Just when polls have been saying that Democrats were going to lose, they managed to not only win, but win big, as in BIG big. Polling firms again called it wrong. And this has been an issue for polling firms since 2016. They gin up the public, get people enraged about how they are going to lose, and then on election night, the polls proved wrong, and Democrats end up winning by records. This proves that polls are not accurate in these current times, and are all just a bunch of bullshit that is paid for by Republicans to show how they will win, when in fact they lose.
Despite initial predictions of a Democratic loss, the recent elections showcased a significant surge for the party. Defying poll expectations, Democrats not only secured victories, but did so on a grand scale. This pattern of polling inaccuracies has persisted since 2016, bringing into question the reliability of these firms. The public is often stirred up by these polls, leading to a false perception of imminent defeat, only for Democrats to ultimately emerge triumphant, even setting new records. These results highlight the questionable nature of current polls and suggest a potential bias towards promoting Republican victories.
The recent elections have once again shown that polls can be unreliable indicators of political outcomes. Despite initial predictions of a Republican victory, the Democratic Party experienced a significant surge and secured victories in a grand scale. This pattern of polling inaccuracies, which has persisted since 2016, raises doubts about the reliability of these firms. The public’s perception of impending defeat, fueled by these polls, often turns out to be false as Democrats consistently emerge triumphant, even setting new records. These results underscore the questionable nature of current polls and hint at a potential bias towards promoting Republican victories.
So, when we see polls that show Biden losing to Trump, take them with a grain of salt, because these polls this far out are not accurate in any shape or form.
Conclusion: polls suck, are often wrong, STOP REPORTING IN THEM A YEAR OUT FROM THE ELECTION SO WE CAN STOP HAVING INTENSE ANXIETY ATTACKS!!!!!!
Honestly, does everyone tell the truth when called by pollsters ? I don't and often give intentionally misleading answers. Flips of the coin have better projection stats than polls and too much are made of them. Great money making business though.
Again, polls are usually incorrect. They are purchased and funded by the horserace media, and they conduct these polls for profit. They have no concern whatsoever for accuracy. Their job is to convey the desired message of the buyers only. This is why Democrats refrain from relying on polls, as they are aware of their absolute lack of credibility.
The aforementioned assertions about the unreliability and potential bias of polls should not be dismissed outright. It is crucial to critically evaluate the methodology and motivations behind these surveys before placing unwavering trust in their results. Additionally, considering the ever-changing dynamics of political landscapes and the unpredictability of voter behavior, it is wise to approach poll findings with caution and maintain a healthy skepticism.
It is worth noting that relying solely on polls to gauge public opinion can lead to a skewed understanding of the broader sentiment. Instead, it is essential to engage in a diverse range of information sources and engage in meaningful conversations with individuals from various backgrounds and perspectives. Ultimately, a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of public opinion requires diligent research, critical thinking, and an open mind.
The next time you read a media story about how Biden is losing to Trump, think again about the accuracy of those statements. The media benefits when you, the voter, become disengaged and think the other side will win. The thought is, if they can get you to not vote by thinking the other side has already won, then they win when you disengage.
Polls alone can provide a distorted view of public opinion, necessitating the exploration of diverse information sources and meaningful conversations. A comprehensive understanding requires diligent research, critical thinking, and an open mind. It is important to question media narratives that claim one candidate is losing to another, as they may benefit from voter disengagement. By staying informed and actively participating, we can avoid falling into the trap of thinking the outcome is predetermined.
Street Food Around the World: A Culinary Journey for Food Enthusiasts
From the aromatic spices of Indian street chaat to the savory kebabs of Middle Eastern souks, these casual culinary delights showcase the vibrant tapestry of global cuisine. Whether you’re indulging in Mexican tacos al pastor or savoring a crispy Belgian waffle, street food offers a delicious and authentic glimpse into the local culture and culinary heritage of each destination.
Immerse yourself in the bustling streets of Bangkok and sample the tangy and spicy flavors of Pad Thai or the mouthwatering skewers of grilled satay. In bustling night markets of Taiwan, feast on steaming bowls of beef noodle soup or sink your teeth into fluffy, steamed bao buns filled with succulent pork belly. Craving something sweet? Head to the streets of Istanbul and treat yourself to a warm and fragrant serving of traditional Turkish baklava. Don’t miss the chance to explore the vibrant street food scenes around the world and embark on a culinary adventure like no other.
From the aromatic spices of Indian chaat to the savory delights of Italian arancini, street food serves as a passport to global gastronomy. Each bite tells a story, revealing the rich tapestry of flavors and traditions that make our world so diverse. So, grab a plate, join the hustle and bustle, and let the tantalizing aromas and vibrant colors transport you to a culinary paradise unlike any other.
Embark on a global food adventure through Bangkok, Mexico City, Marrakech, and Osaka. Experience the explosion of flavors in Pad Thai, savory tacos, fragrant Moroccan tagine, and iconic takoyaki. Let your taste buds explore the world, one delectable street food at a time.
So, immerse yourself in the vibrant atmosphere of street food culture and let the diverse culinary offerings take you on a gastronomic adventure. Whether it’s the mouthwatering aromas of Indian street vendors grilling succulent kebabs or the delectable sight of French crepes being expertly flipped, each bite will be a tantalizing experience. And let’s not forget the bustling night markets of Taipei, where you can sample a plethora of street snacks like stinky tofu and bubble tea that will leave you craving more. So, buckle up and get ready to embark on a culinary journey that will awaken your senses and leave you with lasting memories.
Explore the vibrant streets of Bangkok for pad Thai and som tam. Try tacos al pastor in Mexico City, and Mumbai’s tangy bhel puri and vada pav. Enjoy Istanbul’s doner kebabs and Turkish baklava, then savor a classic New York hot dog or pizza slice.
Indulge in the rich flavors of Bangkok’s pad Thai and som tam, or satisfy your taste buds with the tantalizing tacos al pastor in Mexico City. Mumbai’s tangy bhel puri and vada pav will leave you craving for more, while Istanbul’s doner kebabs and Turkish baklava offer a delightful combination of savory and sweet. And of course, don’t miss the chance to savor a classic New York hot dog or pizza slice, iconic street foods that have become synonymous with the city’s culinary scene. So, embark on this global gastronomic journey and let your senses be delighted by the diverse street food offerings from around the world.
Explore the bustling food stalls and embrace the sensory adventure that street foods have to offer. Here are some YouTube videos that capture the essence of street food around the world:
Street Food in India – Exploring the Chaat Culture
Middle Eastern Street Food – Discovering the Delights of Kebabs
Tacos al Pastor – Unveiling the Flavors of Mexican Street Food
Belgian Waffles – The Perfect Street Food Treat in Brussels
Enjoy these videos and immerse yourself in the diverse world of street food!
When Trump was asked why he took himself back off as trustee on July 7, 2021, he said the reason was because he “had gained more trust in my family” to be able to run it. Trump failed to mention that the trustee Allen Weisselberg had been indicted just days before. Ultimately, he admitted that he put Don Jr back in charge of the trust because he was getting back into politics.
Highlights
Trump complains to the AG's counsel that "you" and other "Democrat" prosecutors "were all coming after me from 15 different sides."
Trump then reiterated his primary defense to this case – that he had a “disclaimer” clause with every financial statement (which he calls a “worthless clause”) that he claims renders everything in the statement useless because he warned the reader not to believe any of the numbers that were in it. He claimed that the banks he dealt with didn’t even use them in making their decisions because they really wanted to make the deals with him.
Asked how he knew the banks paid little attention to his financial statements, he said it was from his course of dealing with banks for 50 years; their interest was in the deal.
Judge Engoron then warned Trump not to start making speeches. Trump’s lawyer then objected to the warning, asserting that the prosecutor was asking open-ended questions that allowed for lengthy answers.
Trump was then asked what steps he took to ensure that the numbers in his statements were accurate. He said that it was a long time ago so he couldn’t remember everything, which is why the statute of limitations should apply, but the judge ruled against him on that because he rules against him on everything. Engoron responded, “You can attack me, but just answer the question.” Trump finally responds that he told his people to give Mazars (the accounting firm) all the information they needed to prepare the statements. When asked who specifically he told to provide Mazars the information, he said Weisselberg and Jeff McConney (former Controller of Trump Org).
Trump was then asked if he told them to assign specific values to his properties. He said that he would do that because, “I was certainly more expert than anyone else” to do it. Trump then launched into a familiar riff we hear day after day in his rallies, interviews and on social media about how the value of his name makes everything worth more and how Mar-a-Lago is the most valuable property in the country.
“The most valuable asset was the brand value and that wasn’t on the statement,” Trump digresses. “If I wanted to build a statement to show how reach we really are, I would have included brand value.”
Trump was asked whether he ever discussed having the value of his “brand” assessed by an independent company with Weisselberg so that he could include it accurately in his financial statements. He said that he did not because he “didn’t care about it enough to bother him.”
Judge Engoron then interrupted Trump giving his long-winded rally style political answers to questions: “Mr. Kise, can you control your client? This is not a political rally. Maybe you should have a talk with him.” Kise responded, “You’re in control of the courtroom, not me.” Trump then started launching into another speech and the judge interrupted again striking his answer.
A few minutes later, the judge again admonished Trump for the 5th time that his answers were “non-responsive and repetitive” and if it continued he would draw a “negative inference” to each question from his refusal to answer directly.
The prosecutor began to walk through his financial statements asking Trump if he felt each asset was valued correctly at the time. He was asked if the value of $348 million for Niketown was accurate. He again tried to deflect, but when pinned down he finally answered, “I guess so, I really can’t answer that.”
When asked if 40 Wall Street was assigned an accurate value on the statements, he said that it could be worth even more because he was able to convert it into condos which would make it more valuable. This answer followed Trump’s claims in his deposition that several of his properties “could” be worth more if he make certain improvements or changes to them that he never actually made.
Judge Engoron continued to get frustrated with Trump’s refusal to answer questions after Trump started rambling about how unfair the trial was: “I beseech you to control him. If you can’t, I will. I will excuse him and draw every negative inference.” Alina Habba then said that Engoron needed to “hear what he has to say.” Engoron then angrily responded, “I’m not here what he has to say. He’s here to answer questions.” Habba then shot back, “Yes, you are here to listen what he has to say.” Engoron then ordered Habba and Kise to sit down.
Trump then grumbled, “This is a very unfair trial. Very, very unfair, and I hope the public is watching it.”
Trump was then asked if he approved the valuation of 40 Wall Street at $500 million. He responded that he did not come up with the number, but he “accepted it.” The judge then ordered a 15 minutes recess and said that Habba and Kise should take advantage of the break to speak with their client.
During the recess, reporters attempted to ask Trump how his testimony went. He made a “zip lips” motion indicating that the judge ordered him not to discuss his testimony while he was on the stand.
Trump was then asked why he wildly overstated the square footage of his NY apartment by 300%. He agreed that the property was overvalued on his financial statement. He claimed that the reason why it he claimed it was 30,000 sq feet is because “they took 10,000 feet per floor … but they didn’t take out elevator shafts and different things.” (He seemed to be claiming that the roof and other areas should be counted in the square footage).
Trump was asked if he received copies of his financial statements in 2021. He responded by saying he was too busy in the White House dealing with Russia and China. He was then reminded that he wasn’t president in 2021.
Trump was then asked if Mar-a-Lago was a private club or a residence. He said it was a club. He was then asked if he believed Mar-a-Lago was worth $1.5 billion like he has repeatedly claimed in the press and on social media. Trump responded, “I’d say between $1 billion and $1.5 billion.”
The prosecutor then pressed him on his assertions in writing and in interviews that Trump would remain a club and not a private residence. Trump was then shown the deed which states, “the Club and Trump intend to forever extinguish their right to develop or use the property for any purpose other than club use.” Trump responded, “‘Intend’ doesn’t mean we will do it.”
Trump was then specifically asked about a statement he gave to the Palm Beach Post in 2003 where he said it will be a club forever. Trump responded, “That was said with bravado as opposed to legal intent.”
The AG then pointed out that since he claimed that it was being operated as a club and not a residence, he was able to pay less in taxes.
Trump was then asked about his golf course in Scotland. (In his deposition he claimed that the reason why he valued it at more than double his purchase price a very short time later was because he might someday develop and sell houses on the course, which made it worth more). The AG pointed out that he never actually built any of the 1,100 additional houses he claimed and that he isn’t building anything there right now. Trump responded, “I’m in no rush. I’m not looking to build right now. I’m doing other things right now. I just want to sit with it. It’s an investment.”
The prosecutor then noted that this property was wildly overvalued based upon the inaccurate statement that there were 2,500 homes when in fact there were only 1,400 because he never built the other 1,100. He was asked why the number of homes on the statement didn’t match up with reality. Trump responded:
Judge Engoran (to NY AG lawyer) I'm following your lead if you want to let him ramble on NY AG lawyer: I want to preserve it for the record. Trump's lawyer: It's not clear if he's answering about the backup data. NY AG lawyer: I don't think it was answered
Trump was then asked about his issue with the windmills on the property. (He had testified previously in his deposition that the property in Aberdeen would be worth more if Scotland hadn’t constructed windmills adjacent to the property, and how he had enlisted actor Sean Connery to unsuccessfully lobby the Scottish parliament to remove them).
He asked Trump why he would claim that he may develop the property in the future when he told the UK government that he would not unless the windmills were removed. Trump responded, “They’ll probably come down one day. They are miles out. That was back in 2014 when we were fighting the windmills. There’s nothing wrong with sitting and waiting if you have money, and I’ve got a lot of money.”
Trump was then asked if he continued to stand by the inflated valuations in his 2014 financial statements. He responded, “People like you go around and try to demean me and hurt me … there was a disclaimer clause … This is disgraceful.” Then addressing AG Letitia James he said, “She’s a political hack and using this case to become Governor … this is a political witch hunt … the fraud is her.”
Trump then started rambling again about the disclaimer clause and Judge Engoron interrupted, saying that they weren’t going back over that again and if he was confused about his ruling about it then he should go back and read the decision. (He said that those clauses don’t mean the statement can’t be relied upon because you have a duty to try to provide accurate information despite a disclaimer).
Trump responded to the judge, “He called me a fraud and he doesn’t even know me … He said Mar-a-Lago was worth $18 million, what a fraud. As President of the United States, we did a great job. Just look at the president we have today. It’s a terrible thing you’ve done. You believed that political hack sitting back there.” (Gesturing at James).
The prosecutor then asked Trump who in Trump Org was responsible for making sure that the financial statements submitted by his accounting firm were accurate. Trump responded, “Everybody. I tell people, if anybody sees anything wrong, report it.”
Trump was then shown an article by Forbes, which broke the story that he wildly inflated the size of his New York apartment. He then attacked Forbes, “They’re owned by China. Now, they sold it to Russia. I have very little respect for Forbes. I haven’t dealt with Forbes in years. I think they’re out of business.”
Trump asked about his statements to Forbes about financing benefits of net worth: “I don’t think too much about what I say to Forbes.”
Trump was then shown a statement from 2015 that showed he was losing millions of dollars on 40 Wall Street. Trump claimed the reason for that was because he was investing a lot of money into the property “fixing it up. We rebuilt the elevators, the lobbies.” Trump then motioned back to AG Letitia James and said, “She doesn’t know what 40 Wall Street is worth. She doesn’t even know where 40 Wall Street is. It’s going to do very well in the future.” (This caused James to briefly start laughing as her office is right next to 40 Wall Street).
Trump was asked what method he used to value 40 Wall Street: “I can look at buildings and tell you what they’re worth. You have to spend money to make money. Now they said take away all his properties like they do in communist China. In this country today, a certain judge can do it.”
Trump then claimed he doesn’t remember telling a reporter that 40 Wall Street had been appraised for $600 million. He was then shown an email from Don Jr to Trump Org executives in 2012 where he said that his father had just told a reporter it was appraised at $600 million and was hoping it would get printed in a story.
This story will be updated throughout the day.
This story relied upon reports from the courtroom from MSNBC contributor Lisa Rubin, Hugo Lowell from The Guardian, Adam Klasfeld from The Messenger, Matthew Russell Lee from Inner City Press, and Robert Costa from CBS.
Jordanian Arrested in Houston Texas with Plans to attack Jews.
A “radical” Jordanian national living in Texas was allegedly plotting an attack on Houston’s Jewish community before he was arrested on gun charges.
Sohaib Abuayyash, 20, had been studying how to build bombs and posted about his support for killing Jews, federal officials claim.
“He has viewed specific and detailed content posted by radical organizations on the internet, including lessons on how to construct bombs or explosive devices,” FBI Director Chris Wray told the Senate Homeland Security Committee, though he declined to identify Abuayyash by name.
“And that defendant has made statements to others that support the killing of individuals of particular religious faiths.”
Abuayyash even allegedly made a direct reference in one social media post about an event in Houston for the Jewish community, according to court documents obtained by CNN.
It did not include details about the target and time of the alleged attack.
Abuayyash is behind bars on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by someone with a non-immigrant visa, and US Magistrate Judge Christina Bryan has ruled he should remain detained pending trial.
She wrote in court documents that Abuayyash spoke of committing martyrdom in support of a religious cause and made statements “that he wants to go to Gaza to fight,” according to documents also obtained by CBS News.
“He has viewed specific and detailed content posted by radical organizations on the Internet, including lessons on how to construct bombs or explosive devices,” she wrote.
An affidavit filed Oct. 19 in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas also says Abuayyash “has been in direct contact with others who share a radical mindset, has been conducting physical training and has trained with weapons to possibly commit an attack.”
FBI Director Chris Wray cited the incident to the Senate Homeland Security Committee as he warned that Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel will inspire other attacks around the world.
That allowed the FBI to get Abuayyash into custody so prosecutors could ask a federal judge to hold him without bail as they continue their investigation.
Wray cited the incident to the Senate Homeland Security Committee as he warned that Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel will inspire other attacks around the world.
“We assess that the actions of Hamas and its allies will serve as an inspiration, the likes of which we haven’t seen since ISIS launched its so-called caliphate years ago,” he said, adding that the war in Gaza “has raised the threat of an attack against Americans in the United States to a whole other level.
“Here in the United States, our most immediate concern is that violent extremists — individuals or small groups — will draw inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks against Americans going about their daily lives.
“That includes not just homegrown violent extremists inspired by a foreign terrorist organization, but also domestic violent extremists targeting Jewish or Muslim communities,” he said, though he noted that over the past few weeks, foreign terrorist groups have called for attacks on America.
“Al Qaeda issued its most specific call to attack the US in the last five years. Hezbollah has threatened to attack US interests in the Middle East,” and ISIS is “seeking to capitalize on this moment, galvanize supporters,” Wray said.
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He said the FBI has “no information to indicate that Hamas has the intent or capability to conduct operations inside the US,” but “we cannot and do not discount it.”
Republican Muslim bans are coming back, this time without Trump.
Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) introduced legislation on Thursday to ban Palestinians from the United States in an echo of former President Donald Trump’s infamous “Muslim ban.”
The bill would pause visas for Palestinians and go a step further by revoking any visas issued since Oct. 1.
Zinke claimed the policy would protect Americans from the threat of Palestinian terrorists abusing the immigration system in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel last month and Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
“I don’t trust the Biden Administration any more than I do the Palestinian Authority to screen who is allowed to come into the United States,” Zinke said in a release. “This is the most anti-Hamas immigration legislation I have seen and it’s well deserved.”
Though the legislation specifically targets Palestinians who obtained visas in the last month, the title of Zinke’s press release makes his broader sentiment clear: “Zinke Introduces Bill to Expel Palestinians from the United States.” The summary says the measure would direct the Department of Homeland Security to “identify and remove covered aliens without lawful status,” including those whose lawful status was just revoked.
Zinke’s release cited attacks by Syrian refugees in the U.S. and other countries, but none by Palestinians. FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers this week that the Israel-Hamas conflict could inspire more violence in the U.S., citing threats against Jews and the murder of a 6-year-old Palestinian boy in Illinois last month.
“On top of the homegrown violent extremists and domestic violent extremist threat, we also cannot and do not discount the possibility that Hamas or another foreign terrorist organization may exploit the current conflict to conduct attacks here on our own soil,” Wray said.
Despite the fact that Palestinians make up the largest stateless community in the world, the U.S. has only resettled roughly 2,000 of them in the last 20 years, according to the Migration Policy Institute, largely due to the fact that most Palestinians are ineligible for traditional visas and face exceptional immigration barriers.
Israelis, by contrast, no longer need visas to enter the U.S., a policy updated just weeks before the Oct. 7 conflict.
“Long-standing legal and logistical barriers make it exceedingly challenging for those in Gaza to resettle in the region, let alone resettle in the U.S. The political grandstanding we’ve seen so much of lately is a discriminatory solution searching for a nonexistent problem,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, the president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, a refugee resettlement agency.
Zinke was appointed secretary of the Department of the Interior by Trump, who campaigned on a promise to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. and then followed through with restrictions on people traveling to the U.S. from Muslim-majority countries. Zinke was elected to the House last year.
Zinke’s bill, co-sponsored by 10 other members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, stands no chance of becoming law but represents an escalation of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim rhetoric from the right. Zinke made no effort to differentiate between Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, and residents of the Palestinian territories, not all of whom even live in the Gaza Strip where Hamas operates.
One of the bill’s co-sponsors, Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), earlier this week forced the House to consider a censure resolution against Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the sole Palestinian American serving in Congress. The House rejected the resolution, which falsely claimed that Tlaib had led an anti-Israel “insurrection” in a House office building last month.
“She’s literally a terrorist in the House of Representatives,” Greene told HuffPost this week.
The Google San Francisco Bay project to build 15000 homes for employees and locals is no more.
Google San Francisco Bay project is nw closed. The company has ended its agreement with its real estate developer.
Google has ended its agreement with real estate developer Landlease for its San Francisco Bay Project, effectively scrapping its plans to build a campus with thousands of homes for employees and locals.
The company announced the project in 2019, promising the “development of at least 15,000 new homes at all income levels” on at least $750 million worth of land it owns. Around 4,000 of those homes were supposed to be affordable housing, which would’ve been a welcome presence in the region with one of the highest costs of living in the country.
The San Francisco Bay Project is a collective name for Google’s planned developments in San Jose (Downtown West), Sunnyvale (Moffett Park) and Mountain View (Middlefield Park and North Bayshore). San Jose, in particular, approved the massive project in 2021, and it would’ve seen the construction of 4,000 homes, office space for approximately 20,000 employees, 300 hotel rooms and 10 parks. As part of the deal, Google had agreed to set aside $200 million in funding for displaced local businesses and job readiness programs.
Earlier this year, however, Google put the Downtown West facility construction on hold after demolition had already started to make way for construction that was scheduled to begin in 2026. The company told Engadget at the time that it was still figuring out “how to best move forward” with the San Jose campus in a way that would cater to its “future needs.” Workplaces have changed tremendously over the past few years, after all, mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic — Google, for instance, adopted a hybrid work schedule that allowed employees to work from home for a couple of days a week. Earlier this year, Google parent Alphabet also laid off 12,000 workers after going on a hiring spree during a period of growth.
In Lendlease’s announcement (PDF), it said that the companies have decided to end their agreement after Google did a comprehensive review of its real estate investments. They’ve apparently determined that the “existing agreements are no longer mutually beneficial given current market conditions. Based on what a company spokesperson told CNBC, though, Google hasn’t entirely killed its housing projects. “As we’ve shared before, we’ve been optimizing our real estate investments in the Bay Area, and part of that work is looking at a variety of options to move our development projects forward and deliver on our housing commitment,” Alexa Arena, a senior director of development at Google, told the news organziation. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan also told CNBC that this development “doesn’t change Google’s commitment to San Jose or their timeline” and that it gives the company more flexibility to choose the “best possible developers” for the project.
According to a company spokesperson, Google has not completely abandoned its housing projects. “We have been reevaluating our real estate investments in the Bay Area and exploring different avenues to advance our development projects and fulfill our housing commitment,” stated Alexa Arena, a senior director of development at Google, to CNBC. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan echoed this sentiment, assuring that Google’s commitment to San Jose remains unchanged, including their timeline, and that this decision allows them greater flexibility in selecting the most suitable developers for the project.
Google’s spokesperson, Alexa Arena, confirmed that the company is still committed to its housing projects and is actively exploring alternative options to fulfill their housing commitment in the Bay Area. Mayor Matt Mahan reiterated that Google’s dedication to San Jose remains steadfast and that this decision provides them with more flexibility in finding the ideal developers for the project.
An ongoing Cloudflare outage has taken down many of its products, including the company’s dashboard and related application programming interfaces (APIs) customers use to manage and read service configurations.
The complete list of services whose functionality is wholly or partially impacted includes the Cloudflare dashboard, the Cloudflare API, Logpush, WARP / Zero Trust device posture, Stream API, Workers API, and the Alert Notification System.
“This issue is impacting all services that rely on our API infrastructure including Alerts, Dashboard functionality, Zero Trust, WARP, Cloudflared, Waiting Room, Gateway, Stream, Magic WAN, API Shield, Pages, Workers,” Cloudflare said.
“Customers using the Dashboard / Cloudflare APIs are impacted as requests might fail and/or errors may be displayed.”
Customers currently have issues when attempting to log into their accounts and are seeing ‘Code: 10000’ authentication errors and internal server errors when trying to access the Cloudflare dashboard.
Cloudflare says the service issues don’t affect the cached file delivery via the Cloudflare CDN or Cloudflare Edge security features.
Data center power outage behind dashboard and API issues
Two hours into the outage, the company revealed that the ongoing issues are due to power outages at multiple data centers.
“Cloudflare is assessing a loss of power impacting data centres while simultaneously failing over services. We will keep providing regular updates until the issue is resolved, thank you for your patience as we work on mitigating the problem,” an incident report update said.
This is the second large outage that has hit Cloudflare since the start of the week, with the first one taking down multiple products, including Cloudflare Sites and Services (Access, CDN Cache Purge, Dashboard, Images, Pages, Turnstile, Waiting Room, WARP, Workers KV) on Monday, October 30.
As the company explained in a post-mortem published two days later, the Monday outage was caused by a misconfiguration in the tool used to deploy a new Workers KV build.
Workers KV is “used by both customers and Cloudflare teams alike to manage configuration data, routing lookups, static asset bundles, authentication tokens, and other data that needs low-latency access,” Cloudflare’s Matt Silverlock and Kris Evans said.
“During this incident, KV returned what it believed was a valid HTTP 401 (Unauthorized) status code instead of the requested key-value pair(s) due to a bug in a new deployment tool used by KV.”
Update November 02, 20:12 EDT: A Cloudflare spokesperson told BleepingComputer that the root cause of this ongoing outage is a regional power issue caused by generator failures that took down facilities offline.
“We operate in multiple redundant data centers in Oregon that power Cloudflare’s control plane (dashboard, logging, etc). There was a regional power issue that impacted multiple facilities in the region. The facilities failed to generate power overnight. Then, this morning, there were multiple generator failures that took the facilities entirely offline,” the spokesperson said.
“We have failed over to our disaster recovery facility and most of our services are restored. This data center outage impacted Cloudflare’s dashboards and APIs, but it did not impact traffic flowing through our global network. We are working with our data center vendors to investigate the root cause of the regional power outage and generator failures. We expect to publish multiple blogs based on what we learn and can share those with you when they’re live.”
Cloudflare’s multiple redundant data centers in Oregon that power the control plane experienced a regional power issue. This resulted in the facilities failing to generate power overnight and multiple generator failures this morning, causing complete facility outage. However, Cloudflare has successfully switched over to their disaster recovery facility and most services have been restored. The outage affected Cloudflare’s dashboards and APIs, but not the traffic flowing through their global network. Cloudflare is currently collaborating with their data center vendors to investigate the cause of the power and generator failures and plans to share their findings through upcoming blog posts.
One of the largest cybercrime services for laundering stolen merchandise was hacked recently, exposing its internal operations, finances and organizational structure.
Here’s a closer look at the Russia-based SWAT USA Drop Service, which currently employs more than 1,200 people across the United States who are knowingly or unwittingly involved in reshipping expensive consumer goods purchased with stolen credit cards.
Among the most common ways that thieves extract cash from stolen credit card accounts is through purchasing pricey consumer goods online and reselling them on the black market. Most online retailers grew wise to these scams years ago and stopped shipping to regions of the world most frequently associated with credit card fraud, including Eastern Europe, North Africa, and Russia.
But such restrictions have created a burgeoning underground market for reshipping scams, which rely on willing or unwitting residents in the United States and Europe to receive stolen goods and relay them to crooks living in the embargoed areas.
Services like SWAT are known as “Drops for stuff” on cybercrime forums. The “drops” are people who have responded to work-at-home package reshipping jobs advertised on craigslist.com and job search sites. Most reshipping scams promise employees a monthly salary and even cash bonuses. In reality, the crooks in charge almost always stop communicating with drops just before the first payday, usually about a month after the drop ships their first package.
The packages arrive with prepaid shipping labels that are paid for with stolen credit card numbers, or with hijacked online accounts at FedEx and the US Postal Service. Drops are responsible for inspecting and verifying the contents of shipments, attaching the correct shipping label to each package, and sending them off via the appropriate shipping company.
SWAT takes a percentage cut (up to 50 percent) where “stuffers” — thieves armed with stolen credit card numbers — pay a portion of each product’s retail value to SWAT as the reshipping fee. The stuffers use stolen cards to purchase high-value products from merchants and have the merchants ship the items to the drops’ address. Once the drops receive and successfully reship the stolen packages, the stuffers then sell the products on the local black market.
The SWAT drop service has been around in various names and under different ownership for almost a decade. But in early October 2023, SWAT’s current co-owner — a Russian-speaking individual who uses the handle “Fearlless” — took to his favorite cybercrime forum to lodge a formal complaint against the owner of a competing reshipping service, alleging his rival had hacked SWAT and was trying to poach his stuffers and reshippers by emailing them directly.
Milwaukee-based security firm Hold Security shared recent screenshots of a working SWAT stuffer’s user panel, and those images show that SWAT currently lists more than 1,200 drops in the United States that are available for stuffers to rent. The contact information for Kareem, a young man from Maryland, was listed as an active drop. Contacted by KrebsOnSecurity, Kareem agreed to speak on condition that his full name not be used in this story.
A SWAT panel for stuffers/customers. This page lists the rules of the service, which do not reimburse stuffers for “acts of god,” i.e. authorities seizing stolen goods or arresting the drop.
Kareem said he’d been hired via an online job board to reship packages on behalf of a company calling itself CTSI, and that he’s been receiving and reshipping iPads and Apple watches for several weeks now. Kareem was less than thrilled to learn he would probably not be getting his salary on the promised payday, which was coming up in a few days.
Kareem said he was instructed to create an account at a website called portal-ctsi[.]com, where each day he was expected to log in and check for new messages about pending shipments. Anyone can sign up at this website as a potential reshipping mule, although doing so requires applicants to share a great deal of personal and financial information, as well as copies of an ID or passport matching the supplied name.
A SWAT panel for stuffers/customers, listing hundreds of drops in the United States by their status. “Going to die” are those who are about to be let go without promised payment, or who have quit on their own.
On a suspicion that the login page for portal-ctsi[.]com might be a custom coding job, KrebsOnSecurity selected “view source” from the homepage to expose the site’s HTML code. Grabbing a snippet of that code (e.g., “smarty/default/jui/js/jquery-ui-1.9.2.min.js”) and searching on it at publicwww.com reveals more than four dozen other websites running the same login panel. And all of those appear to be geared toward either stuffers or drops.
In fact, more than half of the domains that use this same login panel actually include the word “stuffer” in the login URL, according to publicwww. Each of the domains below that end in “/user/login.php” are sites for active and prospective drops, and each corresponds to a unique fake company that is responsible for managing its own stable of drops.
Why so many websites? In practice, all drops are cut loose within approximately 30 days of their first shipment — just before the promised paycheck is due. Because of this constant churn, each stuff shop operator must be constantly recruiting new drops. Also, with this distributed setup, even if one reshipping operation gets shut down (or exposed online), the rest can keep on pumping out dozens of packages a day.
A 2015 academic study (PDF) on criminal reshipping services found the average financial hit from a reshipping scheme per cardholder was $1,156.93. That study looked into the financial operations of several reshipping schemes, and estimated that approximately 1.6 million credit and debit cards are used to commit at least $1.8 billion in reshipping fraud each year.
It’s not hard to see how reshipping can be a profitable enterprise for card crooks. For example, a stuffer buys a stolen payment card off the black market for $10, and uses that card to purchase more than $1,100 worth of goods. After the reshipping service takes its cut (~$550), and the stuffer pays for his reshipping label (~$100), the stuffer receives the stolen goods and sells them on the black market in Russia for $1,400. He has just turned a $10 investment into more than $700. Rinse, wash, and repeat.
The breach at SWAT exposed not only the nicknames and contact information for all of its stuffers and drops, but also the group’s monthly earnings and payouts. SWAT apparently kept its books in a publicly accessible Google Sheets document, and that document reveals Fearlless and his business partner each routinely made more than $100,000 every month operating their various reshipping businesses.
The exposed SWAT financial records show this crime group has tens of thousands of dollars worth of expenses each month, including payments for the following recurring costs:
-advertising the service on crime forums and via spam; -people hired to re-route packages, usually by voice over the phone; -third-party services that sell hacked/stolen USPS/Fedex labels; -“drops test” services, contractors who will test the honesty of drops by sending them fake jewelry; -“documents,” e.g. sending drops to physically pick up legal documents for new phony front companies.
The spreadsheet also included the cryptocurrency account numbers that were to be credited each month with SWAT’s earnings. Unsurprisingly, a review of the blockchain activity tied to the bitcoin addresses listed in that document shows that many of them have a deep association with cybercrime, including ransomware activity and transactions at darknet sites that peddle stolen credit cards and residential proxy services.
The information leaked from SWAT also has exposed the real-life identity and financial dealings of its principal owner — Fearlless, a.k.a. “SwatVerified.” We’ll hear more about Fearlless in Part II of this story. Stay tuned.
Taylor Swift will be spending a little extra time up north next year. Three months after announcing that her ongoing global Eras Tour will open for several shows in Toronto in 2024, the 33-year-old pop star has now added a trio of additional dates to her Canadian leg.
All of the new shows will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, at BC Place, with Swift set to perform three consecutive nights from Dec. 6 to 8. The Vancouver shows are slated to follow six Eras Tour offerings at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
The “Anti-Hero” singer shared the announcement on her Instagram Story Thursday (Nov. 2), also revealing that Gracie Abrams will return as opener for the newly added shows. Abrams, who previously joined Swift on the Eras Tour‘s U.S. leg, celebrated the news by posting a photo of her with Swift, writing, “what did you say? 3 more Eras shows in Vancouver next year? lfg.”
Swift is currently on the last few days of a two-month break from touring, having finished out her first round of U.S. and Mexico shows in late August. Starting Nov. 9, she’ll pick right back up with a string of performances in Argentina and Brazil.
After that, she’ll spend pretty much all of 2024 on the road, with Eras shows planned for Asia, Europe and Australia before swinging back around to the States next October. Already, the trek has reportedly made Swift a billionaire, as projected by Bloomberg last week.
I went to the Eras Tour Movie Premiere
Swift’s upcoming tour is set to include shows in Vancouver next year. She recently took a break from touring after completing her U.S. and Mexico shows in August. Starting from November 9th, she will resume her performances with concerts scheduled in Argentina and Brazil. Swift’s touring schedule for 2024 will cover Asia, Europe, and Australia before returning to the United States in October. Last week, it was reported that her current tour has projected her to become a billionaire, according to Bloomberg.
Already, the trek has reportedly made Swift a billionaire, as projected by Bloomberg last week. Swift’s upcoming tour is set to include shows in Vancouver next year. She recently took a break from touring after completing her U.S. and Mexico shows in August. Starting from November 9th, she will resume her performances with concerts scheduled in Argentina and Brazil. Swift’s touring schedule for 2024 will cover Asia, Europe, and Australia before returning to the United States in October.
Swift’s touring schedule for 2024 will cover Asia, Europe, and Australia before returning to the United States in October. Last week, it was reported that her current tour has projected her to become a billionaire, according to Bloomberg. Swift’s upcoming tour is set to include shows in Vancouver next year. She recently took a break from touring after completing her U.S. and Mexico shows in August. Starting from November 9th, she will resume her performances with concerts scheduled in Argentina and Brazil.
Swift’s upcoming tour is highly anticipated as fans in Argentina and Brazil eagerly await her performances. After her successful shows in the U.S. and Mexico, she took a well-deserved break before gearing up for the next leg of her tour. In 2024, Swift’s global tour will take her across continents, including Asia, Europe, and Australia, captivating audiences worldwide. The immense success of her current tour has catapulted her into the billionaire status, as reported by Bloomberg. Vancouver is also in for a treat, as it is included in the lineup of cities for Swift’s forthcoming tour.
Swift’s return to touring in Argentina and Brazil is generating excitement among her dedicated fans in these countries. Following a brief hiatus, she is ready to deliver unforgettable performances once again. With her upcoming global tour, Swift is set to reach even greater heights of success, captivating audiences across continents. Her recent achievements, including billionaire status, further solidify her position as one of the industry’s most influential artists. Vancouver can look forward to being a part of this extraordinary tour, as it joins the list of cities fortunate enough to host Swift’s incredible talent.
Registration for Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan presale is already open for Swift’s new Vancouver dates. Find more information here.
Trump showing that he’s suffering from old age as well by forgetting locations, suffering from slurred speach, and his constant gaffes on the campaign trail.
Republicans consistently consider age and health when assessing a candidate’s eligibility for office in a time where age matters. They apply this criterion to both Joe Biden and Donald Trump. However, Trump’s own age-related challenges, such as memory lapses during campaign events, diverging from prepared speeches, discussing irrelevant topics, slurring his speech, and other problematic issues, are now causing repercussions for him.
Does Trump’s age matter? Of course it does. He seems to be acting as if he has dementia.
Highlights
Donald Trump, 77, has relentlessly attacked President Biden, 80, as too old for office. But the former president himself has had a series of gaffes that go beyond his usual freewheeling style.
One of Donald J. Trump’s new comedic bits at his rallies features him impersonating the current commander in chief with an over-the-top caricature mocking President Biden’s age.
With droopy eyelids and mouth agape, Mr. Trump stammers and mumbles. He squints. His arms flap. He shuffles his feet and wanders laggardly across the stage. A burst of laughter and applause erupts from the crowd as he feigns confusion by turning and pointing to invisible supporters, as if he does not realize his back is to them.
But his recent campaign events have also featured less deliberate stumbles. Mr. Trump has had a string of unforced gaffes, garble and general disjointedness that go beyond his usual discursive nature, and that his Republican rivals are pointing to as signs of his declining performance.
On Sunday in Sioux City, Iowa, Mr. Trump wrongly thanked supporters of Sioux Falls, a South Dakota town about 75 miles away, correcting himself only after being pulled aside onstage and informed of the error.
It was strikingly similar to a fictional scene that Mr. Trump acted out earlier this month, pretending to be Mr. Biden mistaking Iowa for Idaho and needing an aide to straighten him out.
In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has also told supporters not to vote, and claimed to have defeated President Barack Obama in an election. He has praised the collective intellect of an Iranian-backed militant group that has long been an enemy of both Israel and the United States, and repeatedly mispronounced the name of the armed group that rules Gaza.
“This is a different Donald Trump than 2015 and ’16 — lost the zip on his fastball,” Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida told reporters last week while campaigning in New Hampshire.
“In 2016, he was freewheeling, he’s out there barnstorming the country,” Mr. DeSantis added. “Now, it’s just a different guy. And it’s sad to see.”
It is unclear if Mr. Trump’s recent slips are connected to his age. He has long relied on an unorthodox speaking style that has served as one of his chief political assets, establishing him, improbably, among the most effective communicators in American politics.
But as the 2024 race for the White House heats up, Mr. Trump’s increased verbal blunders threaten to undermine one of Republicans’ most potent avenues of attack, and the entire point of his onstage pantomime: the argument that Mr. Biden is too old to be president.
Even though only a few years separate the two men in their golden years, voters view their vigor differently. Recent polls have found that roughly two out of three voters say Mr. Biden is too old to serve another four-year term, while only about half say the same about Mr. Trump.
If that gap starts to narrow, it’s Mr. Trump who has far more to lose in a general-election matchup.
Mr. Trump and President Biden are the front-runners for each party’s nomination, setting up the likelihood of a 2020 rematch. Credit…Michelle Gustafson for The New York Times
According to a previously unreported finding in an August survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 43 percent of U.S. voters said both men were “too old to effectively serve another four-year term as president.” Among those voters, 61 percent said they planned to vote for Mr. Biden, compared with 13 percent who said the same about Mr. Trump.
Last week, similar findings emerged in a Franklin & Marshall College poll of registered voters in Pennsylvania, one of the most closely watched 2024 battlegrounds.
According to the poll, 43 percent of Pennsylvanians said both men were “too old to serve another term.” An analysis of that data for The New York Times showed that Mr. Biden led Mr. Trump among those voters by 66 percent to 11 percent. Among all voters in the state, the two men were in a statistical tie.
Berwood Yost, the director of the Franklin & Marshall poll, said that Mr. Biden’s wide lead among voters who were worried about both candidates’ ages could be explained partly by the fact that Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to identify age as a problem for their party’s leader.
“The age issue is one that if Trump gets tarred with the same brush as Biden, it really hurts him,” Mr. Yost said.
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, noted that the former president maintained a commanding lead in Republican primary polls and that in the general election, several recent polls had shown Mr. Trump with slight leads over Mr. Biden.
“None of these false narratives has changed the dynamics of the race at all — President Trump still dominates, because people know he’s the strongest candidate,” Mr. Cheung said. “The contrast is that Biden is falling onstage, mumbling his way through a speech, being confused on where to walk, and tripping on the steps of Air Force One. There’s no correcting that, and that will be seared into voter’s minds.”
Mr. Trump’s rhetorical skills have long relied on a mix of brute force and a seemingly preternatural instinct for the imprecise. That beguiling combination — honed from a lifetime of real estate negotiations, New York tabloid backbiting and prime-time reality TV stardom — often means that voters hear what they want to hear from him.
Mr. Trump’s speaking style has often meant that his supporters, or voters who are open to backing him, hear what they want to hear from him. Credit…Jordan Gale for The New York Times
Trump supporters leave his speeches energized. Undecided voters who are open to his message can find what they’re looking for in his pitch. Opponents are riled, and when they furiously accuse him of something they heard but that he didn’t quite precisely say, Mr. Trump turns the criticism into a data point that he’s unfairly persecuted — and the entire cycle begins anew.
But Mr. Trump’s latest missteps aren’t easily classified as calculated vagueness.
During a Sept. 15 speech in Washington, a moment after declaring Mr. Biden “cognitively impaired, in no condition to lead,” the former president warned that America was on the verge of World War II, which ended in 1945.
In the same speech, he boasted about presidential polls showing him leading Mr. Obama, who is not, in fact, running for an illegal third term in office. He erroneously referred to Mr. Obama again during an anecdote about winning the 2016 presidential race.
“We did it with Obama,” Mr. Trump said. “We won an election that everybody said couldn’t be won, we beat …” He paused for a beat as he seemed to realize his mistake. “Hillary Clinton.”
At a Florida rally on Oct. 11, days after a brutal terrorist attack that killed hundreds of Israelis, Mr. Trump criticized the country for being unprepared, lashing out at its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Trump appears to have soured on Mr. Netanyahu, once a close ally, after the Israeli leader congratulated Mr. Biden for winning the 2020 election.
In the same speech, Mr. Trump relied on an inaccurate timeline of events in the Middle East to criticize Mr. Biden’s handling of foreign affairs and, in the process, drew headlines for praising Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group.
Last week, while speaking to supporters at a rally in New Hampshire, Mr. Trump praised Viktor Orban, the strongman prime minister of Hungary, but referred to him as “the leader of Turkey,” a country hundreds of miles away. He quickly corrected himself.
At another point in the same speech, Mr. Trump jumped into a confusing riff that ended with him telling supporters, “You don’t have to vote — don’t worry about voting,” adding, “We’ve got plenty of votes.”
Mr. Cheung, the Trump campaign spokesman, said the former president was “clearly talking about election integrity and making sure only legal votes are counted.”
Under Mr. Trump, the Republican Party has been dealt a series of electoral defeats since 2016. Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
In a speech on Saturday, Mr. Trump sounded as if he were talking about hummus when he mispronounced Hamas (huh-maas), the Islamist group that governs the Gaza Strip and carried out one of the largest attacks on Israel in decades on Oct. 7.
The former president’s pronunciation drew the attention of the Biden campaign, which posted the video clip on social media, noting that Mr. Trump sounded “confused.”
But even Republican rivals have sensed an opening on the age issue against Mr. Trump, who has maintained an unshakable hold on the party despite a political record that would in years past have compelled conservatives to consider another standard-bearer. Mr. Trump lost control of Congress as president; was voted out of the White House; failed to help deliver a “red wave” of victories in the midterm elections last year; and, this year, drew 91 felony charges over four criminal cases.
Nikki Haley, the 51-year-old former governor of South Carolina, opened her presidential bid this year by calling for candidates 75 or older to pass mental competency tests, a push she has renewed in recent weeks.
On Saturday, Ms. Haley attacked Mr. Trump over his comments about Mr. Netanyahu and Hezbollah, suggesting in a speech to Jewish donors in Las Vegas that the former president did not have the faculties to return to the White House.
“Let me remind you,” she added with a small smile. “With all due respect, I don’t get confused.”
