West Coast Billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs is expanding her advocacy groups to suppress the mainstream public’s criticism of her mass migration policies. Immigration Hub “will expand its scope to counter far-right disinformation campaigns and push for critical policy solutions, including reforms to Section 230 of the [Internet-related] Communications Decency Act, to build safer online spaces and AI technology,” said a December 3 statement by her new group, Catalyze/Citizens. Her demand for changes in the Internet law suggests that she would use her social ties in Silicon Valley, her advocacy, and her lawyers to suppress mainstream public criticism of the nation’s wealth-shifting Extraction Migration policies. But that plan would require a new anti-free-speech law from Congress or a remarkable decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The statement added: Through these efforts, C/C aims to champion and elect pro-immigrant leaders, mobilize uncommon allies, and drive narrative interventions that protect immigrant communities and strengthen democratic values. “Ms. Powell Jobs , whose late husband was the Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, controls a fortune worth $11 billion and has an array of interests in which she invests,” the New York Times reported on November 30. The newspaper added: She took a big swing [against Trump] herself during the election. A top aide of hers circulated polling data to help nudge President Biden out of the race, and Ms. Powell Jobs quietly contributed millions to an organization backing Ms. Harris. The group’s blame-the-narrative campaign echoes the view of many pro-migration groups that Donald Trump won the election by manipulating the voters via distorted media reports. That claim sidelines the evidence that voters recognize the vast economic and civic damage caused by the elite-driven desire for the extraction of many more foreign blue-collar and white-collar workers, renters, and consumers from poor countries. President Joe Biden’s underfunded migrati0n “was a complete narrative disaster to the public,” said Andrea Flores, the chief lobbyist at Mark Zuckberg’s FWD.us pro-migration group. She lamented to an invited audience of progressives who gathered in a D.C. cinema on November 19 that: Lack of [a pro-migration] narrative ... led everyone to hear the consistent message that Trump had been saying for eight years ... that immigration was the cause of every domestic problem, whether it was housing, whether it was the price of goods. The same message is broadcast by Powell Jobs’ Immigration Hub group, which is to be headed by a career activist, Beatriz Lopez : Under my leadership, the Hub will expand its mission to tackle the source of disinformation by championing policies and solutions that ensure social media responsibility and online and AI safety. Creating the conditions for humane immigration reform means we can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines of a critical debate on tech regulations, or fail to compete against the enormous volume and spending on anti-immigrant marketing. “Catalyze/Citizens emerged from a clear conviction – we need a robust response that matches, competes and wins against the extreme right’s anti-immigrant, anti-democratic narratives. To that end, we are committed to driving major advocacy campaigns to hold accountable Trump and his allies and elect leaders who will champion humane immigration policies and regulations to safeguard against dangerous online disinformation. The group also released a report showing Kamala Harris’s campaign was reluctant to tout their migration policy during the 2024 election, while Donald Trump was eager to tout its failures: From January to October 2024, Republican and Democratic candidates, PACs, and allied groups spent a staggering $680.5 million on immigration-focused television ads across 12 battleground presidential and senate states. Republican spending accounted for a dominant 84% ($573 million) of this total, with Democrats dedicating $107 million (16%) on immigration messaging. The stakes of the presidential election intensified these investments, surpassing the GOP’s significant anti-immigrant ad spend of 2022, where $171 million was spent to frame immigration as a national threat. But the muted response by the Harris campaign was driven by a recognition that citizens increasingly oppose the elite-driven, wealth-shifting mass migration policies that Harris supported. “There has been such a desire to tamp down the border debate [that] there’s been less of an ability to pivot to other parts of the immigration debate that could be helpful,” Carlos Odio, senior vice president for research at the polling firm Equis, told The Atlantic . On November 28. Breitbart reported on the growing effort by pro-migration groups to shift blame for their self-imposed political disaster onto Trump’s “narrative” trickery. “The problem is not their messaging — the problem is the substance of their [pro-migration] policy and its consequences,” responded Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies: The administration and its allies in the media and elsewhere had almost complete control over shaping the way people perceive this [migration] phenomenon, and they’ve failed to do that [succesfully] because the reality overwhelmed their ability to dress it up. There’s only so much you can do through press releases. If community centers are being shut down because they need to be filled with [more] illegal aliens, there’s no narrative that’s going to make that palatable to people. When somebody is released into the United States by the government, is put up in a hotel for free, and then is flown to Atlanta for free, and then goes and murders somebody , there’s no covering that up. However, the investor-backed pro-migration groups have a major incentive to shift the blame for the election result that also damaged their allies in the progressive wing of the Democrat Party. So far, the party’s advocacy groups for causes related to climate, transgenderism, cities, foreign policy, racial balancing, and diversity, have not blamed the pro-migration gorups. But the Immigraiton Hub press statement also boasted of the resources it has been spending to promote more migration into Americans’ communities: Since its founding in 2017, the Immigration Hub has played a central role in advancing fair and humane immigration policies by activating over 400 partner organizations, educating and equipping elected leaders at all levels, and driving innovative advocacy campaigns. Extraction Migration Since at least 1990, the federal government has quietly adopted a policy of Extraction Migration to grow the consumer economy after Congress voted to help investors move the high-wage manufacturing sector to lower-wage countries. The migration policy extracts vast amounts of human resources from needy countries. The additional workers, white-collar graduates , consumers, and renters push up stock values by shrinking Americans’ wages , subsidizing low-productivity companies , boosting rents , and spiking real estate prices . The little-recognized economic policy has loosened the economic and civic feedback signals that animate a stable economy and democracy. It has pushed many native-born Americans out of careers in a wide variety of business sectors, reduced Americans’ productivity and political clout , slowed high-tech innovation , shrunk trade , crippled civic solidarity , and incentivized government officials and progressives to ignore the rising death rate of discarded , low-status Americans . Donald Trump’s campaign team recognizes the economic impact of migration. Biden’s unpopular policy is “flooding America’s labor pool with millions of low-wage illegal migrants who are directly attacking the wages and opportunities of hard-working Americans,” said a May statement from Trump’s campaign. The secretive economic policy also sucks jobs and wealth from heartland states by subsidizing coastal investors and government agencies with a flood of low-wage workers, high-occupancy renters, and government-aided consumers. Similar policies have damaged citizens and economies in Canada and the United Kingdom . China, however, has grown its economy by emphasizing productivity and manufacturing. The colonialism-like migration policy has also damaged small nations and has killed hundreds of Americans and thousands of migrants , including many on the taxpayer-funded jungle trail through the Darien Gap in Panama.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell says it was a really easy decision to sign with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the presence of three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani played a part, too. Snell was introduced Tuesday at Dodger Stadium accompanied by his agent Scott Boras. The left-hander finalized a $182 million, five-year contract last Saturday. “It was really easy just cause me and Haeley wanted to live here, it’s something we’ve been talking about for a while,” Snell said, referring to his girlfriend. “Then you look at the team. You look at what they’ve built, what they’re doing. It’s just something you want to be a part of.” Last month, Snell opted out of his deal with San Francisco to become a free agent for the second consecutive offseason after he was slowed by injuries during his lone year with the San Francisco Giants. Snell gets a $52 million signing bonus, payable on Jan. 25, and annual salaries of $26 million, of which $13.2 million each year will be deferred . Because Snell is a Washington state resident, the signing bonus will not be subject to California income tax. “It just played out the way that people around me felt comfortable with, I felt comfortable with, they felt comfortable with,” Snell said. “We talked and found something that could work for both of us. You want your worth, you want your respect, and you want enough time to where you can really make a name for yourself. I've made a name for myself outside of LA, but I'm going to be invested.” Two-way star Ohtani, who signed a record $700 million, 10-year deal a year ago, had a historic first season with the Dodgers. He helped them win the franchise's eighth World Series while playing only as designated hitter and became MVP in the National League for the first time after twice winning the award while in the American League. “It helps with him in the lineup for sure. That’s big motivation,” Snell said. “You want to be around players like that when you’re trying to be one of the best in the game. Yeah, it played a big part.” Snell joins Ohtani and fellow Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto atop Los Angeles’ rotation. All-Star Tyler Glasnow will be back after having his first season in LA derailed by a sprained elbow. Ohtani didn’t pitch this year while recovering from right elbow surgery but is expected back on the mound in 2025. The rest of the rotation includes Tony Gonsolin, Landon Knack, Dustin May, Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan. “I pitched on six-man, five-man, four-man rotations,” Snell said. “I'm good with it all as long as we have a plan, we'll execute it.” Snell, who turns 32 on Wednesday, went 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 20 starts this year, throwing a no-hitter at Cincinnati on Aug. 2 for one of only 16 individual shutouts in the major leagues this season. He struck out 145 and walked 44 in 104 innings. He was sidelined between April 19 and May 22 by a strained left adductor and between June 2 and July 9 by a strained left groin. Snell won Cy Young Awards in 2018 with Tampa Bay and 2023 with San Diego. He is 76-58 with a 3.19 ERA in nine seasons with the Rays (2016-20), Padres (2021-23) and Giants. He has known Andrew Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations, since he was 18. In the aftermath of winning the World Series and discussing how the Dodgers could repeat next year, Friedman said, “All conversations kept coming back to Blake.” “Usually in major league free agency, you're buying the backside of a guy's career, the accomplishments that they have had,” he said. “With Blake, one thing that's really exciting for us is, as much success as he's had, we feel like there's more in there." Snell was 2-2 against the Dodgers in his career. “We couldn’t beat him, so we’re going to have him join us,” Friedman said. .___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLBAthos Salome, a psychic often referred to as the Living Nostradamus , has made some unsettling predictions about the imminent onset of World War Three. However, he suggests that this war may not take the traditional form we might expect. Salome has previously hinted at the possibility of a global conflict erupting within the next year, given the escalating tensions in various parts of the world, including the Middle East and Russia . The increasing involvement of Western powers also seems to be pushing the world closer to the brink of war, reports the Daily Star. Living Nostradamus tried to warn Kamala Harris of Donald Trump victory Living Nostradamus's chilling prediction about global IT outage comes true However, Salome believes that the upcoming battle will be fought more in the realm of technology than on physical battlegrounds. In an interview with the Daily Star, Salome predicted that signs pointing towards a war would become increasingly evident by the end of 2024. However, he suggested that this conflict could primarily take place online. Salome said: "This is not just a war of men, but of machines, and in this aspect what comes next. Russia has reached new levels of aggression towards Ukraine , firing Oreshnik supersonic missile towards the city of Dnipro." He added: "At the same time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, Russia is ready to protect itself 'by any measure.'" "Loose talk and the employment of hi-technology equipment to engage in the conflict is therefore without doubt raising the sentiments of escalating the war." DON'T MISS: Baba Vanga's chilling 'great war' prediction could mean WW3 is just months away Chilling WW3 map shows how quickly Putin's hypersonic missiles could hit Europe 'World War 3 has already begun,' warns Ukrainian official as West holds breath Salome believes there could be a cyber Cold War between China and the United States. He said: "Of course, recent mutual accusations of cyber espionage raised the concern over a devastating imminent hacker attack that might paralyse the defence systems or infrastructure." He expressed concern about potential "coordinated global failure." "The South China Sea, already the scene of territorial disputes, will become the scene of a critical event, potentially involving massive cyber attacks." Salome made a foreboding prediction: " Russia is creating weapons with nuclear capability for ASAT, the antisatellite purposes covertly." He added: "It has blocked calls by the US and Japan to fortify the treatises that prohibit nuclear weapons in space. An attack will lead to such links being manipulated and bring down the civilian and military systems and possibly ignite a war of an undetermined scale." He also hinted at unknown developments: "Something new, perhaps connected with submerged artificial intelligence has not been made public yet. To this there is an element of uncertainty added to other tensions already in place."Google and Samsung Are Teaming Up to Make a Mixed-Reality Headset
NoneThree of these images are fake. Can you spot the real image? Some images generated by artificial intelligence have become so convincingly real that there is no surefire way to spot the fakes. But experts say there are still things we can try to detect fakes. "Media literacy is super awesome," said Matt Groh, assistant professor at Northwestern University. "But it needs to extend to AI literacy. Like the classic kind of things that you want to teach in media literacy, we still need to teach those same things. We just need to add the AI portion to it now." RELATED STORY | Nobel Prize in physics awarded to 2 scientists for discoveries that enabled artificial intelligence Groh's team at Northwestern released a guide on how to spot AI generated images. The full preprint paper was released in June. "So what we've done is we've articulated 5 different categories of artifacts, implausibilities," Groh said. "Ways to tell AI-generated image apart from a real photograph." The academic preprint guide offers detailed tips, tricks and examples on spotting AI-generated images. It also teaches important questions to consider when consuming media. Anatomical implausibilities The first and easiest telltale signs: anatomical implausibilities. Ask yourself: Are the fingers, eyes, and bodies off? Are there extra limbs or do they bend strangely? Are there too many teeth? Stylistic implausibilities Ask yourself: Do images seem plastic, glossy, shiny or cartoonish? Are there overly dramatic or cinematic? Functional implausibilities Ask yourself: Is text garbled? Is clothing strange? Are objects not physically correct, like how this backpack strap merges into clothing? Violation of physics Ask yourself: Are light and shadows off? Are there impossible reflections? Sociocultural implausibilities Ask yourself: Are there images that are just too unbelievable or historically inaccurate? RELATED STORY | AI voice cloning: How programs are learning to pick up on pitch and tone "What we're trying to do is give you a snapshot of what it looks like in 2024 and how we can help people move their attention as effectively as possible," Groh said. "Education is really the biggest thing. There's education on the tools," said Cole Whitecotton, senior professional research associate at the National Center for Media Forensics. Whitecotton encourages the public to educate themselves and try AI tools to know their capabilities and limits. "I think everybody should go out and use it. And look at how these things do what they do and understand a bit of it," he said. "Everyone should interact with ChatGPT. In some way. Everyone should interact with Midjourney. And look at how these things do what they do and understand a bit of it." Whitecotton suggests being inquisitive and curious when scrolling through social media. "If you interacted with every piece of content in that way, then there you would be a lot less likely to be duped and to be sort of sucked into that sort of stuff, right?" he said. "How do you interact with Facebook and with Twitter and all these things? How do you consume the media?" Whitecotton added. RELATED STORY | Biden's AI advisor speaks on AI policy, deepfakes, and the use of AI in war While AI-generated images and videos continue to evolve, Groh and his team offer a realistic approach to a changing technological landscape where tips and tricks may become outdated quickly. "I think a real, good, useful thing is we build this. We update this every year. Okay, some of these things work. Some of these things don't. And I think once we have a base, we're able to update it," Groh said. "I think one of the problems is we didn't have a base. And so one of the things we're really excited about is even sharing our framework, because I think our framework is going to help people just navigate that conversation." So were you able to guess which image is real? If you guessed the image of the girl in the bottom left corner, you are correct! "It sucks that there's this misinformation in the world. But it's also possible to navigate this new problem," Groh said. If you want to test yourself even more, the Northwestern University research team has released this site that gives you a series of real and AI-generated images to differentiate.
Signing with Dodgers was really easy decision for 2-time Cy Young winner Blake SnellNEW ORLEANS (AP) — A southeast Louisiana official has been accused of committing perjury for failing to disclose information related to a in the state’s in response to a lawsuit brought by a prominent local climate activist. St. John the Baptist Parish President Jaclyn Hotard denied in a deposition that she knew her mother-in-law could have benefited financially from parish rezoning plans to make way for a 222-acre (90-hectare) grain export facility along the Mississippi River. Hotard also said in court filings, under oath, that no correspondence existed between her and her mother-in-law about the grain terminal, even though her mother-in-law later turned over numerous text messages where they discussed the grain terminal and a nearby property owned by the mother-in-law’s marine transport company, court records show. The text messages were disclosed as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by Joy Banner, who along with her sister, Jo Banner, successfully led efforts to earlier this year. It would have been built within 300 feet (91 meters) of their property and close to historic sites in the predominantly where they grew up. The legal dispute is part of a broader clash and , pitting officials eager to greenlight economic development against challenging industrial expansion in the heavily industrialized 85-mile industrial corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans often referred to by environmental activists as “Cancer Alley.” “We are residents that are just trying to protect our homes and just trying to live our lives as we have a right to do,” Banner said in an interview with The Associated Press. The Banner sisters gained national attention after cofounding the Descendants Project, an organization dedicated to historic preservation and racial justice. In the text messages turned over as part of Joy Banner’s lawsuit, Hotard, the parish president, says that she wished to “choke” Joy Banner and used profanities to describe her. Hotard also said of the Banner sisters: “I hate these people.” Hotard and her attorney, Ike Spears, did not respond to requests for comment after Tuesday’s filing. Richard John Tomeny, the lawyer representing Hotard’s mother-in-law, Darla Gaudet, declined to comment. Banner initially sued the parish in federal court in December 2023 after Hotard and another parish councilman, Michael Wright, threatened her with arrest and barred her from speaking during a public comment period at a November 2023 council meeting. “In sum: a white man threatened a Black woman with prosecution and imprisonment for speaking during the public comment period of a public meeting,” Banner’s lawsuit says. It accuses the parish of violating Banner’s First Amendment rights. Wright and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. Hotard and Wright have disputed Banner’s version of events in court filings. At the November 2023 meeting, Banner attempted to highlight Hotard’s alleged conflict of interest in approving a zoning change to enable the grain export facility’s construction. Banner had also recently filed a complaint to the Louisiana Board of Ethics against Hotard pointing out that her mother-in-law allegedly would benefit financially because she owned and managed a marine transport company that had land “near and within” the area being rezoned. In response to a discovery request, Hotard submitted a court filing saying “no such documents exist” between her and her mother-in-law discussing the property, the grain terminal or Joy Banner, according to the recent motion filed by Banner’s attorneys. Hotard also said in her August deposition that she had “no idea” about her mother-in-law’s company’s land despite text messages showing Hotard and her mother-in-law had discussed this property less than three weeks before Hotard’s deposition. Banner’s lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial early next year. ___ Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96 Jack Brook, The Associated PressA newborn baby has been rushed to hospital with serious head injuries after two teens allegedly stormed a home in the Northern Territory. Emergency services were called to the home in Larapinta after reports two males had unlawfully entered the property about 2.30pm on Wednesday. Police allege one man threatened a woman who was holding her two-month-old infant before assaulting her with a blunt weapon, while another searched the home. The two youths allegedly fled the scene with the woman’s handbag and vehicle keys but were located by police a short time later, with one of the men placed under arrest. A second youth allegedly fled in a vehicle but after a short pursuit was also arrested by Northern Territory police. The woman, who was at home with four children at the time, was rushed to Alice Springs Hospital. The infant sustained a serious head injury and was also taken to Alice Springs, before being flown to Adelaide for further treatment where they remained in a stable condition. Detective Superintendent Regional Crime Paul Lawson said police responded “en masse” to the alleged incident, and thanked the first responders who attended. “This is an absolutely shocking incident. I’m shocked. The community is shocked. First responders are shocked,” he said in a social media video. “Our thoughts go out to the victims of this incident, their families. I cannot even think about what they’re going through”. Two males, aged 16 and 17, have since been charged over the alleged attack, including with aggravated burglary and robbery. They also face charges of unlawfully causing serious harm, aggravated assault, and theft, and are due in court on Thursday. Originally published as Newborn, mum rushed to hospital after teens allegedly attack home
Nvidia Stock Falls 3% On Rare Downgrade, Missed 'Bullish Whispers'Aybak: About 35 miners were trapped under the rubble of a coal mine in Afghanistan’s Samangan province, local officials said on Sunday, December 15. The provincial health director, Sayed Usman Hamidi, counted 35 miners under the debris, saying rescue teams and health personnel have been dispatched to the area to rescue the trapped miners, Xinhua news agency reported. “Preliminary reports indicate that several miners were busy in a coal mine in the Dara-i-Sufi Payin district of Samangan province yesterday, but part of the mine caved in, and resultantly several miners were trapped under rubble,” a statement from the provincial police office released on Sunday said. The statement further said that police personnel, local officials, and villagers have rushed to the site to rescue trapped miners from under the debris. The operations are being continued to rescue workers trapped under the debris but none have been freed yet, according to local Taliban officials. The incident occurred around 6 p.m. Saturday, according to the Bakhtar News Agency. Earlier this week, two workers died from gas exposure at a coal mine in Bamiyan province’s Khwaja Ganj village. In February 2002, at least 10 miners lost their lives after being trapped underground when a coal mine collapsed in Afghanistan. In 2019, at least 30 people were killed in the collapse of a gold mine in Afghanistan, officials said. The collapse occurred in the Kohistan district of Badakhshan province. Afghanistan houses vast resources of minerals, but many of the mines are old and poorly maintained. Afghanistan’s mining sector has seen frequent fatal accidents, often attributed to inadequate safety measures and a lack of proper equipment.
Reclusive Matt LeBlanc pictured grocery shopping amid major career changeWASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday passed a $895 billion measure that authorizes a 1% increase in defense spending this fiscal year and would give a double-digit pay raise to about half of the enlisted service members in the military. The bill is traditionally strongly bipartisan, but some Democratic lawmakers opposed the inclusion of a ban on transgender medical treatments for children of military members if such treatment could result in sterilization. It passed by a vote of 281-140 and next moves to the Senate, where lawmakers sought a bigger boost in defense spending than the current measure allows. The Pentagon and the surrounding area is seen Jan. 26, 2020, from the air in Washington. Lawmakers are touting the bill's 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for others as key to improving the quality of life for those serving in the U.S. military. Those serving as junior enlisted personnel are in pay grades that generally track with their first enlistment term. Lawmakers said service member pay failed to remain competitive with the private sector, forcing many military families to rely on food banks and government assistance programs to put food on the table. The bill also provides significant new resources for child care and housing. "No service member should have to live in squalid conditions and no military family should have to rely on food stamps to feed their children, but that's exactly what many of our service members are experiencing, especially the junior enlisted," said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. "This bill goes a long way to fixing that." The bill sets key Pentagon policy that lawmakers will attempt to fund through a follow-up appropriations bill. The overall spending tracks the numbers established in a 2023 agreement that then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., reached with President Joe Biden to increase the nation's borrowing authority and avoid a federal default in exchange for spending restraints. Many senators had wanted to increase defense spending some $25 billion above what was called for in that agreement, but those efforts failed. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who is expected to serve as the next chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the overall spending level was a "tremendous loss for our national defense," though he agreed with many provisions within the bill. "We need to make a generational investment to deter the Axis of Aggressors. I will not cease work with my congressional colleagues, the Trump administration, and others until we achieve it," Wicker said. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., speaks with reporters Nov. 21 on Capitol Hill in Washington. House Republicans don't want to go above the McCarthy-Biden agreement for defense spending and are looking to go way below it for many non-defense programs. They are also focused on cultural issues. The bill prohibits funding for teaching critical race theory in the military and prohibits TRICARE health plans from covering gender dysphoria treatment for children under 18 if that treatment could result in sterilization. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the ranking Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, said minors dealing with gender dysphoria is a "very real problem." He said the treatments available, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, have proven effective at helping young people dealing with suicidal thoughts, anxiety and depression. "These treatments changed their lives and in many cases saved their lives," Smith said. "And in this bill, we decided we're going to bar service members' children from having access to that." Smith said the number of minors in service member families receiving transgender medical care extends into the thousands. He could have supported a study asking medical experts to determine whether such treatments are too often used, but a ban on health insurance coverage went too far. He said Speaker Mike Johnson's office insisted on the ban and said the provision "taints an otherwise excellent piece of legislation." Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called the ban a step in the right direction, saying, "I think these questions need to be pulled out of the debate of defense, so we can get back to the business of defending the United States of America without having to deal with social engineering debates." Smith said he agrees with Roy that lawmakers should be focused on the military and not on cultural conflicts, "and yet, here it is in this bill." Branden Marty, a Navy veteran who served for 13 years, said the loss of health coverage for transgender medical treatments could prompt some with valuable experience to leave the military, affecting national security because "we already struggle from a recruiting and retention standpoint." He also said the bill could regularly force service members into difficult choices financially. "It will be tough for a lot of them because of out-of-pocket expenses, especially enlisted members who we know already struggle with food insecurity," said Marty, the father of a transgender teenager. "They don't get paid very much, so they're going to be making a lot of choices on a day-to-day, tactical level." House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., responds to reporters Dec. 6 during his weekly news conference at the Capitol in Washington. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, said his team did not tell Democrats how to vote on the bill. "There's a lot of positive things in the National Defense Authorization Act that were negotiated in a bipartisan way, and there are some troubling provisions in a few areas as well," Jeffries said. Overall, 81 Democrats voted for the bill and 124 against it. On the Republican side, 200 voted for the bill and 16 against it. "It's disappointing to see 124 of my Democrat colleagues vote against our brave men and women in uniform over policies that have nothing to do with their intended mission," Johnson, R-La., said. The defense policy bill also looks to strengthen deterrence against China. It calls for investing $15.6 billion to build military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region. The Biden administration requested about $10 billion. On Israel, the bill, among other things, includes an expansion of U.S. joint military exercises with Israel and a prohibition on the Pentagon citing casualty data from Hamas. The defense policy bill is one of the final measures that lawmakers view as a must-pass before making way for a new Congress in January. Rising threats from debt collectors against members of the U.S. armed forces are undermining national security, according to data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal watchdog that protects consumer rights. To manage the impact of financial stress on individual performance, the Defense Department dedicates precious resources to improving financial literacy, so service members know the dangers of notorious no-credit-check loans. “The financial well-being of service members and their families is one of the Department’s top priorities,” said Andrew Cohen, the director of financial readiness in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon. But debt collectors are gaining ground. Last quarter, debt collection complaints by U.S. military service members increased 24% , and attempts to collect on “debts not owed” surged 40%. Complaints by service members against debt collectors for deceptive practices ballooned from 1,360 in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 1,833 in the first quarter of 2024. “There’s a connection between the financial readiness and the readiness of a service member to perform their duty,” said Jim Rice, Assistant Director, Office of Servicemember Affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Laws exist to protect the mission readiness of U.S. troops from being compromised by threats and intimidation, but debt collectors appear to be violating them at an alarming pace. “If they’re threatening to call your commander or get your security clearance revoked, that’s illegal,” says Deborah Olvera, financial readiness manager at Wounded Warriors Project, and a military spouse who’s been harassed herself by a collection agency that tried to extort money from her for a debt she didn’t owe. But after she requested the name of the original creditor, she never heard from them again. “The financial well-being of service members and their families is one of the Department’s top priorities.” —Andrew Cohen, Director of Financial Readiness at the Pentagon Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, it’s illegal for debt collectors to threaten to contact your boss or have you arrested because it violates your financial privacy. The FDCPA also prohibits debt collectors from making false, deceptive, or misleading representations in connection with the collection of a debt, even for borrowers with bad credit scores. But according to the data, debt collectors are increasingly ignoring those rules. “Debt collection continues to be one of the top consumer complaint categories,” said a spokesperson at the Federal Trade Commission. The commission released a report earlier this year revealing that consumers were scammed $10 billion in 2023, a new benchmark for fraud losses. In his book Debt: The First 5,000 Years, David Graeber argues that debt often creates a relationship that can feel more oppressive than systems of hierarchy, like slavery or caste systems because it starts by presuming equality between the debtor and the creditor. When the debtor falls into arrears, that equality is then destroyed. This sense of betrayal and the subsequent imbalance of power leads to widespread resentment toward lenders. Photo Credit: Olena Yakobchuk / Shutterstock The debt collector reportedly harassing military service members most was Resurgent Capital Services, a subsidiary of collection giant Sherman Financial Group. The company tacks on accrued interest and junk fees and tries to collect on debts purchased for pennies on the dollar from cable companies, hospitals, and credit card companies, among others. Sherman Financial Group is run by billionaire Benjamin Navarro, who has a reported net worth of $1.5 billion, according to Forbes. Sherman Financial also owns subprime lender Credit One Bank and LVNV Funding, which outsource collections to Resurgent Capital. According to CFPB data, the second worst offender is CL Holdings, the parent company of debt-buyer Jefferson Capital Systems. The company has also been named in numerous complaints to the Better Business Bureau for alleged violations of the FDCPA, such as failing to properly validate debts or update credit reports with accurate information. Under the leadership of CEO David Burton, Jefferson Capital Systems is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CompuCredit Corporation, which markets subprime credit cards under the names Aspire, Majestic, and others. The third most referenced debt collector is publicly traded Portfolio Recovery Associates [NASDAQ: PRAA], which was forced to pay $27 million in penalties for making false representations about debts, initiating lawsuits without proper documentation, and other violations. Portfolio Recovery Associates is run by CEO Vikram Atal. Fourth place for alleged worst offender goes to Encore Capital Group [NASDAQ ECPG], which was required to pay $42 million in consumer refunds and a $10 million penalty for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Encore collects under its subsidiary Midland Credit Management Group. These debt collectors all operate under a veritable shell game of company and brand names, almost none of which are disclosed on their websites, sending consumers on a wild goose chase to try and figure out how they’re related to each other. But despite their attempts to hide their tracks behind a smoke screen of subsidiaries, a leopard can’t change its spots, and the CFPB complaint database makes it harder for them to try. Photo Credit: Bumble Dee / Shutterstock Although widely considered a consumer-friendly state, complaints spiked most in California, which saw a 188% increase in complaints filed from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024. California is home to 157,367 military personnel, making it the most populous state for active-duty service members. The second-largest increase in debt collection complaints was in Texas, which saw a 66% jump from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024. The U.S. Department of Defense reports 111,005 service members stationed in the Lone Star State, which is the third-most populous state for active-duty military. The rising trends do not correlate to the number of military personnel by state. Complaints against debt collectors in Virginia, the second most populous state with 126,145 active duty personnel, decreased by 29% in the same quarter-over-quarter period. And complaints filed quarter-over-quarter in North Carolina, the fifth most populous state with 91,077 military personnel, decreased by 3% in the same period. The third largest percentage increase in debt collection complaints was from service members stationed in Maryland, where alleged harassment reports jumped 112% from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024. Maryland ranks number 12 with just 28,059 active duty service members. Fourth place goes to Ohio – the 28th most populous active-duty state – where complaints doubled, followed by Arizona – the 15th most populous military state – where complaints were up 70% in the same quarter-over-quarter period. Photo Credit: PeopleImages.com - Yuri A / Shutterstock In 2007, Congress passed the Military Lending Act to cap the cost of credit to a 36% annual percentage rate, inclusive of junk fees and late charges, for active duty military service members. That rate is still considerably higher than average credit card rates, which range from 8% for borrowers with excellent credit scores to as high as 36% for borrowers with bad credit. But lenders still get hauled into court for violating the MLA. Don Hankey, the billionaire subprime auto lender who funded Donald Trump’s $175 million appeal bond , is among those violators. His company, Westlake Financial, which markets high-interest car loans for bad credit, has been sued twice by the Department of Justice for harassing military service members. In 2017, the DoJ alleged Hankey’s Westlake Financial illegally repossessed at least 70 vehicles owned by military service members. Westlake Financial paid $700,000 to settle the charges. In 2022, Westlake Financial paid $250,000 for allegedly cheating U.S. troops out of interest rates they were legally entitled to. Westlake Financial continues to receive complaints from military service members alleging abusive debt collection practices on its no-credit-check loans. A steady year-over-year increase in the number of complaints filed against Westlake Financial continued from 2020 to 2023. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau data shows a 13% increase in the number of complaints against the company from 2020 to 2021, a 28% increase from 2021 to 2022, and a torrential 119% surge from 2022 to 2023. The numbers suggest systemic complaint-handling processes and inadequate customer service resources. Photo Credit: Cynthia Shirk / Shutterstock On May 16, 2024, a deceptively named predatory lending industry front group dubbed the Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) lost a legal attempt to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In an effort to deprive Americans of essential consumer protections, the lobby group argued that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding structure was unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court denied its claim. In a 7-2 ruling, the Court held that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding structure is indeed constitutional. That means the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau cannot be defunded, but it does not mean the agency cannot be defanged. The New York Times suggested that Hankey’s incentive to finance Trump’s $175 million bond could have been a reciprocity pledge to neuter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if Trump wins the upcoming U.S. presidential election. If Trump wins a second term, he could replace Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Rohit Chopra, an American consumer advocate, with a predatory lending advocate. In 2020, the Trump Administration secured a Supreme Court ruling that made it easier for the president to fire the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The ruling struck down previous restrictions on when a president can fire the bureau’s director. Like other federal agencies, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has also been confronted for overstepping its bounds, pushing too far, and acting unfairly against entities it regulates. Photo Credit: Lux Blue / Shutterstock Seasonality and rising interest rates do not explain the increase in debt collection complaints from service members. The surge in complaints is not tied to predictable seasonal fluctuations or changes in interest rates. The increase in debt collection complaints by service members may point to underlying systemic issues, such as aggressive and predatory debt collection practices that exploit the unique financial vulnerabilities of service members, who face frequent relocations and deployments. Debt Complaints by Service Members The 24% spike in debt collection complaints exhibits no correlation to fluctuations in interest rates. 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rates Pandemic stimulus checks were also not a factor. COVID-19 relief benefit checks went through three major rounds during the pandemic. The final round of Economic Impact Payments went out in March 2021 . To better understand the rising trend of debt collection complaints, we calculated the increase in the total number of complaints and the percentage increase quarter-over-quarter. For example, New Jersey has the second largest percentage increase in complaints quarter-over-quarter, but the total number of complaints increased by just 16. The data for this study was sourced from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) complaint database. The dataset specifically targeted complaints filed by U.S. military service members, identified using the tag “Servicemember” within Q4 2023 and Q1 2024. Readers can find the detailed research methodology underlying this news story in the accompanying section here . For complete results, see U.S. Troops Face Mounting Threats from Predatory Debt Collectors on BadCredit.org . Homelessness reached record levels in 2023, as rents and home prices continued to rise in most of the U.S. One group was particularly impacted: people who have served in the U.S. military. "This time last year, we knew the nation was facing a deadly public health crisis," Jeff Olivet, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, said in a statement about the 2023 numbers. He said the latest homelessness estimates from the Department of Housing and Urban Development "confirms the depth of the crisis." At least 35,000 veterans were experiencing homelessness in 2023, according to HUD. While that's about half of what it was in 2009—when the organization began collecting data—things have plateaued in recent years despite active efforts to get that number to zero. Although they make up just 6.6% of the total homeless population, veterans are more likely to be at risk of homelessness than Americans overall. Of every 10,000 Americans, 20 were experiencing homelessness. Of veterans living in the United States, that number jumps to 22, HUD data shows. Complicated by bureaucracy, family dynamics, and prejudice, the path from serving in the military to homelessness is a long one. According to a 2022 study by Yale School of Medicine researchers, homelessness typically occurs within four years of leaving the military, as veterans must contend with the harsh reality of finding a job in a world where employers struggle to see how skills on the battlefield transfer to a corporate environment. These days, veterans also deal with historically high rent and home prices, which causes many to rely on family generosity while figuring out a game plan. Stacker examined academic studies, analyzed government data, and spoke with members of the Biden administration, experts, and former members of the armed forces to see the struggles members of the military face when leaving the armed forces. The Department of Veterans Affairs offers transition assistance to the roughly 250,000 service members who leave each year. However, those programs can be burdensome and complex to navigate, especially for those who don't have a plan for post-military life. Only a small portion of veterans have jobs lined up when they leave, according to 2019 Pew Research. Many also choose to live with relatives until they get on their feet, which can be longer than anticipated. Some former service members are unsure what kind of career they'd like to pursue and may have to get further education or training, Carl Castro, director of the Military and Veteran Programs at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at the University of Southern California, told Stacker. "It takes years for that kind of transition," Castro said. Many have trouble finding a job after leaving the service, even if they are qualified. Some employers carry misconceptions about those who have served. A 2020 analysis from the journal Human Resource Management Review found that some veterans face hiring discrimination due to negative stereotypes that lead hiring managers to write them off as a poor culture fit. Underemployment, or working low-wage jobs below their skill level, is also an issue. While the unemployment rate for veterans was 3% in March 2024, a study released by Penn State at the end of 2023 found three years after leaving the service, 61% of veterans said they were underemployed because of perceived skill mismatches . This phenomenon can have long-term economic effects, and eventually, that frustration can boil over, strain relationships, and potentially lead to housing instability. Working, especially a low-wage job, is not protection against homelessness. A 2021 study from the University of Chicago found half of people living in homeless shelters and 2 in 5 unsheltered people were employed, full or part-time. High rents make it difficult to save up, even when applying for a VA loan—a mortgage backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs that typically has more favorable terms. While the VA does not require a downpayment, some lenders, who ultimately provide the loan, do. They're not entirely risk-free either, and veterans can still lose their homes if they are unable to keep up with their mortgages. In November 2023, the VA put a six-month pause on foreclosures when an NPR investigation found thousands of veterans were in danger of losing their homes after a COVID forbearance program ended. Biden officials pointed to high rents and the end of COVID-era housing restrictions like eviction moratoriums to explain the spike in Americans experiencing homelessness. In the last year, homelessness rose 12%—to more than 650,000 people—the highest level since data began being collected in 2007. Overall, more than half of people experiencing homelessness in 2023 live in states with high living costs. Most were in California, followed by New York and Florida. Western states, including Montana and Utah, experienced massive population growth during the pandemic, becoming hubs for remote workers who drove home prices and rents even further. For veterans, housing costs certainly play a role, but those who leave the military also face systemic barriers. "It's worrying there are people that continue to fall through the cracks," said Jeanette Yih Harvie, a research associate at Syracuse University's D'Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families. Just under a quarter of adults experiencing homelessness have a severe mental illness , according to 2022 HUD survey data. They are also likely to have chronic illnesses but are unable to maintain preventative care, which only exacerbates these problems. Veterans facing homelessness are more likely to have experienced trauma , either before or after joining the military, according to Yale researchers who analyzed the 2019-2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study. Childhood trauma was among the most significant commonalities among vets who become homeless. Substance use disorder is also widespread and can indicate an undiagnosed mental illness . Racial and ethnic disparities are at play, too. A 2023 study in the Journal of Psychiatric Research showed that Hispanic and Black veterans were more likely to screen positive for PTSD, and Hispanic veterans were more likely to report having suicidal ideation. Overall, access to mental health care has improved in the last decade or so. In December 2023, the VA announced it would open nine additional counseling centers. However, the stigma of getting help remains, especially after years of being conditioned to be self-reliant and pull oneself up by their bootstraps. That help, in the form of public policy, is slowly working to catch up to the need. In 2023, the Biden administration invested millions into research programs and studies on suicide prevention by the VA office in addition to a proposed $16 billion to improve quality and lower-cost mental health care services for veterans. And, in February of this year, HUD and the VA announced they would give up to $14 million in vouchers to public housing agencies for veterans experiencing homelessness. The program would also offer case management and other services. Still, with a culture that pushes people to keep going, it can be challenging for servicemembers to take advantage of these opportunities, Harvie said. "When you've been doing that for the last 15 or 20 years, it's difficult to stop and say, 'I'm the person that needs help.'" Story editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn. Respond: Write a letter to the editor | Write a guest opinion Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. 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Breaking News Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. A newborn baby has been rushed to hospital with serious head injuries after two teens allegedly stormed a home in the Northern Territory. Emergency services were called to the home in Larapinta after reports two males had unlawfully entered the property about 2.30pm on Wednesday. Police allege one man threatened a woman who was holding her two-month-old infant before assaulting her with a blunt weapon, while another searched the home. The two youths allegedly fled the scene with the woman’s handbag and vehicle keys but were located by police a short time later, with one of the men placed under arrest. police received reports that two males had allegedly unlawfully entered a residence on Bokhara Street, Parapinta about 2.30pm. A second youth allegedly fled in a vehicle but after a short pursuit was also arrested by Northern Territory police. The woman, who was at home with four children at the time, was rushed to Alice Springs Hospital. The infant sustained a serious head injury and was also taken to Alice Springs, before being flown to Adelaide for further treatment where they remained in a stable condition. Detective Superintendent Regional Crime Paul Lawson said police responded “en masse” to the alleged incident, and thanked the first responders who attended. Detective Superintendent Regional Crime Paul Lawson said police responded “en masse”/ Picture: NT Police “This is an absolutely shocking incident. I’m shocked. The community is shocked. First responders are shocked,” he said in a social media video. “Our thoughts go out to the victims of this incident, their families. I cannot even think about what they’re going through”. Two males, aged 16 and 17, have since been charged over the alleged attack, including with aggravated burglary and robbery. They also face charges of unlawfully causing serious harm, aggravated assault, and theft, and are due in court on Thursday. Originally published as Newborn, mum rushed to hospital after teens allegedly attack home More related stories Careers ‘Privilege’: Sonny Bill’s shock career move A global sports star known for his deep faith and “passion for social equity” has made a surprising career change. Read more Breaking News ‘If I refuse?’: Violent man’s wild question A violent offender is back in the community, but a wild exchange with a Supreme Court justice suggests he might struggle to fit in. Read more
