptocurrency transactions, by expanding the PATRIOT Act to digital assets.

therage.co/us-government-to-br…

FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki confirmed that the Treasury is working on finalizing the so-called mixer rule, which uses the PATRIOT Act to prohibit private transactions in cryptocurrency.

We are seeing more and more illegal transactions being done in crypto,” Representative Liccardo claimed in the hearing, citing a study which found that out of 111 examined fraud cases, 91% allegedly involved so-called decentralized finance, or 'DeFi'. The concern here, according to Liccardo, arises from the pseudonymity of transactions.

While Gacki stated that FinCEN was working with blockchain analysis companies to deanonymize pseudonymous transactions, Liccardo countered that software like mixers would allow users to evade even sophisticated detection techniques.

What is the "Mixer Rule"?

The Treasury's mixer rule is not so much a mixer rule rather than a blanket ban on any software and even behavior that would grant users of public blockchains transactional privacy.

Notably, the mixer rule's suggestions on cryptocurrency swaps, transaction delays, "splitting," and the creation of single-use addresses, wallets, and accounts, would even put users under suspicion with the authorities, potentially ending in criminal liability – similar to how transaction structuring, sometimes also known as "smurfing," is deemed a federal crime in traditional finance, referring to the intentional breakup of transactions to fall below the $10,000 currency transaction reporting requirement.

In traditional finance, smurfing carries a federal prison sentence of up to 5 years, even if the money transferred did not stem from illicit origins.

Banning All Cryptocurrency Transactions for non-US Jurisdictions

The Special Measures to Fight Modern Threats Act, originally introduced in 2022 by Representative Himes of Connecticut as part of the COMPETES Act, would effectively grant the Treasury the power to ban any type of transaction it deems a concern without public notice or input under PATRIOT Act authority.

"one likely scenario is that the Treasury would use this authority to prohibit U.S. banks from being involved with cryptocurrency transactions validated by miners located outside of the United States."

US Government To Bring PATRIOT Act to Digital Assets

FinCEN Director reveals that the Treasury is finalizing a ban on privacy tools, Representatives revive Special Measures to Fight Modern Threats Act

^{L0la L33tz (The Rage)}

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/right-wing-anger-surges-kirks-killing-fuels-calls-vengeance-2025-09-12/

NEW DELHI - Trade talks between India and the European Union have entered a crucial phase and negotiators are working intensively to meet a year-end deadline for signing the free trade pact, a top European Union Official said on Tuesday.

Archived version: archive.is/newest/straitstimes…

Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.

India, EU trade talks enter crucial phase, aiming to seal deal by year end

^ST

Richard Hermer denied telling the chief crown prosecutor Isaac Herzog was granted immunity, as judge said mistake should have been disclosed earlier

Judge criticises UK attorney general as top prosecutor admits Herzog immunity 'error'

The UK's attorney general, Lord Richard Hermer, has accused the chief crown prosecutor of giving a campaign group false information on why Hermer blocked its arrest warrant bid for the visiting Israeli president.

^{Imran Mulla (Middle East Eye)}

Kirk is being posthumously celebrated by much of the mainstream press as a noble sparring partner for center-left politicians and pundits. Meanwhile, the very real, very negative, and sometimes violent impacts of his rhetoric and his political projects are being glossed over or ignored entirely.

404 Media

2025-09-11 17:44:39

Charlie Kirk Was Not Practicing Politics the Right Way

Thursday morning, Ezra Klein at the New York Times published a column titled “Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics the Right Way.” Klein’s general thesis is that Kirk was willing to talk to anyone, regardless of their beliefs, as evidenced by what he was doing while he was shot, which was debating people on college campuses. Klein is not alone in this take; the overwhelming sentiment from America’s largest media institutions in the immediate aftermath of his death has been to paint Kirk as a mainstream political commentator, someone whose politics liberals and leftists may not agree with but someone who was open to dialogue and who espoused the virtues of free speech.

“You can dislike much of what Kirk believed and the following statement is still true: Kirk was practicing politics in exactly the right way. He was showing up to campuses and talking with anyone who would talk to him,” Klein wrote. “He was one of the era’s most effective practitioners of persuasion. When the left thought its hold on the hearts and minds of college students was nearly absolute, Kirk showed up again and again to break it.”

“I envied what he built. A taste for disagreement is a virtue in a democracy. Liberalism could use more of his moxie and fearlessness,” Klein continued.

Kirk is being posthumously celebrated by much of the mainstream press as a noble sparring partner for center-left politicians and pundits. Meanwhile, the very real, very negative, and sometimes violent impacts of his rhetoric and his political projects are being glossed over or ignored entirely. In the New York Times, Kirk was an “energetic” voice who was “critical of gay and transgender rights,” but few of the national pundits have encouraged people to actually go read what Kirk tweeted or listen to what he said on his podcast to millions and millions of people. “Whatever you think of Kirk (I had many disagreements with him, and he with me), when he died he was doing exactly what we ask people to do on campus: Show up. Debate. Talk. Engage peacefully, even when emotions run high,” David French wrote in the Times. “In fact, that’s how he made his name, in debate after debate on campus after campus.”

This does not mean Kirk deserved to die or that political violence is ever justified. What happened to Kirk is horrifying, and we fear deeply for whatever will happen next. But it is undeniable that Kirk was not just a part of the extremely tense, very dangerous national dialogue, he was an accelerationist force whose work to dehumanize LGBTQ+ people and threaten the free speech of professors, teachers, and school board members around the country has directly put the livelihoods and physical safety of many people in danger. We do no one any favors by ignoring this, even in the immediate aftermath of an assassination like this.

Kirk claimed that his Turning Point USA sent “80+ buses full of patriots” to the January 6 insurrection. Turning Point USA has also run a “Professor Watchlist,” “School Board Watchlist,” and “Campus Reform” for nearly a decade.

“America’s radical education system has taken a devastating toll on our children,” Kirk said in an intro video posted on these projects’ websites. “From sexualized material in textbooks to teaching CRT and implementing the 1619 Project doctrine, the radical leftist agenda will not stop … The School Board Watch List exposes school districts that host drag queen story hour, teach courses on transgenderism, and implement unsafe gender neutral bathroom policies. The Professor Watch List uncovers the most radical left-wing professors from universities that are known to suppress conservative voices and advance the progressive agenda.”

These websites have been directly tied to harassment and threats against professors and school board members all over the country. Professor Watchlist lists hundreds of professors around the country, many of them Black or trans, and their perceived radical agendas, which include things like supporting gun control, “socialism,” “Antifa,” “abortion,” and acknowledging that trans people exist and racism exists. Trans professors are misgendered on the website, and numerous people who have been listed on it have publicly spoken about receiving death threats and being harassed after being listed on the site.

One professor on the watchlist who 404 Media is granting anonymity for his safety said once he was added to the list, he started receiving anonymous letters in his campus mailbox. “‘You're everything wrong with colleges,’ ‘watch your step, we're watching you’ kind of stuff,” he said, “One anonymous DM on Twitter had a picture of my house and driveway, which was chilling.” His president and provost also received emails attempting to discredit him with “all the allegedly communist and subversive stuff I was up to,” he said. “It was all certainly concerning, but compared to colleagues who are people of color and/or women, I feel like the volume was smaller for me. But it was certainly not a great feeling to experience that stuff. That watchlist fucked up careers and ruined lives.”

The American Association of University Professors said in an open letter in 2017 that Professor Watchlist “lists names of professors with their institutional affiliations and photographs, thereby making it easy for would-be stalkers and cyberbullies to target them. Individual faculty members who have been included on such lists or singled out elsewhere have been subject to threats of physical violence, including sexual assault, through hundreds of e-mails, calls, and social media postings. Such threatening messages are likely to stifle the free expression of the targeted faculty member; further, the publicity that such cases attract can cause others to self-censor so as to avoid being subjected to similar treatment.” Campus free speech rights group FIRE found that censorship and punishment of professors skyrocketed between 2020 and 2023, in part because of efforts from Professor Watchlist.

Many more professors who Turning Point USA added to their watchlist have spoken out in the past about how being targeted upended their lives, brought years of harassment down on them and their colleagues, and resulted in death threats against them and their loved ones.

At Arizona State University, a professor on the watchlist was assaulted by two people from Turning Point USA in 2023.

“Earlier this year, I wrote to Turning Point USA to request that it remove ASU professors from its Professor Watchlist. I did not receive a response,” university president Michael Crow wrote in a statement. “Instead, the incident we’ve all now witnessed on the video shows Turning Point’s refusal to stop dangerous practices that result in both physical and mental harm to ASU faculty members, which they then apparently exploit for fundraising, social media clicks and financial gain.” Crow said the Professor Watchlist resulted in “antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ+ and misogynistic attacks on ASU faculty with whom Turning Point USA and its followers disagree,” and called the organization’s tactics “anti-democratic, anti-free speech and completely contrary” to the spirit of scholarship.

Kirk’s death is a horrifying moment in our current American nightmare. Kirk’s actions and rhetoric do not justify what happened to him because they cannot be justified. But Kirk was not merely someone who showed up to college campuses and listened. It should not be controversial to plainly state some of the impact of his work.

ASU President: Turning Point USA crew accused of 'bloodying' ASU professor's face

Arizona State Police released footage of an incident between an ASU English professor, a reporter and cameraman from Turning Point USA that happened on Oct. 11. University president Dr. Michael Crow released a statement calling the men "cowards."

^{Jessica Johnson (FOX 10 Phoenix)}

Judges at the the United Nations’ top court sided with France in a long-running legal tug-of-war with Equatorial Guinea over the sale of a mansion on one of Paris’ poshest avenues

UN court rules in favor of France in Equatorial Guinea mansion dispute

^{Molly Quell (The Independent)}

President makes remark on Fox & Friends after Memphis mayor said he requested financial resources instead

Trump says he will send national guard to Democratic-run Memphis

President makes remark on Fox & Friends after Memphis mayor said he requested financial resources instead

^{Joseph Gedeon (The Guardian)}

Indigenous groups and other minorities praise ‘breath of justice’ while US officials issue warnings of possible sanctions

Archived version: archive.is/newest/theguardian.…

Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.

Brazilians take to the streets to celebrate Bolsonaro conviction

^{Tom Phillips (The Guardian)}

This is a discussion topic for the aforementioned FEP.

FEP 7888 (trwnh@mastodon.social) defines the use of context to group reply-associated objects together.
FEP f228 (silverpill@mitra.social) defines how a context resolves to a collection of posts or activities, and how this can be used to backfill a conversational context.

This proposal aims to extend these guidelines further by codifying:

1. That a context declares an owner via context.attributedTo.
2. The situations where a context may be inherited by new objects.

This FEP is a descendant of 7888 and sits alongside f228.

Until it is merged into the main repository, this FEP can be viewed here:

codeberg.org/devnull/feps/src/…

feps/fep/11dd/fep-11dd.md at fep-11dd

feps - Fediverse Enhancement Proposals

^Codeberg.org

https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/story/millennial-disaster-preppers-survivalist

::: spoiler Comments
- Mastodon— post on Mastodon.
:::

Mastodon

2025-09-11 18:28:47

Today, we’re ready to show you the upcoming quote posts feature in more detail. We’ve put together a blog post with examples of how quote posts will work on Mastodon, ahead of early access on our own servers next week 💬 Full launch to come, in Mastodon v4.5

blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/09/…

Introducing quote posts

Over the years, we’ve learned just how essential quoting is to many of you. Here's a deep dive on how quote posts will work on Mastodon.

^{Mastodon Blog}

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/can-smartphone-overuse-really-rot-your-brain-180987329/

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/09/11/charlie-kirk-killing-hasan-piker-interview-00557837

Running a small business offers certain advantages that are not gained in large businesses or established corporations.

The professional patterns of people in this technological era, 2025, are changing a lot. In olden days, most people worked for daily wages, some people did business, and some others went for a traditional 9-to-5 job. In the past few years, most people chose 9-to-5 jobs, and some others chose to do business and daily work. But in today’s digitalized world, a major income source for most people has become a small business.

Not everyone starts a business with the motive of developing a business empire. But everyone aims at developing their business and remaining competitive in the business market. Starting a small business has become a mandatory factor for most people. It is a good point to hear. Being a small business owner has its own advantages as well as disadvantages. Let’s explore it in this blog.

What is a Small Business?

A small business is a work process that is owned by a single person and operates with fewer employees. The income generated here will be low when compared with that of the large-scale businesses. Small businesses usually focus on selling their products and services in local areas rather than doing so internationally.

In a small business, separate employees will not be allocated to do each activity. For example, the small business owner themselves may do the marketing work, invoicing process, accounting process, employee management, and sometimes even the production process.

Key Advantages of Small Business

1. Small Business Offers Customized Solutions

Consider an example. You are going to a large clothing shop to purchase a kurta set. You choose a dress, but you like to make small alterations in its design. But the customization facility is not offered at that shop. At the same time, you approach a small boutique and ask for the same alteration to the kurta set. Immediate alterations are made there as per the request. So, customized solutions can be offered by small businesses.

2. Appreciations for the Work Completed

The number of clients approaching the small business may be fewer, but the feedback shared by each of them gives more strength and energy to continue the business. But large businesses have a huge number of clients, and the appreciations given to them may not have as much effect.

3. Flexibility in Invoicing

Some large businesses' invoicing process will be like travelling through a rocky mountain. They can’t customize their invoices and steadily follow a single rule for the invoicing process. But small businesses can customize their invoices, set their own terms and conditions, etc., using the online invoicing software for small businesses.

4. Focused Precisions

Large businesses usually deal with multiple income streams. So, their focus would be on every field because their aim would be to expand the business even further. But small businesses will have one- or two-income streams, majorly one. So, their focus will be on a single path. So that excellent outcomes can be generated from them.

5. Client Relationship

The factor that takes place mostly in small businesses and rarely in large businesses is the relationship between the clients and the business. As the client’s expectations are clearly communicated and they are fulfilled by the small business, and engaging communication is maintained, a strong relationship will be maintained between the business and the clients.

6. Solo Decision-Making

If you’re running a small business, you’re the boss here, and you can make all the decisions regarding your business. Unlike large businesses, you don’t need to get approval from higher-level authorities for any changes, you don’t need to conduct multiple meetings to decide, etc. You, as a solo person, can make all the decisions.

Running a small business has numerous advantages, but if it does not operate well, it creates a chance to face failure also. Proper management is crucial here to succeed. If you wish to generate revenue, start a small business and become an independent person.

The professional patterns of people in this technological era, 2025, are changing a lot. In olden days, most people worked for daily wages, some people did business, and some others went for a traditional 9-to-5 job. In the past few years, most people chose 9-to-5 jobs, and some others chose to do business and daily work. But in today’s digitalized world, a major income source for most people has become a small business.

Not everyone starts a business with the motive of developing a business empire. But everyone aims at developing their business and remaining competitive in the business market. Starting a small business has become a mandatory factor for most people. It is a good point to hear. Being a small business owner has its own advantages as well as disadvantages. Let’s explore it in this blog.

What is a Small Business?

A small business is a work process that is owned by a single person and operates with fewer employees. The income generated here will be low when compared with that of the large-scale businesses. Small businesses usually focus on selling their products and services in local areas rather than doing so internationally.

In a small business, separate employees will not be allocated to do each activity. For example, the small business owner themselves may do the marketing work, invoicing process, accounting process, employee management, and sometimes even the production process.

Key Advantages of Small Business

1. Small Business Offers Customized Solutions

Consider an example. You are going to a large clothing shop to purchase a kurta set. You choose a dress, but you like to make small alterations in its design. But the customization facility is not offered at that shop. At the same time, you approach a small boutique and ask for the same alteration to the kurta set. Immediate alterations are made there as per the request. So, customized solutions can be offered by small businesses.

2. Appreciations for the Work Completed

The number of clients approaching the small business may be fewer, but the feedback shared by each of them gives more strength and energy to continue the business. But large businesses have a huge number of clients, and the appreciations given to them may not have as much effect.

3. Flexibility in Invoicing

Some large businesses' invoicing process will be like travelling through a rocky mountain. They can’t customize their invoices and steadily follow a single rule for the invoicing process. But small businesses can customize their invoices, set their own terms and conditions, etc., using the online invoicing software for small businesses.

4. Focused Precisions

Large businesses usually deal with multiple income streams. So, their focus would be on every field because their aim would be to expand the business even further. But small businesses will have one- or two-income streams, majorly one. So, their focus will be on a single path. So that excellent outcomes can be generated from them.

5. Client Relationship

The factor that takes place mostly in small businesses and rarely in large businesses is the relationship between the clients and the business. As the client’s expectations are clearly communicated and they are fulfilled by the small business, and engaging communication is maintained, a strong relationship will be maintained between the business and the clients.

6. Solo Decision-Making

If you’re running a small business, you’re the boss here, and you can make all the decisions regarding your business. Unlike large businesses, you don’t need to get approval from higher-level authorities for any changes, you don’t need to conduct multiple meetings to decide, etc. You, as a solo person, can make all the decisions.

Running a small business has numerous advantages, but if it does not operate well, it creates a chance to face failure also. Proper management is crucial here to succeed. If you wish to generate revenue, start a small business and become an independent person.

cross-posted from: sh.itjust.works/post/45874306

A bill introduced on Wednesday is calling for a congressional probe into the financial relationship between the MAGA mega-donor Peter Thiel and Jeffrey Epstein.

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, of Oregon, has demanded that the Treasury Department hand over documents related to the sex trafficker’s finances, which The New York Times revealed in June included $40 million in investments to a Thiel-backed firm.

Those investments in Valar Ventures, in 2015 and 2016, are now worth nearly $170 million and are reportedly the Epstein estate’s largest asset. Now, Wyden wants a closer look at how—and why—an alleged $1.5 billion moved between Thiel, Epstein, and 70 other “co-conspirators.”

Wyden, a 76-year-old ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, said such a bill is necessary because Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has refused to honor the committee’s requests to view Epstein-related financial documents in his possession.

"The basic question here is whether a bunch of rich pedophiles and Epstein accomplices are going to face any consequences for their crimes, and Scott Bessent is doing his best to make sure they won’t,” he said. “My head just about exploded when I heard Bessent say it wasn’t his department’s job to investigate these Epstein bank records.”
Wyden said he’s long believed that “following the money is the key to identifying Epstein’s clients as well as the henchmen and banks that enabled his sex trafficking network.”

His statement on Wednesday added, “It’s past time for Bessent to quit running interference for pedophiles and give us the Epstein files he’s sitting on.”

In addition to investigating Thiel, who is CEO of Palantir, Wyden said he hopes a congressional probe will uncover whether J.P. Morgan and other banks violated federal anti-money laundering laws.

A representative for Thiel, who Forbes estimates is worth $25 billion, did not respond to a request for comment. The 57-year-old has not publicly addressed his firm’s financial relationship with Epstein.

Republicans hold a three-seat voting majority in the Senate, meaning Wyden’s bill will require some GOP lawmakers to break with the party line to pass. Bessent, a Trump appointee, has not indicated that he plans to offer up documents freely to the committee and said last month that the Treasury Department does not possess the power to investigate. In that same spiel, he said it might have to investigate Wyden.

“Any law enforcement person who wants to come and see them, we hold them. Our job—we are not detectives. We collect them. It’s just like the—when we make payments, the Treasury, the Commerce Department, tells us to make a payment. We are a paymaster,” Bessent said. “Sen. Wyden’s rich... Sen. Wyden trades better than Paul Pelosi. He was up 125 percent and then 75 percent. So, I would—I’m not going to disclose anything because I’ve never looked, but I would guess there’s some stories on Sen. Wyden.”

Dem Orders Congressional Probe Into Epstein and Peter Thiel’s Relationship

If passed, the bill would require the Trump administration to hand over additional documents about the sex trafficker’s money trail.

^{Josh Fiallo (The Daily Beast)}

cross-posted from: sh.itjust.works/post/45874306

A bill introduced on Wednesday is calling for a congressional probe into the financial relationship between the MAGA mega-donor Peter Thiel and Jeffrey Epstein.

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, of Oregon, has demanded that the Treasury Department hand over documents related to the sex trafficker’s finances, which The New York Times revealed in June included $40 million in investments to a Thiel-backed firm.

Those investments in Valar Ventures, in 2015 and 2016, are now worth nearly $170 million and are reportedly the Epstein estate’s largest asset. Now, Wyden wants a closer look at how—and why—an alleged $1.5 billion moved between Thiel, Epstein, and 70 other “co-conspirators.”

Wyden, a 76-year-old ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, said such a bill is necessary because Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has refused to honor the committee’s requests to view Epstein-related financial documents in his possession.

"The basic question here is whether a bunch of rich pedophiles and Epstein accomplices are going to face any consequences for their crimes, and Scott Bessent is doing his best to make sure they won’t,” he said. “My head just about exploded when I heard Bessent say it wasn’t his department’s job to investigate these Epstein bank records.”
Wyden said he’s long believed that “following the money is the key to identifying Epstein’s clients as well as the henchmen and banks that enabled his sex trafficking network.”

His statement on Wednesday added, “It’s past time for Bessent to quit running interference for pedophiles and give us the Epstein files he’s sitting on.”

In addition to investigating Thiel, who is CEO of Palantir, Wyden said he hopes a congressional probe will uncover whether J.P. Morgan and other banks violated federal anti-money laundering laws.

A representative for Thiel, who Forbes estimates is worth $25 billion, did not respond to a request for comment. The 57-year-old has not publicly addressed his firm’s financial relationship with Epstein.

Republicans hold a three-seat voting majority in the Senate, meaning Wyden’s bill will require some GOP lawmakers to break with the party line to pass. Bessent, a Trump appointee, has not indicated that he plans to offer up documents freely to the committee and said last month that the Treasury Department does not possess the power to investigate. In that same spiel, he said it might have to investigate Wyden.

“Any law enforcement person who wants to come and see them, we hold them. Our job—we are not detectives. We collect them. It’s just like the—when we make payments, the Treasury, the Commerce Department, tells us to make a payment. We are a paymaster,” Bessent said. “Sen. Wyden’s rich... Sen. Wyden trades better than Paul Pelosi. He was up 125 percent and then 75 percent. So, I would—I’m not going to disclose anything because I’ve never looked, but I would guess there’s some stories on Sen. Wyden.”

Dem Orders Congressional Probe Into Epstein and Peter Thiel’s Relationship

If passed, the bill would require the Trump administration to hand over additional documents about the sex trafficker’s money trail.

^{Josh Fiallo (The Daily Beast)}

Senate Republicans used what is known as the nuclear option to break a Democratic blockade of President Trump’s nominees, weakening Congress’s vetting role.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/us/politics/senate-republicans-change-rules-nominees.html?unlocked_article_code=1.lU8.Gax9.zWInw5iv3ZMP