RMCH

"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme" RT =/= Endorsement

[Brandon Veiseh @BVeiseh]

Chief information security officer @ anthropic btw

[Douglas Murray @DouglasKMurray]

Could it happen here? ‘France is a warning that our civilisation is not immortal.’ My column in this week’s @spectator https://t.co/6cVETgwGWR

[Progresismo Out Of Context @OOCprogresismo2]

🇦🇷🇪🇸 Un periodista del canal socialista La Sexta intenta hacerse el picante con Javier Milei en España y termina siendo domado:

“Amo tu corazón pero no puedo respetar tu cerebro”.

[Nayib Bukele @nayibbukele]

Pou chèf gang yo ak manm gang yo k ap kenbe kat konpatriyòt nou yo an otaj ann Ayiti:

Mesye nou kidnape yo pa konbatan. Yo se teknisyen nan domèn avyasyon ki fè pati misyon nou ann Ayiti, nan kad yon misyon entènasyonal. Misyon nou an gen sèlman pilòt ak pèsonèl teknik, ki gen kòm travay prensipal fè evakyasyon medikal epi sove lavi moun, pa fè lagè.

Men, nou te kidnape yo yon fason lach pandan yo t ap retounen apre yo te fin achte manje nan yon makèt nan zòn nan.

Se poutèt sa, jodi a nou te lanse yon operasyon militè pou pote yo sekou. Nou gen yon sèl objektif: fè kat konpatriyòt nou yo retounen lakay yo vivan, san okenn mal.

Men, mwen vle pou nou menm, chèf gang yo, konprann yon bagay byen klè: atak jodi a pa anyen devan sa k ap vini si nou pa remèt toule kat otaj yo vivan.

Epi pa pran pawòl nou yo pou menas san fondman. Nou deja fini ak gang yo nan El Salvador, e nou kapab fini ak nou tou.

Nou toujou gen tan pou evite sa.

Remèt nou kat konpatriyòt nou yo vivan, san okenn mal, epi tout bagay ap retounen jan sa te ye anvan kidnaping lan.

Desizyon an nan men nou.

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

If it keeps going at this rate, we might, for (I think) the first time in history, be about to witness the first continent-wide youth revolt in Europe - a "European spring" of sorts.

The sheer number of countries where it's **already** happening is pretty overwhelming. I count 8, including 4 with violent clashes:

- France, famously
- Albania (see below) with daily clashes in Tirana and a government building set alight
- Belgium: the French movement spilled over, including riots in Liège
- Italy: "No Meloni Day" student protests since 16 October, turning into riots in Milan, Turin and Bologna
- Greece: students camping in Athens' Syntagma Square over housing and education costs, explicitly inspired by France
- Germany: pupils blockading schools in Berlin and Hamburg in solidarity with France
- Spain: an indefinite education strike in Madrid, with students marching alongside teachers and families
- Serbia: the student movement born from the 2024 Novi Sad station collapse is now running its own list in the 25 October election

And, by the way, the fact it's also happening in countries with close to no immigration - like Albania - goes to show how reductive it is to label these movements, like JD Vance and Trump did with France, as the fruit of "the migrants hav[ing] taken over."

As is often the case, it's much more a story of "it's the economy, stupid." As such, Trump with his war on Iran, has ironically done much more to fuel this (pun intended) than any migrant.

[zugzjuan @zugzjuan96]

Este sí es el definitivo, probablemente la mejor Tier List que verás sobre Filósofos Históricos.

[Merriam-Webster @MerriamWebster]

‘Goodbye’ is an alteration of “God be with you.”

[Miguel Anxo Bastos @Bastos_Quotes]

La lectura me alejó del ateísmo y me reconectó con el catolicismo. Unos pocos libros apartan de Dios, pero muchos acercan a Dios. #PaleoLET

[LaVozGalactica @Lavozgalactica]

Dios es del Real Madrid.

[Everett Stern @EverettStern1]

Dear Secretary Bessent @SecScottBessent,

My name is Everett Stern. In 2010 I was a compliance officer at @HSBC. From a back office in New Castle, Delaware, I watched billions of dollars move to drug cartels, sanctioned regimes, and terrorist organizations. The enemies of the United States. I documented it, I escalated it, and when the bank would not act, I took it to the @FBI, the @CIA, and eventually the @SECGov.

The result was a $1.92 billion settlement. At the time, it was one of the largest in American history. It was also about five weeks of the bank’s profit. Not one banker was charged. Not one went to prison.

I paid a different price. I lost my career, my savings, and my place in the industry I had trained for. I was blacklisted. Every door in American finance closed at once. I slept on a camping cot in a 300 square foot apartment because I could not afford a bed, and I waited tables at @PFChangs to eat. I tell you this not for sympathy, but so you understand that I know exactly what it costs to do the right thing in American finance, and exactly how little the system does in return.

I made that sacrifice because I believed it would change something.

Yesterday, your department fined @BankofAmerica $1.2 billion for failing to report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions, some of it tied by your own findings to Chinese laundering networks, narcotics, and the southwest border, alongside 475 apparent sanctions violations touching Russia, Iran, and global terrorism. The bank admitted it willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act.

Fourteen years after HSBC. A bank with “America” in its name. And once again, not one individual charged.

Secretary Bessent, I want to say plainly what I believe you already know. The fines are not working.

A fine is paid by shareholders, absorbed by the balance sheet, and forgotten by the next earnings call. Bank of America reported earnings this morning. Nobody who set the alert thresholds, nobody who decided the 2024 cease and desist could wait, nobody who chose the backlog over the law will lose a single thing they value. Their lives are untouched. That is the entire reason the behavior repeats.

This is money laundering. This is blood money. Money that reaches a cartel buys fentanyl that kills Americans. Money that reaches a terrorist organization buys the next attack. This country has fought a war on drugs and a war on terror for decades, at enormous cost in lives and treasure, and all the while we have allowed the financing to flow through institutions we charter and regulate. Cut off the money and we win. We have never seriously tried.

There is also a question of equal justice that I cannot let go.

Before I walked into the FBI building to report HSBC, I stopped in front of the Great Seal on the wall and read the words engraved beneath it: “Justice is the defense of our liberty.” I believed that. I still want to. But every day in this country, people go to prison for crimes that are nothing next to moving money for the people who want Americans dead. A suit, a title, and a corporate badge should not be a shield from the consequences that apply to everyone else. If a street dealer goes to prison for what he sells, the banker who moved the cartel’s money should be standing next to him.

I also want to raise something that is rarely said in these conversations. Why has no one inside Bank of America come forward the way I did? The answer is that everyone in American banking knows what happened to me, and to the whistleblowers who came after. The last person who spoke up is the only policy anyone believes. That is a culture problem, and it starts with leadership, in the banks and in the agencies that regulate them.

This is not a political issue. It has spanned administrations of both parties. It is a national security issue, and I am asking you to treat it as one.

Three things would change the math overnight.

Refer individuals for criminal prosecution. Not the analyst in the queue. The executives who set the thresholds and chose the risk. One banker in handcuffs would do more than every fine in Treasury’s history combined.

End “too big to jail.” An institution cannot be too big to fail and too big to jail at the same time. If it is the first, it must be held to a higher standard, not a lower one.

And if Bank of America will not act as America’s bank, review its charter. A national charter is a privilege granted on behalf of the American people. It should be conditioned on not moving money for the people trying to kill them.

Secretary Bessent, you said yesterday that these actions send a clear message that even the biggest institutions are not above the law. With respect, the institution was never the problem. The people inside it are above the law, and they know it. Until that changes, I will keep writing letters like this one, and the next bank will keep paying the next fine.

I gave up everything I had to stop this. I am asking you to use the power you have to finish it.

Respectfully,

Everett A. Stern
HSBC Whistleblower
Founder and Intelligence Director, Tactical Rabbit

[totocaputo @LuisCaputoAR]

No creo que sea de deshonesto. El 90 por ciento de los economistas no entienden eso. Creen que el mercado es un Excel y que vos podes comprar lo que quieras cada día, y que si no lo comprás, es porque no querés. El mismo argumento zonzo usaron el año pasado para decir que “finalmente les habíamos hecho caso, porque terminamos comprando”. Jamás van a entiender que comprás, cuando el mercado es vendedor. Y que si te pones a comprar cuando el mercado es comprador, solo lo subís de precio y terminas comprando cada vez menos, en lugar de más. Particularmente en mercados poco profundos, como es el del dólar en Argentina, y más aun siendo el BCRA un participante muy relevante.
Es una de las razones por las que a los economistas académicos los ponen a escribir en los bancos, pero nunca a manejar inversiones. Escriben bien, pero no cometas nunca el error de hacerles caso!

[tawny @tawnniee]

how can i write code for God? where is the Catholic church organization that puts all of us together so that we can build the best technology in the world for the glory of God and His church?

[Majo 🍄 @majogm]

Les voy a contar una historia sobre Colón.

Allá por el 1504, en su cuarto y último viaje, sus barcos fueron atacados por la broma, una especie de gusano marino que se come la madera.
Como los barcos eran de madera, o los encallaba en la costa o se hundían en el mar. Estaba cerca de lo que hoy conocemos como Jamaica asi que allí fue con sus 4 barcos a no hundirse.

Los habitantes de la isla, los taínos, al principio les llevaban comida pero medio que se hartaron después de unos meses porque los españoles ya no tenían muchos espejitos de colores para intercambiar y decidieron dejarlos librados a su suerte.
Se armó una complicada porque la tripulación no estaba muy de acuerdo con la idea de morirse de hambre.

Colón, como buen marinero que era, tenía muchos conocimientos astronómicos y llevaba un ejemplar de los registros de Regiomontanus, por lo que sabía que el 29 de febrero de 1504 habría, en esa zona, un eclipse total de Luna.

Viendo que los muchachos a bordo de los barcos semipodridos se estaban empezando a impacientar por el hambre fue a decirles a los caciques de las tribus que el Dios cristiano estaba tan enojado con ellos (ellos: los indios) que iba a mostrarles su ira pintando la Luna de rojo para que aprendan modales 😬

El asunto es que Colon la tenía bastante clara y por suerte esa noche no estaba nublado así que el eclipse tuvo lugar y la Luna se tiñó de rojo (Luna de sangre) por la refracción de la luz solar en la atmósfera terrestre.

Menudo susto se llevaron los indígenas que fueron corriendo a decirle a Colon que le diga a su dios que no se cabree tanto.

Colon tenía el eclipse cronometrado (48 minutos duraba) así que, con un reloj de arena iba viendo cuando salir a calmar los ánimos.

Al rato apareció diciendo que había rezado (una especie de perdónalos señor, no saben lo que hacen) y que Dios los perdonaba pero que ojito con hacer pasar hambre a su tripulación porque se iba a volver a enojar.

Así fue que los habitantes de la actual Jamaica siguieron alimentando a los marineros hasta Junio, que fue cuando lograron rescatarlos a todos vivos para volver a España.

Así que ya saben, las probabilidades de que tener conocimientos astronómicos te salven de morir de hambre son bastante bajas pero nunca iguales a cero. 🔭 ⭐️ 🪐 😬

[Sina 🗝️⚡ BI Report @Snz_BTC]

Literally impossible to eat healthy outside anymore.

[Josh Barzon @JoshuaBarzon]

“The World as 100 People” - All of these are fascinating. Some are shocking.

[Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent @SecScottBessent]

More than five centuries ago, the son of a wool weaver from Genoa sailed westward to widen the boundaries of the known world. Across a vast and punishing Atlantic, the voyage exhausted the patience of its crew, but never the conviction of its captain. Christopher Columbus kept going.

Two hundred and fifty years after America’s founding, we still marvel at the restless spirit of discovery that revealed the New World to the Old. President Trump has defended Columbus against the radical left’s campaign to erase his legacy. Now, Columbus again stands where he belongs – within the great procession of figures who shaped our national story.

Happy Columbus Day. Sail On.

[Sam Bowman @s8mb]

Alcohol, being disinhibiting, allows people to build trust between and have fun with each other when they wouldn’t be able to do so soberly. It helps to temporarily level status hierarchies and allows more social risk-taking, which is why people often meet future lovers when they’re drinking and drink when building relationships. People can be silly together when drinking, and people who aren’t ever silly are to my mind more prone to collective fanaticism.

There is a time and place for sobriety - work and time with children especially - but alcohol underpins a lot of the social interactions that make trust-based civilization possible.

[Virgil @VirgilsQuill]

This is, without exaggeration, the best speech I’ve ever seen a politician give. The message, the tone, the backdrop, all pure kino. Hand him the keys at this point.

[Department of State @StateDept]

FULL REMARKS: Secretary Rubio Delivers Remarks in Defense of Western Civilization at the Acropolis