Corrections at bottom
I'm a retarded GenXer who YOLO'd junior silver miner OTM call options in 2011 and lost a truckload of cash. But I kept my phyzz until a freak boating accident sunk it all. Oh well, this isn't financial advice, I'm a proven idiot, and nobody should listen to me.
I've learned a lot about the silver markets charlatans since then. Mike Maloney is a forever pumper. Peter Schiff is a suit and shill. Doug Casey lives on a ranch in Argentina but has his head far up his ass. Since you retards love to lose it all, go listen to those guys. But there are some very serious voices in the precious metals market that have proven the fraud and manipulation and even come up with ways around it: Ted Butler (commodity analysis), Eric Sprott (creator of $PSLV), James Dines (legendary newsletter writer), and James Turk (creator of goldmoney.com).
Silver is the biggest opportunity for profit that the general public could broadly participate in. If the price of silver goes up, the miners will see amplified gains. Juniors would explode into the alpha centuri (13,000% gains or more, easily). The reason we know this is because it's been tried before by people smarter than any of us (Hunt Brothers 1980, Buffet's 1997-2006 silver purchase, and 2010 mini-squeeze-beatdown). Even that lucky commie bastard Max Keiser tried to rally enough retards together to squeeze silver and "crash JPMorgan" before he got rich off bitcoin. {If you can't read, there is a video breakdown: search "youtube Is a WallStreetBets Silver Squeeze Possible" for a pretty good historical overview}
The forces at play in the precious metals market are global, historical, and backed by the biggest banks, not some meaningless hedgefund. It's the real deal. American's money used to be backed in bi-metallic standard, all coinage had some precious metals (pre 1964 dimes, silver dollars/half dollars and paper currency all convertible to silver or gold). All real silverbugs ultimate goal is to return to a bi-metalic backed US currency. It's a big part of the precious metals folklore, and the fact that the last straw that sealed President Kennedy's fate was signing Executive Order 11110 which would have returned the US to a silver standard. This would have restored faith in our financial system, eliminate the scourge of inflation, balanced the value of labor versus financial assets, and allow regular workers to save instead of being forced to participate in a ridiculous casino just to have a retirement.
Attention CNBC media whores reading this: who is the villain of this story? Blythe Masters. Check her out, she's actually pretty hot. {search: "Blythe Masters wants to upend finance again twitter bloomberg"} And she is a goddamn evil mastermind that created the Credit Default Swap (CDS). Yes, she created the financial weapon of mass destruction that sunk the global economy in 2008, she is first author on the paper. Then she went on to lead the JP Morgan precious metals trading desk to unwind Bear Sterns silver short book by containing any rally (that's how I lost all my money). Now she is working on blockchain technology that can be used by the banking cartels as a weapon to further enslave the entire world. And, yes, you degenerates, she has a sexy British accent and a killer set of legs. {search "egonzehnder blythe masters shares career advice daughters 2019"}
Steven Cohen is a fucking worm to Blythe Masters. Any financial instrument like SLV would be manipulated easily by her and the ilk that inherited her positions at JPMorgan and other bullion banks. There is only 1 way to perform a real silver squeeze: physical ownership (not paper ownership like SLV, there is a big difference). The commodity futures markets is called the COMEX. The COMEX has about a 250 contracts trade for every 1 ounce of actual silver available for delivery. That means if a handful of commodity traders stand for delivery and the physical delivery can't be made it will crash the COMEX. Sure, they might be forced to settle for cash like the Hunt brothers, but it will crash the COMEX and the price will soar nonetheless. It's a real thing, people have done it, there is no stopping that it will happen again. And what happens historically is a giant leap for junior miners: Copper Lake in 1980 jumped 13,000%. The average silver junior miner lept over 2,300%). It was soo easy to make money, even an ape could do it.
So, how do we avoid the manipulation?

1. $SLV is a scam! SLV's custodian is JP Morgan, the vampire squid sucking on the face of humanity! Don't fall for it. They can never be trusted. Most silverbugs don't even believe they have any silver or gold in their ETFs of any significant amounts, otherwise there would be outside audits which don't happen. Anybody suggesting to use SLV is a pumper, paid shill, or doesn't know the history. And yes, now that JPMorgan has paid almost a Billion dollar fine for manipulating the silver market, they are long silver or at least are holding it as custodian for other players. So if silver goes up will JPMorgan win...yeah maybe. But that's not the point, you'd win, I'd win, the people of the world win.

2. $PSLV is not an appropriate vehicle. PSLV is a closed end fund. Eric Sprott is not going to buy any more silver and issue any more shares. Premium to NAV went over 20% and he didn't do it. PSLV serves a purpose (tax savings), but they don't acquire on commodity exchanges unless a big player takes delivery. If you actually have enough money to take delivery 10,000 oz - then PSLV works.
So what to really do: Buy PSLV or physical For the paranoid, you can create an account on goldmoney.com, put money into silver and it is owned by you, stored in Switzerland and registered in the Island of Jersey (for the most part outside of financial oligarchy control). You have to fill out a form on your taxes each year but buying/selling stonks have the same requirement, just a different form. Again, NOT financial advice - I'm a proven town idiot and hold no credentials no should you listen to me.
Goldmoney.com was created by James Turk, exactly for this purpose. So people can own phyzz without having to hide a 1000lb safe in your wife's boyfriend's basement or sink your phyzz into a pond. And also he set it up outside of the US so if the US government seized physical (like 1934!), his customers would have some chance at taking physical delivery in Switzerland. I wholeheartedly believed that the crash of 2008 would lead to this eventual outcome if silver went really high and it almost did at $50, at $100 the champagne corks stop poppin.
So then what went happened in 2011? Blythe Masters happened. JP Morgan and the other bullion banks beat down the precious metals market in a coordinated attack of naked short selling. Punishing beat downs, if you're into that kinda thing!
The silver spike of 2010/11 happened because some silverbugs bought physical metals and there were shortages at the retail level, just like what has started today. In all honesty, there were probably 10,000 Silverbugs in existence at that time all acting as lone actors on a handful of forums. This time could be much different, if a lot of apes bought silver and the intermediaries held for delivery on the COMEX this could break the back of the silver cartel and Lord Rothschild would roll over in his grave. And silver junior miners would skyrocket!
I love silver, what will I buy? 90-100% into some other form of physical ownership (coins/or goldmoney.com). $PSLV is also an acceptable vehicle but doesn't squeeze LBMA/COMEX supplies {search: "sprott physical silver trust December 2020 fact sheet"}. And 0-10% into long-dated calls or shares of junior minors. Some pumper was saying $AG (First Majestic). Sure maybe, or just use $SILJ a basket of silver juniors that would all explode and give you less single company risk to enjoy the rally. Get your popcorn.
And those boomers, will they help buy silver? Don't count on it, but that's a different type of rant.
TL;DR
Buy either physical silver, $PSLV, or goldmoney.com and also a little bit of silver miners to amplify gainz. Blythe Masters is a demon. Break the COMEX. Restore our heritage of sound money.
Corrections: PSLV has registered to issue $1.5billion more shares. That’s a lot of shiny silver. See the link in the comments below. It’s looks like PSLV will be retails best bet to apply pressure on the physical market. And if bullion dealers become stocked out, and PSLV stands for delivery, this strategy would work.

Someone else brought up this hypothetical on collapse and figured it was so good needed to be here too. So imagine on new years Eve and the clock strikes midnight and it's now 1/1/2020. How are you reliving this timeloop. Not knowing if it will ever stop repeating unless you do the right thing.
How are you living in this timeloop? Here's my story I posted on collapse. Please share yours!
Well this is fucked. We're never getting out of this timeloop.
Well let's see here. My first year on the timeloop will go something like this:
January 1st as I spend the night as I began 2020 quarantined with the flu (or maybe covid who knows) watching the ball drop at midnight I am shocked to see Ryan Secreast wish everyone a Happy 2020. I'm like wtf I'm not that drunk. Checks the time on my phone. 2020 again fuuuuuck another year of listening to the msm bitch about Trump! Ah yeah and covids coming soon better make a TP, N95 mask and hand sanitizer run and buy that bidet I've been wanting now. Oh yeah and stock up on ammo that's gonna be expensive in a few months.
Alright now time to buy up Stock in Tesla, Disney, Netflix, Amazon and watch them go to the moon before I sell them around the time people start running out of unemployment then cash out and donate it to people in need.
Now that that's taken care of proceed to bet on LSU crushing Clemson in the championship by exact scores. Then fly out to Vegas and party like it's 2019 off my winnings before SHTF. While I'm there might as well put in a bet on a world pandemic happening in 2020 and also that all the casinos in Vegas will close. They'll give me 10,000:1 odds. I'll make an easy 20million off of it come April..... literally betting against Vegas and winning. I'll come back home mid January and while I wait on my big payday I'll put a bet on the Superbowl while I'm at it.
Okay so we're up to early February now. Chiefs just won the Superbowl. Got some more funny money in the pocket to play with. Gonna buy an ebike and dress like a Cyberpunk character so I can roam the empty downtown streets in another month when the lockdowns hit and it's a true ghost town. The virus news is starting to go mainstream but no one's really taking it seriously yet. Wuhan is in lockdown. Vegas chuckles slightly worried....hehe. I decide make a bet with a friend $50 that Trump will name it China Flu and call it a democratic hoax. Plan to buy a 100 piece chicken nuggie platter with the winnings and eat them with my dog just cause we can.
March hits. The chicken nuggies are all gone. Time to start doomer posting about the lockdowns coming and businesses closing and historic unemployment levels about to come. Nothing I didn't already do. Also start a campaign about the coming explosion in Beirut and hopefully it goes somewhere to prevent that shit from happening.
Ok so April rolls around. I'm calling Vegas and they sound like their whole family died in a car wreck when I call to collect my $20 million. Tell them I'm a time traveler from the future and hang up. He'll spend the rest of the year thinking I was. I'll quit my job soon as the check clears and buy an RV and travel the US. I wanna go through Oregon and Cali before they burn. I'll post murals of George Floyd along the route with a BLM sticker on it. Also I'll post Proud Boi posters in every town I visit with a pic of two guys banging. While I'm at it I'll buy up billboard ads in every state that reads "Fish was right".
I'll finish my end of the world tour in early May as the lockdowns have ended and settle on nice ranch I bought with my winnings. Start a doomer cult of the most worthy Doomers of collapse. We will make sour bough bread and donate it to the food banks. We'll preach the gospels of the 350k deaths to come this year of Covid and the Presidential Coup.
Come June my cult will gain even more followers after the George Floyd events unfold and the months of riots begin. All of the murals I posted of Floyd will have lead them to the doomer cult website I made that was posted at the bottom of every mural. Also Rudy Giuliani will get millions of dick pics and gaping asshole pics sent to his email....his email account will be listed below all of the Proud Boi posters. As for "Fish was right". It will be linked to collapse. The sub gets flooded with new followers. We hit 10million within a week. The mods are so desperate for help they hire Satan to help filter out all the spam. He ends up just sending all the shit posters to hell. The subreddit loses 5 million followers within a month. Satan is just happy to have all the souls.
July roles around and it's hot as hell. Satan confirms. Spend the month on the ranch building a giant wooden fish. We're planning the largest doomer gathering that didn't end in mass suicide. We all just do drugs and have orgy's for the month. Of course we keep it safe with 2 covid tests and a week of quarantine before they enter. Everyone shows up with their newly bought camping gear because everyone will become campers now. u/DJdickjob smuggles in the drugs up from Florida. I made him get rid of the heroin crack and meth though. Only the good drugs. The mass gathering was only supposed to last for a month but turns into 3. Summer of love is over.
We all sober up mid October just in time to vote. I remember before the election to copyright the term "270" so I don't have to hear this buzzword a million times post election. We all vote for Bernie Sanders. Realized that we forgot he was screwed again and it was actually the dementia dude running for the ruling elite. That dude wins anyways.
The Election has been unofficially called for Dementia. The doomer cult disperses to put up posters of Rudy Guliana with black goo running down his face. We put a link below that looks like it's a website to donate to Trump's election fraud battle. All the Trumpers donate. They get scammed. All the money goes to black families that need rent and food assistance during the pandemic. Somehow Gulianis email gets flooded again with dickpicks and assgaping. His email wasn't even included this time. 3 weeks later Gulianis head starts to ooze the black goo. We get more donations because of this. They think it's apart of the prophecy for Trump to win. More money goes to help black families. Over $1billion donated by Trumpers. I guess Black Lives really do matter to them after all.
December roles around and Gulianis in a new scandal. Pictures of his gaping ass make it to the front page of cnn. Turns out he ended up emailing a few of the guys back and sending them pictures of his gaping ass with a nazi flag sticking out of it. Trump followers twist it as a sign that he's telling them that the Deep State made the Nazis look bad. That it was all propaganda and that they were actually the good guys. They excuse the gay image as him doing it for the cause and that the thigh highs, nipple clamps and dick cage were symbolic signs of how the deep state has made us weak and submissive. Trumper Q Anons start wearing nazi flags sticking out of their ass in unity to protest against mask wearing. Half of them decide that they like the flags so much that they need bigger flags. Ironically they chose black flags because they're bigger right. Now the Nazi flag Trumpers think that the Black Flag Trumpers are Antifa. They start fighting each other pathetically in the streets until they both Realize that Black Flags do matter and reunite the right. At this point I call it a year and go chill out until Christmas......oh shit I forgot about Nashv.....oh well too late gotta get ready for the last doomer gathering of the year. We're lighting the giant wooden Fish at midnight to see what happens.
Will Fish get us out of the loop?

TRUMP RAN the most corrupt government in history with 10 foreign agents and went 6 in Prison. (FACT). https://www.yahoo.com/news/number-of-trumps-false-or-misleading-claims-rose-dramatically-in-2019-185524427.html FROM the start of birther, to lock her up, no taxes, no divesting, tax breaks it has been a con up to assassinations and frauds. HOW is no political correct going for loser? He said everything about the Ukraine is all perfect for me, all a hoax. (Perfect election) as said he won? He never slept with those porn stars? NEVER scammed all his followers as he gets 70% of the donations into his personal accounts. LOST 50 court cases!!! WORSE record in history, cheated on every wife, a hoax. Pictures of his wife not real? China trade marks a hoax. Foundation fine of 2 million for fraud! NO Connections?, NO Quid Pro Quo, No Tower meeting, No payments to whores, NO 100 IRS crimes, No bait and switch, NO OMB crime with aid, NO foundation 2 million payment fraud, NO crime? NO RICO all lies 24/7, Congress OKed illegal constitution described emoluments should never be OKed. BEST Trade ever? GREATEST ECONOMY as Manufacturing falls, BEST EVER JOBS as Obamas better, Best security ever in History! Everyone loves me and CHINA is easy to beat, Tariffs are easy, XIN wants to trade, CHINA keepings me up calling. DEAL MAKER? China was easy and IRAN no problems. IT’S A hoax. No shut down. He never paid any hush money, it's all a hoax. Never paid off Attorney generals and case. The destroyed documents were a misunderstanding. He is obviously going to divest hand over taxes, give us health programs. NO cages or racism ever. Greatest Healthcare, mental health and living is over rated. The financial documents any second now will be delivered just a little late, because it's all just a hoax. I Promised to be the most transparent president and not obstruct letting truth rule and documents. Maybe? It’s just a hoax they know me from tweets. Any day now he will testify like a man. JUSY believe me I like justice and fairness destroying elections with Russia and I will change by revealing love talks with Russia. -Hum. The Middle-class tax breaks and supply side and starve the beast platform is good for the Top 1% and a hoax being wrong. I am good with debt, business king, and a genius, smarter than all others and not a Tillerson moron. it’s a hoax. Denny Dennison lied 2000 times not me. LOOK, THE RICO charges and other 300 crimes were just small misunderstandings and not real.3400 cases as they wanted my signature. I am not for sale but I am the greatest deal make with no deals or congress bills as I don’t like anything but my gut feeling and my own ideas. No One ever smarter. SARA said, I am chosen and she knows I believe her and Putin. The time for him revealing truth and facts is over and everything he touched turns to schit. FAKE, Alternative Truths, nothing burgers, and hoax don’t work for TRUMP no more. NEVER DID, WE need delivery of solutions, trade, foreign policy and execution of programs and policy like an adult WHY would him and KIM lie? The people do not trust that liar because he deliberately worked to prevent facts from being found out. “obstruction”. TRICKS, with gas lighting lies, 20 times a day? He runs his unchecked shadow government diplomacy fiasco with rumors on twitter and Rudy documented by us of AON. The lies- The Rudy shadow diplomacy including government deep state shows, theories, conspiracy rum America! The shadow lawless democracy has led to the lawless state of kids in cages and assassinations- https://news.yahoo.com/drone-attack-iranian-general-assassination-223950799.html TRUMP is walking crime scene with ongoing RICO frauds like his foundation 2 million pay off. Charity, Inauguration, Ukraine, Casino violations, hotel over charging as President, Opportunity zone, trademarks, Campaign, conflicts, Doral, Inheritance, Mar a Lago insurance, Laundering, bait and switch, non-payments, whore pay offs, shell companies, TRUMP the RICO criminal walking crime wave. “He thinks it’s unfair telling 70% of the people “so what”, “get over it”, “his donors and 30% are the ones he represents.” https://newrepublic.com/article/143586/trumps-russian-laundromat-trump-tower-luxury-high-rises-dirty-money-international-crime-syndicateHe became the scourge of the country the first week, telling congress to dissolve the ethic committee as the ethics committee is not needed.

I also posted this in scams (and this is a repost as my original on is still pending a few days in) as i want to let as many people know about the business practices of Partypoker / GVC:
I want to warn other gamblers about Partypoker. They basically stole more than 100k of my money, 50k of which were deposits. They can do this really easily, especially in Germany (as I will explain later).
This warning is not just about Partypoker as the parent company (GVC) holds more big brands. For example:
Bwin
Ladbrokes
Coral
.....
I played there for 2 or 3 years. I was also constantly increasing my wager over time.
At the end of october 2019, they locked my account and put it under security review. They also ask for documents which I already had sent in before. Nevertheless I sent them again.
After some emails back and forth they gave me my christmas gift. This is the original Email:
"Dear XXX,
We are contacting you regarding your partypoker account "XXX".
An investigation into your account has highlighted suspicious activity related to your account.
This activity is in breach of points 4, 6, 13 and 16 of the terms and conditions of partypoker.
The full terms and conditions are available at:
https://help.partypoker.com/en/general-information/legal-matters/general-terms-and-conditions
As a result, your partypoker account has been closed and the funds remaining in your account will be confiscated.
Please be aware that you are no longer permitted to create or use any account on the partypoker network.
Kind Regards,
Poker Operations Team"
They quoted half of their terms and stole my money. I ask for a reason and for proof, which was not given at any point.
By the way I was not playing poker but casino games, most of the time Black Jack, not even card counting, which they might deem as illegal (which it clearly isn't).
I also messaged the regulators in Gibraltar, they took a few month and also basically said they are fine with the way party handled the situation, at least they said what they are accusing me of:
This also is the original email:
"Good morning XXX,
I write with regards to your complaint against Party Poker.
Please be advised that I have been in dialogue with Party Poker on the matter, who have provided me with a detailed and technical report with regards to your account. I have also made my own enquiries. The substantial and technical material that I have seen indicates that your account is being operated by a third party who is the controller of a series of accounts for the purpose of systematically abusing promotional bonuses. Your account is de facto a proxy account.
There is strong and clear evidence that the identity used on your account and the identities used on the other accounts are all associated. The controller of all accounts knows that they are prohibited from operating any account either directly or indirectly. I will not disclose how all of the accounts have been detected as to do so would be to the detriment of Party Poker and to the advantage of those that seek to circumvent its security protocols. Nevertheless, further information on the Gambling Commissioner’s views on ‘bonus abuse’ can be found here: https://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/finance-gaming-and-regulations/gambling-commissioners-advice-complainants#ancla8.
I am satisfied that Party Poker is acting appropriately and in accordance with its terms and conditions and I am unable to recommend that it pays you any monies.This is my Proposed Determination to your complaint. I am also forwarding Party Poker a copy.
I am now inviting you and Party Poker to comment on this Proposed Determination. It is also the opportunity for both parties to bring to my attention any facts or issues either party believes I have omitted or misunderstood in my assessment.
Regards,
John"
Again no evidence was given. It's also hard to defend myself without getting presented with the evidence.
This by the way is complete bullshit, I always have used my account myself and nobody other than me was using it.
I think they used fabricated evidence to not pay big players.
It was even worse than that:
They baited me to play there with a 10% cashback offer on my losses. Before End of November I lost many weeks in a row. Most of the time 50k €. They had a ponzi scheme like promo going. Letting me play until I finally win and when don't pay me anyways. No risk for the house at all, they keep the money no matter the outcome (deposits included).
The Gibraltar Gambling commission is also highly corrupt. They basically don't even want any complaint to get in at all. You can't submit a complaint online. You have to print several pages and fill out everything by hand. They will also ignore your claims until you get really annoying with all your reminders and messages you sent to them, then they will decide in favor of the casino.
I can't even sue the casino, because the legal situation in Germany regarding Online gambling and Online casinos without a licence is fucked up.
I consulted many different lawyers all telling me not to sue them, because my chances of winning are slim, not because partypoker is right, but because this is deemed illegal gambling and I basically can't get any money back. Even in case of winning it would not be clear if i can get any money back, because Gibraltar is not in the EU where i could enforce GVC to pay what they owe me.
A judge friend of mine even advised me not to sue, because Gibraltar is too corrupt and the legal fees are astronomical.
So neither in Germany I can get what's mine nor in Gibraltar (most probably).
Basically Party knew about the loophole in German law and exploited it. I think especially German Players are in danger, no way they could get away with this in Great britain for example.
CLIFFS:
-Partypoker stole almost 105k of my money (half winnings, half deposits) with a far fetched explanation, which I only got from the regulators after filling a complaint. At no point any evidence was shown.
-The regulators also decided not to hold partypoker accountable.
-Partypoker also used a ponzi like scheme to bait me in and take my money as long as i kept losing, once i had a big upswing, they kept my winnings and deposits anyways.
- Partypoker also knew about a loophole in German law about illegal Gambling and exploited it, in order to get away with "confiscating" (stealing is a better word) my entire balance.

December 31, 2019
"The Golden Grin Casino will now fund a moon landing for the new year. We'll be celebrating it by sending 3 brave astronauts, one of which is our current CEO, Mr.James Hoxworth."
Now I wasn't sure what was so wonderful about landing on the moon, but considering I've been playing poker, partying on beaches, and running the biggest casino in Vegas, it was a nice way to get away from the grind and relax. My assistant manager, Ugayafukiaezu no Mikoto, tells me that there's a secret society of moon people, and that the moon isn't what it seems.
"Ah you wanker, first you tell me there's bloody fucking humanoid rabbits on the moon. Second, you tell me there's fucking people calling themselves bloody "Lunarians." Third, you tell me there's a massive metropolis on the dark side of the Moon. What's bloody next, I'm opening a Lunar casino and getting trillions from them?"
"Mr.Hoxworth... with all due respect, I don't allow myself to lie. It is against my values. The things I've said about the moon is true."
"Mr.Mikoto, please... just take this shift off and get a good night's sleep, you won't have to make it up. You've been working overtime for the last few weeks and I'm worried. Get a good night's rest, would you sunshine?"
Well, it was just me running this casino alone now for the next few days. Until GenSec escorts me to launch on a rocket and show people what we're seeing. Bloody moon people? Fucking rabbits? A goddamn metropolis on the moon? Mr.Mikoto never lied or attempted to cheat me before he brought things up related to the moon landing. I wonder if he was telling the truth, but it didn't matter, I have a casino to run, some people to scam, and some sleep to catch.
After seeing that things were running smoothly, I left for my penthouse on top of the Golden Grin itself. Taking the stairs I've hid behind the wall, I locked up the manager's room, pressed a button, and went up a few flights of stairs. I refuse to use an elevator, not after what happened at that damn No Mercy job.
Going to my penthouse, I scanned a keycard and went in. I've managed to bargain a really nice deal with GenSec, as I've embarrassed them by breaking their "impenetrable" vault, slaughtering their SWAT units, not to mention my crew's numerous robberies on places "secured" by them. I've managed to get their "Premium deal" for $8999 a month, up to the next 5 years, rather than the full $9999 they charge per month.
Getting in bed and sleeping in, I had a dream.
​
In James "Hoxton" Hoxworth's dream...
"There's the house, and somewhere... the rat."
Bain... I've been waiting for this day for over 2 years, the Judas bastard who ratted me, the motherfucker who let me rot in prison. I saw that Clover, shit-for-brains, and Dallas were with me. As much as I wanted to beat the Hell out of him for stealing my name, the rat can take the hits, for now...
Feeling for my shank, I was going to drink this rat's blood, and spit it out on his corpse. We all got past the outer fence, whoever this rat was, that bastard at least had a good place to die. Bain told us about a security system, I was struggling to find it, but Clover managed to find it and we checked for any guards that might of caught us.
I lockpicked the window and we quickly disabled the alarm, after wandering around for keycards and not getting caught, I saw the FBI boss. I was going to kill this guy, but Dallas told me that he might be useful alive and that our code doesn't involve killing civilians. Alas, he was unfortunately correct when we found a vault and placed the keycards in them. Bain saw a retinal scanner and told us to take the boss there.
I opted to stay there, sitting on a bed and lying on my stomach, listening to the voice of the man who betrayed me, after Dallas bound and gagged the boss, we forced him to scan his eye on the retinal scanner and I was taunting him about how he could try putting me in prison, but he couldn't keep me. The boss couldn't talk, but he probably knew I was right.
The other 3 left to find evidence and other things, but I stayed behind to see that panic room open, when I saw that door start opening, I grabbed my shank, and raised my arms up to destroy the brain of this now brainless rat. However, the world around me started to shift and I was back in my prison uniform, being escorted by rabbit girls with guns and a purple-haired chick with a yellow ribbon holding a sword to my neck.
The next thing I noticed was that I was restrained exactly like the time before my crew broke me out. After walking forward for a bit, I could hear faint drilling sounds and saw a dollar being thrown out, knowing that this was my breakout, I went for it and got kicked square in the stomach by a light purple-haired rabbit girl with a suit.
Coughing up some blood and recovering, the girl who pointed a sword at me told me to stop fucking around and get up. I knew this was breakout time, so I yelled, "It's PAYDAY fellas!"
When there was no response, I yelled, "I SAID IT'S FUCKING PAYDAY motherfuc-"
The wall besides me blew up and the sword went through my thigh, I was expecting the crew to save me, but they ended up getting restrained by a blonde haired girl with a fan.
"Hoxton... we're so sorry for leaving you behind. Please forgive us."
Those were the last words uttered by Dallas, Chains, Wolf, and my replacement before it seemed like they turned to dust and disappeared into thing air.
"Sister... we did it, we took down the filth that the Earthlings couldn't ever take down. It was easier than I calculated it to be... I honestly expected to have to fight to the last hair."
"Ahh, everything is so easy for you when you can borrow the powers of gods, isn't it Yorihime? And you've always desired a challenge from the Earthlings, they've sent their best criminals and nothing of challenge occured. Anyways, weren't you interested with this one we took prisoner?"
"Yes... a James Hoxworth, known by his alias "Hoxton," a sharpshooter known for his abilities to hunt heads and the infamous thief that went on that crime spree. I've taken a liking to him, more so that Ugayafukiaezu no Mikoto has committed a massive sin against us. Hoori is still saddened by the loss, but accepts it now. It's just like when Kaguya drank that forbidden elixir. We still miss them inside, but accept that they had to die on the filthy earth."
Wait a minute... I known a Ugayafukiaezu no Mikoto, if it wasn't in this fucked up timeline, he would of eventually be my assistant manager after acquiring the Golden Grin. Was he correct, that there were moon people and rabbits. And if so, there must be some sort of civilization on it.
Seeing that there was no way out of here, if I was going to rot in prison, I was going to at least have my questions answered.
I asked them, "Are you Lunarians, and if so, are we on the moon? Also, is this real or a scare tactic?"
The purple haired girl answered me, "Yes, we are Lunarians. And yes, we are on the moon. Allow me to show you our world."
Getting escorted, I saw that we were indeed not on Earth, but the fucking moon of all places. There was a massive metropolis, it was on a scale larger than that time I went to Japan for a failed business deal.
"What a fuck-tastic place... it's so beautiful. How the hell did you even build this?"
"The Lunatic Kingdom... it's been over millions of years since we first established this place. Exploiting quantum physics, enhancing our magical capabilities, having gods on our side. We've estimated humanity wouldn't be able to catch up to our current capabilities until at least tens of thousands of years."
I was taken back where the rabbits and blonde girl was. I had my restraints removed, but still had a gun pointed towards my head. A figure, with a crescent moon for a crown with some armor with moon symbols, I noticed that the 2 girls bowed down.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Lord Tsukuyomi, the God of the Moon. These are my 2 nieces, Toyohime and Yorihime. Quite the charm, are they not."
"Yes they are."
"We will now go somewhere more desirable for me to tell my prophecies that directly involve you."
Seeing that we were in a more serene area, with something I would of seen off an ancient Japanese painting worth hundreds of millions, we sat down on a tatami mat, comfortable things, for sure.
Here are his prophecies,

1. You will marry one of my nieces.
2. You will attain a legendary power that I wish I could have.
3. You will bear witness to an unexpected event.
4. You will live here.
5. We will meet under more desirable circumstances.
6. You will be pure.

"But for now, I promise you, James Hoxworth. This is simply a dream, but it serves as my place to tell prophecies without having to directly intervene. Remember my words, and your reward will be greater than your casino. Goodbye."
I was sent to a room that looked awfully similar to my penthouse, then I received a kiss on the cheek from Yorihime, and then I was sent on my way...
​
Back in reality, January 1, 2020.
Holy shite! I woke up with a note next to my hand, with that dude's prophecies written in what, Japanese or something? Along with a sword that seemed like the ones that girl had. Whatever just happened, I was going to see if this was a scare tactic or reality.
Going to my casino, I knew now would be the least profitable time, as everyone has a New Year's resolution that they always fail. I saw Ugayafukiaezu no Mikoto, it looked like he knew something was up.
"Mr.Hoxworth, how was your dream last night?"
Seeing the devilish smile and his unusual amount of calmness, I knew this guy wasn't joking. He wouldn't have a reason to put his highly prestigious career on the line for the largest casino in America.
"It was... um, weird."
"Weird, huh? Fufufu, did you see a moon god, 2 beautiful girls, and some rabbit girls?"
"Um... yes, yes I did."
"Let me fill you in on something, those girls were my mother and ex-wife, 2 "Lunar Princesses." Unfortunately I've done something to get banished from the Moon. My punishment is to rot on Earth. With nobody in to fill in that void, and the political disaster that I've left behind, only the best are allowed to marry her."
"So why the Hell would a moon god choose my sorry ass? I mean I'm pretty sure he can find better."
"Simple, I've been observing your magical energy, and it seemed that it's more than what some gods can dream of containing. You've also have a unique power that only few can hope to replicate, much less acquire. I am not allowed to tell you exactly what it is, but you'll learn with time, Mr.Hoxworth."
I reached for that note I was given from those "Lunarians," I asked Ugayafukiaezu to read them for me, since if anyone could reach those um... symbols, it was going to be him.
"Dear me, Mr.Hoxworth, it looks like you've really ascended from being an Earthling to a Lunarian. Is this the cost of my sin? Being employed by the one who will take my place, well... I deserve it."
"Anyways... I sincerely hope you had a good night's rest. Maybe tell your deity buddies to fill me in next time instead of leaving me confused and thinking their saying a bunch of crap."
Days have passed, I only had dreams of those "Lunarians" but got more details about them in more desirable circumstances. I remember seeing Bain and Tsukuyomi discuss what I used to be, and how that gave me status to their secret society stuff, or that one time where Locke wrecked all of us in golf and managed to hit a boat for once, and especially that one where Dallas told Yorihime everything about me. It was going to be one more day before I was getting launched into space, hopefully I have everything figured out.
January 11, 2020
I took whatever objects I could to get into space, they prepared food, water, and some other essentials. Even 3 Mossberg 500s were packed with us as there's been reports of astronauts being attacked, I wonder if those were the "Lunarians" that I've been seeing in my dreams.
GenSec took me on a plane to the Kennedy Space Center, as part of my sponsership with NASA, the Golden Grin will fund their projects and provide for their employees in return of giving me the pleasure of being on the moon.
Going through some boring checks and being shoved in a fucking spacesuit, making me look like a glorified Bulldozer from my first crime spree?file=Bulldozer.jpg), I was in a rocket with my other comrades. I was going to be flown off to the moon and had to do all sorts of things, but overall, if the Lunarians are real and Tsukuyomi wasn't bluffing, I was going to hopefully live somewhere better. If it was just a really massive coincidence, I was going to be the first and possibly only Golden Grin member with the privilege of saying, "I was on the moon."
And we have liftoff.
Flying in a massive hunk of steel and computers, we viewed everything, for the next 3 days, we were doing nothing productive, but I've noticed a few things. My body felt like it contained a load of magic and that I was going to be something greater. But I just played it off as over-excitement and we finally landed on the moon.
"OK... so we'll take pictures, replace the flag, and broadcast this to the whole world. It is time that we forward our knowledge of the cosmos. We have to investigate the dark side of the moon."
Doing what command wanted us to do, we were going there to forward the cause of science. I felt an uneasiness and heard an intentional static.
"Hey wankers... do you get the feeling that we're being watched by something out of this world? Like we're the ones being studied instead of studying?"
"No... why?"
"I just feel like something is off here, but let's tread on."
As my team went further to investigate the darkness, we reached a point where we noticed a sea of all things. Fucking Hell, it looks like my dreams were slowly becoming reality, we took notes until we were ambushed by a bunch of rabbit girls.
"HALT! You impure beings, you will now be detained, put your hands over your heads and stay silent. Do not attempt to move, or speak, otherwise you will be eliminated."
Son of a bitch... we had guns pointed towards our heads and I saw who looked like Yorihime there. Was this an elaborate thing set up by the FBI and GenSec to get me back in jail? Was this a well-done nightmare? Will the ZEAL SWATs going swarm me any second now? My body was starting radiate what feels like magic and my soul felt like it was starting a process to ascend, whatever this was, it wasn't going to be pretty for any of us.
Maybe I've ascended to a new realm or something... whatever this is. I'm going to do what the girl says, that's one sharp sword and I rather not see that as the last thing before my death and get beheaded.

There is a relatively new study from August 2019, published in Brazil, following 19,646 day traders with a clear result = day trading has no edge, as most of the traders became less profitable as time passed, just like roulette where the profitability success rate after 1 game is for example 20%, but after 100 games is 0.001%.
I'm quite surprised that I couldn't find any reddit disccusion regarding that article.
Maybe people don't wanna hear the truth? maybe that's why 99% of the people here are new? because this is a loosing game? What do you think?
Below I add part of an article from "tradingschools"

Day Trading For A Living?

On August 19, 2019, the Sao Paulo School of Economics published a highly controversial study about Futures day traders in Brazil. This published study made front-page news across the country. Literally, nearly everyone in Brazilian society was talking about the study. Day trading in Brazil is extremely popular, and extremely controversial. Its like soccer.

On one end of the spectrum were the brokers, the educators, the software providers, the soothsayers, and indicator gypsies that have been hyping (and profiting from) the industry for years. On the other end of the spectrum were the scientific community, including social scientists, economists, and data scientists. Let’s just say that the scientific community was in the extreme minority.
The scientific community was extremely skeptical of many of the claims of “people getting rich quick” and the constant television and internet ads that promised “day trading” glory and “work from home” opportunities.
And so, the Sao Paulo School of Economics commissioned a study that tracked a total of 19,646 day traders from 2013 through 2015. The data was broken down into bite-sized chunks to better understand the data.
The first group of day traders totaled 1,111 individuals that day traded only a single day. Of this group, 29.8% achieved a profit.
The second group of day traders totaled 9,978 individuals that day traded between 2 to 50 days. Of this group, 15.5% achieved a profit.
The third group of day traders totaled 3,100 individuals that day traded between 51 to 100 days. Of this group, 8.9% achieved a profit.
The fourth group of day traders totaled 2,738 individuals that day traded between 101 to 200 days. Of this group, 6.8% achieved a profit.
The fifth group of day traders totaled 1,168 individuals that day traded between 201 to 300 days. Of this group, 5.4% achieved a profit.
The sixth group of day traders totaled 1,151 individuals that day traded greater than 300 days. Of this group, 3.0% achieved a profit.
What does this data suggest? Ironically, the data suggests that the odds of achieving day trading success is nearly identical to playing roulette at a casino. The more you play, the greater the likelihood that you will lose everything.
The social scientists were particularly surprised to discover that ‘learning’ played nearly no part in the results. For instance, it was assumed that if a person had traded 6-months and 200+ trades, that they would learn to trade better or improve upon their trading strategies to achieve greater success because they were “learning from experience.”
And this is just what the trading educators want us to believe…that we need to “learn” and over time, this “learning” will improve our results. But the data absolutely destroyed these assumptions. In fact, the more a person “learned” to trade, the worse their performance became. It seems like “practice makes perfect” does not work in day trading Futures markets.
The Brazilian traders that actually earned an income
We all know that some folks, through luck or skill, are going to achieve success. Let’s take a look at those figures now…
The first group of successful day traders totaled 17 individuals that earned an average of $16 per day.
The second group of successful day traders totaled 8 individuals that earned an average of $54 per day.
The third group of successful day traders totaled 1 individual that earned an average of $310 per day.
But here is the sad part…of these successful Futures day traders, the standard deviation of their daily profit ranged from $632 to $3,308. What does that mean? In other words, in order to consistently earn $80 per day, you would also have to experience massive daily fluctuations of between $632 and $3,308.
And based upon the data, only one person was able to earn more than a minimum wage job.

It gets worse

For those 1,151 day traders that persisted 300 days, 97% lost all of their money once commission was factored in.

Even the highest performing trader that earned an average of $310 per day ended up barely profitable once the commissions were factored in. How sad are these numbers?
In conclusion, the study stated that “It is virtually impossible for an individual to day trade for a living, contrary to what the brokerage specialists and course providers often claim.”
So what should you do?
If you are stuck in that sad wheel of constantly funding a day trading account, and constantly looking for a new ‘Guru,’ then perhaps its time to put the mouse away. At least for a while.
The sad and sorry truth is that day trading is mostly a scam. Yes, some can pull it off successfully. Just like how some people will be cured of cancer by drinking apple cider vinegar. But the overall scientific data put the odds at roughly equivalent of playing roulette. The more you play, the greater the likelihood that you will lose everything.

This is a repost: You find the story behind this incident below.
I want to know if it is an option to sue GVC in the UK since this is a company listed on the London Stock exchange. Suing them in Gibraltar, where they got the licence or in Germany, where I am from, are unfortunately no options, due to lack of prospects of success.
Is it possible to sue them in the UK? Which costs would be associated with that? What probability of success are you estimating?
I also posted this in scams (and this is a repost as my original on is still pending a few days in) as i want to let as many people know about the business practices of Partypoker / GVC:
I want to warn other gamblers about Partypoker. They basically stole more than 100k of my money, 50k of which were deposits. They can do this really easily, especially in Germany (as I will explain later).
This warning is not just about Partypoker as the parent company (GVC) holds more big brands. For example:
Bwin
Ladbrokes
Coral
.....
I played there for 2 or 3 years. I was also constantly increasing my wager over time.
At the end of october 2019, they locked my account and put it under security review. They also ask for documents which I already had sent in before. Nevertheless I sent them again.
After some emails back and forth they gave me my christmas gift. This is the original Email:
"Dear XXX,
We are contacting you regarding your partypoker account "XXX".
An investigation into your account has highlighted suspicious activity related to your account.
This activity is in breach of points 4, 6, 13 and 16 of the terms and conditions of partypoker.
The full terms and conditions are available at:
https://help.partypoker.com/en/general-information/legal-matters/general-terms-and-conditions
As a result, your partypoker account has been closed and the funds remaining in your account will be confiscated.
Please be aware that you are no longer permitted to create or use any account on the partypoker network.
Kind Regards,
Poker Operations Team"
They quoted half of their terms and stole my money. I ask for a reason and for proof, which was not given at any point.
By the way I was not playing poker but casino games, most of the time Black Jack, not even card counting, which they might deem as illegal (which it clearly isn't).
I also messaged the regulators in Gibraltar, they took a few month and also basically said they are fine with the way party handled the situation, at least they said what they are accusing me of:
This also is the original email:
"Good morning XXX,
I write with regards to your complaint against Party Poker.
Please be advised that I have been in dialogue with Party Poker on the matter, who have provided me with a detailed and technical report with regards to your account. I have also made my own enquiries. The substantial and technical material that I have seen indicates that your account is being operated by a third party who is the controller of a series of accounts for the purpose of systematically abusing promotional bonuses. Your account is de facto a proxy account.
There is strong and clear evidence that the identity used on your account and the identities used on the other accounts are all associated. The controller of all accounts knows that they are prohibited from operating any account either directly or indirectly. I will not disclose how all of the accounts have been detected as to do so would be to the detriment of Party Poker and to the advantage of those that seek to circumvent its security protocols. Nevertheless, further information on the Gambling Commissioner’s views on ‘bonus abuse’ can be found here: https://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/finance-gaming-and-regulations/gambling-commissioners-advice-complainants#ancla8.
I am satisfied that Party Poker is acting appropriately and in accordance with its terms and conditions and I am unable to recommend that it pays you any monies.This is my Proposed Determination to your complaint. I am also forwarding Party Poker a copy.
I am now inviting you and Party Poker to comment on this Proposed Determination. It is also the opportunity for both parties to bring to my attention any facts or issues either party believes I have omitted or misunderstood in my assessment.
Regards,
John"
Again no evidence was given. It's also hard to defend myself without getting presented with the evidence.
This by the way is complete bullshit, I always have used my account myself and nobody other than me was using it.
I think they used fabricated evidence to not pay big players.
It was even worse than that:
They baited me to play there with a 10% cashback offer on my losses. Before End of November I lost many weeks in a row. Most of the time 50k €. They had a ponzi scheme like promo going. Letting me play until I finally win and when don't pay me anyways. No risk for the house at all, they keep the money no matter the outcome (deposits included).
The Gibraltar Gambling commission is also highly corrupt. They basically don't even want any complaint to get in at all. You can't submit a complaint online. You have to print several pages and fill out everything by hand. They will also ignore your claims until you get really annoying with all your reminders and messages you sent to them, then they will decide in favor of the casino.
I can't even sue the casino, because the legal situation in Germany regarding Online gambling and Online casinos without a licence is fucked up.
I consulted many different lawyers all telling me not to sue them, because my chances of winning are slim, not because partypoker is right, but because this is deemed illegal gambling and I basically can't get any money back. Even in case of winning it would not be clear if i can get any money back, because Gibraltar is not in the EU where i could enforce GVC to pay what they owe me.
A judge friend of mine even advised me not to sue, because Gibraltar is too corrupt and the legal fees are astronomical.
So neither in Germany I can get what's mine nor in Gibraltar (most probably).
Basically Party knew about the loophole in German law and exploited it. I think especially German Players are in danger, no way they could get away with this in Great britain for example.
CLIFFS:
-Partypoker stole almost 105k of my money (half winnings, half deposits) with a far fetched explanation, which I only got from the regulators after filling a complaint. At no point any evidence was shown.
-The regulators also decided not to hold partypoker accountable.
-Partypoker also used a ponzi like scheme to bait me in and take my money as long as i kept losing, once i had a big upswing, they kept my winnings and deposits anyways.
- Partypoker also knew about a loophole in German law about illegal Gambling and exploited it, in order to get away with "confiscating" (stealing is a better word) my entire balance.

Thinking about what could be the big December update and with hopes of Liberty City arriving at the game, I decided to do a little research and identified some points and facts that may, perhaps, confirm the possible expansion of maps:
1-October / 2013 Rockstar announces new DLC for GTA Online. At the end of the article, mention is made of content for the story mode, which has not happened until today.
2- June / 2016 R * developer put in his portfolio an image of Central Park rendered on the graphics engine of GTA V (apparently from the PS3 / X360 generation). Could this be a possible update to the story mode that had been abandoned / postponed?
3- January / 2017 OpenIV team announces Liberty City mod for GTA V with a launch date for July 2017.
4- June / 2017 Rockstar takes action to ban GTA V mods.
5- July / 2017 Rockstar agrees to release the mods, however, creates a series of clauses for permission; among them is a ban on the use or import of another IP (including another Rockstar IP) in the project (something that would be done to bring Liberty City to GTA V.
6- November / 2019 Banda City Morgue announces in its instgram news with Rockstar Games for the summer of 2020 (A Hip Hop band from New York ** ok, that may not say anything but, I found it interesting to mention).
7- July / 2020 Rockstar announces the biggest update for GTA Online taking the blows to a completely new location. (All scams were in new places, regardless of whether it is just an interior or a new building - like the casino - all scams are in unprecedented places but, not to the point of considering completely new)
8- August / 2020 Summer update comes to GTA Online. QUB3D arcade is added to the game, where Rockstar shows in the bulletin that the game came directly from Liberty City.
9- August / 2020 Free "Tw@" T-shirt for all players, evidenced by Rockstar that it is a reminder of the heyday of dirty internet cafes in Liberty City.
In my analysis, Liberty City has been in the Rockstar project for a long time, but perhaps because of other demands (like Red Dead Redemption 2) or, simply, due to the lack of processing power of the old generation of consoles (PS3 and X360), the project has been delayed, postponed or possibly temporarily discarded.
With the launch of RDR 2 next, the team may have gone back to reviewing the project in 2017, but it was threatened to realize that a group of modders could launch the same idea before them, and their attitude was to ban and prosecute those groups. With the great repercussion and protest in the face of this attitude, Rockstar saw the need to yield its decision however, it still needed to ensure that the modders project would not be launched, so the clauses for the use of mods were created, among them, one that prevented the import of IP in the game.
Now, with the project completed, Rockstar, in its greatest style ever known, has been giving clues from Liberty City, from newsletters with vague phrases, gifts and souvenirs from the city, among others. Knowing that this, according to the developer, is the biggest update of the game and it is also obvious the need for a major update to keep the game alive and on the rise for another time to calm the spirits and buy more time for your next game, GTA V can indeed receive its first and largest map expansion, making GTA Online a virtually new game, with new streets, missions and places to conquer.
I emphasize again that this is just my opinion based on the interpretation of some facts that occurred since the launch of the game, leaving aside any information coming from leakers (with or without credibility) only real facts. And, of course, the interpretation in this way we can reach that conclusion, just as if interpreted differently we will reach different conclusions.
In addition, this is just a testimonial from a big fan of the game who is hopeful about an update of this size.
Greetings to all and sorry for my English :)

Tl;dr just skip to the last paragraph. Consider this background due diligence because the market is closed.
Most of you retards lack an historical perspective on current events, so I’m writing this to give you the bigger picture on the casino and stock market history of the president. If you’re going to waste money it should be spent on recreational drugs and strippers- it stimulates the economy and probably does less long term damage to your net worth. But since this million retard army persists in making dumb bets, I will give you some background about the President because to most of you, the only Grey Lady you know is your own mother.
On May 8th, 2019, the president tweeted, “You always wanted to show losses for tax purposes. . . . [...] and often re-negotiate with banks, it was sport. Additionally, the very old information put out is a highly inaccurate Fake News hit job!” The leader of the free world bragged about losing money, said it was financially advantageous, said it was fun, and also said it was fake.
[The president had some successes- but no one goes on this sub for incremental or sustainable traditional business wins. So as to not sound biased, I will include some of them. Feel free to skip this part. His first “deal” was a purchase by his father in Trump’s senior year of high school. Purchased for $5.6 million plus half a million in renovations, it sold eight years later for $6.75 million. Result- a racial discrimination lawsuit and a $650,000 profit. In “The Art of the Deal”, the president claimed this was a $6 million profit. In 1970, Paris is Out, a Broadway comedy, lost him $70,000- inflation adjusted about half a million dollars today. In 1971, he was made president of the 14,000 apartment owning company, changed the name to the Trump Organization, and was again sued for racial discrimination. In 1978 he was the agent for Penn Central’s sale of the current Javits Center, for which he was paid a commission, and then became the face of the redevelopment of the Commodore Hotel. A $70 million loan guaranteed by his father and Hyatt Hotels, in addition to $1 million revolving credit from Chase bank, financed the renovation- which obtained a 40 year tax abatement. He then went on to build Trump Plaza, which he sold as individually owned apartments- known as a cooperative, in 1981. In 1986, he successfully renovated Wollman Ice Rink on time and three quarters of a million dollars under budget.]
In 1980 building site preparations began at the Trump Tower location. The previous building had some artistically significant architectural details, which were promised to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and instead were destroyed. The demolition crew was a group of 200 strong "Polish Brigade" immigrants who worked 12 hour shifts. By using illegal labor, the president was able to avoid contributions to the pension fund and union worker welfare fund- the workers were paid $4-$5 per hour. Details are sealed after 16 years in court. Construction began in 1982 on Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, and in the first six months of opening in 1985, made only $144,000 in profit. In 1986 he bought out his partner, Harrahs, for $70 million. During this time he also purchased Trump Marina (ne Castle) for $325 million; this was the property at which his father bought $3.5 million in casino chips and never used, and which he was fined for making an illegal casino loan. In 1988, he bought the Plaza Hotel in New York for $390 million. He said in The New York Times, "For the first time in my life, I have knowingly made a deal that was not economic – for I can never justify the price I paid, no matter how successful the Plaza becomes." Another $50 million in renovations caused the total debt service to be too expensive; the prepackaged bankruptcy resulted in a $250 million dollar loss for creditors and a lowered interest rate in exchange for 49% of the hotel. Three years later the Saudis would buy a controlling stake.
Trump Plaza Casino followed the same game plan as the Plaza Hotel: he owed $250 million and conducted a prepackaged bankruptcy due to sky high debt service. The bankruptcy converted the $250 million into $300 million longer term debt, then went on to conduct a $42 million dollar expansion in 1993, and a $48 million dollar expansion in 1995. It closed in 2018 and the property was foreclosed on by Carl Ichan.
In 1988, he bought and renovated the Taj Mahal for nearly a billion dollars, financed with junk bonds at 14%. When he couldn’t make the payments, the property was again put into a prepackaged bankruptcy. Ironically, the Taj Mahal may have hastened the downfall of other Trump properties by cannibalizing their customers. In the end, the billion dollar casino was sold to the bankruptcy administrator for $890 million, named “Trump Entertainment Resorts”, itself filing for bankruptcy in 2004, 2009, and 2014.
His casino ventures show a reliable pattern of using other people’s money to buy and build, then forcing investors to take a loss while the prepackaged bankruptcies allowed him to keep the assets and the profits. His supporters might say this is common in the casino industry, which isn't true, but he shows this pattern of behavior in the stock market as well. In 1987, at the height of his casino activity, he started a new scam. “He would acquire shares in a company with borrowed money, suggest publicly that he was contemplating buying enough to become a majority owner, then quietly sell on the resulting rise in the stock price…” Media reports at the time claimed his pump and dump gained $55 million; government documents showed his stake was smaller and profits less than $11 million. This one trick pony would work a few times between 1987 and 1989, including in companies such as Gillette, Hilton, and Federated Department stores. By 1989, Wall Street was wise and left him bag holding an American Airlines takeover bid, resulting in a $35 million loss.
More recently WSB’ers will no doubt remember the Dead Sea levels of saltiness caused by accusations of pumping and dumping last year’s trade war with China, and the resulting cycle of market agitations on threats, bad news, counter threats, trade talks, and deals. Finally, Covid-19 has given us hydrochlorique panaceas, and other pump and dumps we’re still learning about.
Tl;dr The president has shown a persistent penchant for profligacy using other people’s money. Most recently to use the federal government to price gouge PPE and to attempt to have his signature on stimulus checks- but he’s been doing it for 40 years. With JayPau, he’s found a real life infinite money hack, and everything I’ve written is to prove to you he isn’t afraid to use it. Keynes said, “the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent” but what we’re seeing today isn’t irrationality, it is the biggest pump and stop stock scam infinite printing we’ve ever seen from a guy who brags about pump and dumps and bankruptcy filings. Your puts wont print, Trump is betting his reelection on it, and the all-in is infinite. Positions- holding all cash. Sell in May and go fuck yourself.

This is a repost: You find the story behind this incident below.
I want to know if it is an option to sue GVC in the UK since this is a company listed on the London Stock exchange. Suing them in Gibraltar, where they got the licence or in Germany, where I am from, are unfortunately no options, due to lack of prospects of success.
Is it possible to sue them in the UK? Which costs would be associated with that? What probability of success are you estimating?
I also posted this in scams (and this is a repost as my original on is still pending a few days in) as i want to let as many people know about the business practices of Partypoker / GVC:
I want to warn other gamblers about Partypoker. They basically stole more than 100k of my money, 50k of which were deposits. They can do this really easily, especially in Germany (as I will explain later).
This warning is not just about Partypoker as the parent company (GVC) holds more big brands. For example:
Bwin
Ladbrokes
Coral
.....
I played there for 2 or 3 years. I was also constantly increasing my wager over time.
At the end of october 2019, they locked my account and put it under security review. They also ask for documents which I already had sent in before. Nevertheless I sent them again.
After some emails back and forth they gave me my christmas gift. This is the original Email:
"Dear XXX,
We are contacting you regarding your partypoker account "XXX".
An investigation into your account has highlighted suspicious activity related to your account.
This activity is in breach of points 4, 6, 13 and 16 of the terms and conditions of partypoker.
The full terms and conditions are available at:
https://help.partypoker.com/en/general-information/legal-matters/general-terms-and-conditions
As a result, your partypoker account has been closed and the funds remaining in your account will be confiscated.
Please be aware that you are no longer permitted to create or use any account on the partypoker network.
Kind Regards,
Poker Operations Team"
They quoted half of their terms and stole my money. I ask for a reason and for proof, which was not given at any point.
By the way I was not playing poker but casino games, most of the time Black Jack, not even card counting, which they might deem as illegal (which it clearly isn't).
I also messaged the regulators in Gibraltar, they took a few month and also basically said they are fine with the way party handled the situation, at least they said what they are accusing me of:
This also is the original email:
"Good morning XXX,
I write with regards to your complaint against Party Poker.
Please be advised that I have been in dialogue with Party Poker on the matter, who have provided me with a detailed and technical report with regards to your account. I have also made my own enquiries. The substantial and technical material that I have seen indicates that your account is being operated by a third party who is the controller of a series of accounts for the purpose of systematically abusing promotional bonuses. Your account is de facto a proxy account.
There is strong and clear evidence that the identity used on your account and the identities used on the other accounts are all associated. The controller of all accounts knows that they are prohibited from operating any account either directly or indirectly. I will not disclose how all of the accounts have been detected as to do so would be to the detriment of Party Poker and to the advantage of those that seek to circumvent its security protocols. Nevertheless, further information on the Gambling Commissioner’s views on ‘bonus abuse’ can be found here: https://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/finance-gaming-and-regulations/gambling-commissioners-advice-complainants#ancla8.
I am satisfied that Party Poker is acting appropriately and in accordance with its terms and conditions and I am unable to recommend that it pays you any monies.This is my Proposed Determination to your complaint. I am also forwarding Party Poker a copy.
I am now inviting you and Party Poker to comment on this Proposed Determination. It is also the opportunity for both parties to bring to my attention any facts or issues either party believes I have omitted or misunderstood in my assessment.
Regards,
John"
Again no evidence was given. It's also hard to defend myself without getting presented with the evidence.
This by the way is complete bullshit, I always have used my account myself and nobody other than me was using it.
I think they used fabricated evidence to not pay big players.
It was even worse than that:
They baited me to play there with a 10% cashback offer on my losses. Before End of November I lost many weeks in a row. Most of the time 50k €. They had a ponzi scheme like promo going. Letting me play until I finally win and when don't pay me anyways. No risk for the house at all, they keep the money no matter the outcome (deposits included).
The Gibraltar Gambling commission is also highly corrupt. They basically don't even want any complaint to get in at all. You can't submit a complaint online. You have to print several pages and fill out everything by hand. They will also ignore your claims until you get really annoying with all your reminders and messages you sent to them, then they will decide in favor of the casino.
I can't even sue the casino, because the legal situation in Germany regarding Online gambling and Online casinos without a licence is fucked up.
I consulted many different lawyers all telling me not to sue them, because my chances of winning are slim, not because partypoker is right, but because this is deemed illegal gambling and I basically can't get any money back. Even in case of winning it would not be clear if i can get any money back, because Gibraltar is not in the EU where i could enforce GVC to pay what they owe me.
A judge friend of mine even advised me not to sue, because Gibraltar is too corrupt and the legal fees are astronomical.
So neither in Germany I can get what's mine nor in Gibraltar (most probably).
Basically Party knew about the loophole in German law and exploited it. I think especially German Players are in danger, no way they could get away with this in Great britain for example.
CLIFFS:
-Partypoker stole almost 105k of my money (half winnings, half deposits) with a far fetched explanation, which I only got from the regulators after filling a complaint. At no point any evidence was shown.
-The regulators also decided not to hold partypoker accountable.
-Partypoker also used a ponzi like scheme to bait me in and take my money as long as i kept losing, once i had a big upswing, they kept my winnings and deposits anyways.
- Partypoker also knew about a loophole in German law about illegal Gambling and exploited it, in order to get away with "confiscating" (stealing is a better word) my entire balance.

Gta online timeline
2013
Start.
You arrive in LS and are greeted by your friend from life invader Lamar Davis who gives you your first gun and challenges you to a race afterwards he sets you up with your first gig for his friend Gerald and gets you in contact with Simeon his boss who “tricks” you into working for him. You later get a phone call from Martin Madrazo who receives more than enough briefcases from you but is still happy to pay top dollar every time you bring one. You later meet your future most prominent accomplice Lester Crest. Other characters Like Trevor appear for you to do work for but it is very unimportant.
Singleplayer
Lester briefly mentions you to Michael as an option for the Jewel store robbery but are quickly dismissed as you are “too unpredictable”
2014.
Original heists. You have now built up some street cred doing odd jobs and are doing well for yourself living in a high end apartment when Lester gives you a call. He wants to do a robbery on a fleeca bank franchise. This is quite a small venture into organized crime but it’s a good first step. He sets you up with another contact Agent 14 who will also come into play later who needs your help breaking a Humane labs researcher out of prison. You later go on to raiding humane labs and Robbing the pacific standard bank.
2015
1)Lowriders DLC
You get a phone call from an old friend Lamar Davis who wants your help taking over LS . He is in a gang war against the Vagos and Ballas.
You fail
2)Executives and other Criminals
A new player has emerged on the streets of LS. Securo Serv has opened for business! You buy an office and get your own personal assistant. You can now do work for this mysterious organization in return for perks like having on demand vehicle access and decently large payouts.
2016
1)Further adventures in finance and felony
You purchase your own warehouse to smuggle contraband. With the help of your assistant you become an efficient forklift operator .
2)Import export
Same thing but with cars
2017
1)Bikers
You find a property for sale and turn it into a bikers clubhouse. You’re greeted by Malk who sets you up with a connection to the dark web where you can purchase businesses and run a drug cartel. You also get another contact going under the alias “LJT” who is actually just Lester using a voice changer.

1. Gunrunning

You get a phone call from agent 14 he sells you a bunker used for gun manufacturing. Later he gives you missions to do using military grade weapons .
2018
1)You get a call from Lester to buy a government spec facility to do some work. You end up working for the IAA, agent 14 and this tech giant Avon Hertz to save the world from Russians. You later get backstabbed by Avon and his AI Clifford . You save the world and your criminal record is wiped.
2)nightclub
Tony Prince comes to LS from liberty city and teams up with you to set up a nightclub. You get to sign different DJs. It is also finally confirmed that Lazlow is bisexual.
3)arena war
You get spammed by phone calls from Bryony who is the assistant of Al Gerome the main commentator for arena war.
You are scammed out of millions
2019
1)casino DLC The casino finally opens in LS! You splurge on a penthouse and are sucked into the politics of ownership. You help the manager mrs baker with getting the owners son “mr Cheng” out of trouble and helping them fight off the Duggans who want to demolish the place. You kill the main bad guy but his son still buys the casino and fires the best character hands down in all of gta history.

justiceforvimcent was born

2)casino heist
Lester gives you a call, he wants to meet up in mirror park. You are introduced to Mrs Cheng who wants revenge on the Duggans. You rob the casino multiple times and make milli
2020
The great alien wars
Bunch of 12 year olds beating the shit out of each other with baseball bats which later turns into straight up griefing as people started being dicks
I hate myself for writing this

This is a repost: You find the story behind this incident below.
I want to know if it is an option to sue GVC in the UK since this is a company listed on the London Stock exchange. Suing them in Gibraltar, where they got the licence or in Germany, where I am from, are unfortunately no options, due to lack of prospects of success.
​
Is it possible to sue them in the UK? Which costs would be associated with that? What probability of success are you estimating?
I also posted this in scams (and this is a repost as my original on is still pending a few days in) as i want to let as many people know about the business practices of Partypoker / GVC:
I want to warn other gamblers about Partypoker. They basically stole more than 100k of my money, 50k of which were deposits. They can do this really easily, especially in Germany (as I will explain later).
This warning is not just about Partypoker as the parent company (GVC) holds more big brands. For example:
Bwin
Ladbrokes
Coral
.....
I played there for 2 or 3 years. I was also constantly increasing my wager over time.
At the end of october 2019, they locked my account and put it under security review. They also ask for documents which I already had sent in before. Nevertheless I sent them again.
After some emails back and forth they gave me my christmas gift. This is the original Email:
"Dear XXX,
We are contacting you regarding your partypoker account "XXX".
An investigation into your account has highlighted suspicious activity related to your account.
This activity is in breach of points 4, 6, 13 and 16 of the terms and conditions of partypoker.
The full terms and conditions are available at:
https://help.partypoker.com/en/general-information/legal-matters/general-terms-and-conditions
As a result, your partypoker account has been closed and the funds remaining in your account will be confiscated.
Please be aware that you are no longer permitted to create or use any account on the partypoker network.
Kind Regards,
Poker Operations Team"
They quoted half of their terms and stole my money. I ask for a reason and for proof, which was not given at any point.
By the way I was not playing poker but casino games, most of the time Black Jack, not even card counting, which they might deem as illegal (which it clearly isn't).
I also messaged the regulators in Gibraltar, they took a few month and also basically said they are fine with the way party handled the situation, at least they said what they are accusing me of:
This also is the original email:
"Good morning XXX,
I write with regards to your complaint against Party Poker.
Please be advised that I have been in dialogue with Party Poker on the matter, who have provided me with a detailed and technical report with regards to your account. I have also made my own enquiries. The substantial and technical material that I have seen indicates that your account is being operated by a third party who is the controller of a series of accounts for the purpose of systematically abusing promotional bonuses. Your account is de facto a proxy account.
There is strong and clear evidence that the identity used on your account and the identities used on the other accounts are all associated. The controller of all accounts knows that they are prohibited from operating any account either directly or indirectly. I will not disclose how all of the accounts have been detected as to do so would be to the detriment of Party Poker and to the advantage of those that seek to circumvent its security protocols. Nevertheless, further information on the Gambling Commissioner’s views on ‘bonus abuse’ can be found here: https://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/finance-gaming-and-regulations/gambling-commissioners-advice-complainants#ancla8.
I am satisfied that Party Poker is acting appropriately and in accordance with its terms and conditions and I am unable to recommend that it pays you any monies.This is my Proposed Determination to your complaint. I am also forwarding Party Poker a copy.
I am now inviting you and Party Poker to comment on this Proposed Determination. It is also the opportunity for both parties to bring to my attention any facts or issues either party believes I have omitted or misunderstood in my assessment.
Regards,
John"
Again no evidence was given. It's also hard to defend myself without getting presented with the evidence.
This by the way is complete bullshit, I always have used my account myself and nobody other than me was using it.
I think they used fabricated evidence to not pay big players.
It was even worse than that:
They baited me to play there with a 10% cashback offer on my losses. Before End of November I lost many weeks in a row. Most of the time 50k €. They had a ponzi scheme like promo going. Letting me play until I finally win and when don't pay me anyways. No risk for the house at all, they keep the money no matter the outcome (deposits included).
The Gibraltar Gambling commission is also highly corrupt. They basically don't even want any complaint to get in at all. You can't submit a complaint online. You have to print several pages and fill out everything by hand. They will also ignore your claims until you get really annoying with all your reminders and messages you sent to them, then they will decide in favor of the casino.
I can't even sue the casino, because the legal situation in Germany regarding Online gambling and Online casinos without a licence is fucked up.
I consulted many different lawyers all telling me not to sue them, because my chances of winning are slim, not because partypoker is right, but because this is deemed illegal gambling and I basically can't get any money back. Even in case of winning it would not be clear if i can get any money back, because Gibraltar is not in the EU where i could enforce GVC to pay what they owe me.
A judge friend of mine even advised me not to sue, because Gibraltar is too corrupt and the legal fees are astronomical.
So neither in Germany I can get what's mine nor in Gibraltar (most probably).
Basically Party knew about the loophole in German law and exploited it. I think especially German Players are in danger, no way they could get away with this in Great britain for example.
CLIFFS:
-Partypoker stole almost 105k of my money (half winnings, half deposits) with a far fetched explanation, which I only got from the regulators after filling a complaint. At no point any evidence was shown.
-The regulators also decided not to hold partypoker accountable.
-Partypoker also used a ponzi like scheme to bait me in and take my money as long as i kept losing, once i had a big upswing, they kept my winnings and deposits anyways.
- Partypoker also knew about a loophole in German law about illegal Gambling and exploited it, in order to get away with "confiscating" (stealing is a better word) my entire balance.

Like, I started playing GT back in 2013, I believe and quit in 2019 because of how based around In App Purchases it became, how toxic community was and mods literally doing nothing at all about casinos and scam worlds.
I wanted to ask if the game is any better right now? Are mods finally more strict? Is there any less IAP? Is the community more welcoming than it was before?

In 2018 a senior director of the World Bank, Timothy Grant Evans, who would later participate in Event 201, explained that Pandemic Bonds had been setup for investors in 2017; they paid high interest, but if a pandemic was declared the investors would lose their money. During the video he lists a few examples of the viral pandemics which could cause the investors to lose their money, one of which was the coronavirus.
The bonds were due to mature in July 2020 at which point the investors would have been able to cash-out. As we know now, just months before in March 2020 a pandemic was declared and the investors (which included pension funds) lost out and ended up with their many millions being used to pay for the pandemic response; money which mostly eventually finds its way to the pockets of those who planned the event, their globalist partners and pharma.
To listen to him explain the Pandemic Bonds at the 2018 World Health Summit, start at approx 21m 56s.
Note - At the time of posting this video is not well known, with only 428 views.
As mentioned earlier, here is the same World Bank chap recorded as one of the Event 201 Players, where they simulated a coronavirus pandemic in late 2019, just before the real coronavirus outbreak was launched. You will no doubt agree that it doesn't smell right him being there, given what we know.
It's important to understand that the Pandemic Bonds are not the reason for the pandemic, but part of what is setup by insiders to take advantage of foreknowledge of a planned event. The trusting investors were hoodwinked into believing the casino was an honest one, but as most of you here will have realized, the World Bank casino is rigged.
The pandemic is clearly a planned event, these bonds were a swindle from the start, and many pension pots have been reduced because of the Pandemic Bonds scam. The criminal mafia at the top of the world system are above the law, while the little people will be jailed for simply meeting friends during lockdown.
The Pandemic is a form of warfare, armies are no longer essential to attack nations, the weapons used are propaganda, designer pathogens and draconian laws. The objective is to destroy the First World economies, weakening our governments, so as eventually the UN can heroically come in to take full totalitarian control of the planet, to 'save us' they will say.

"I'm part of that community, and we love the man." - Eric Trump momentarily sending the LGBTQ community into deep despair

Ear Madness

The tension is palpable, the pundits are abuzz, and Facebook is blanketed with conspiracy theories about Joe Biden’s ear holes: We have arrived at the first 2020 presidential debate.

• The first of three presidential debates will take place in Cleveland, OH, tonight at 9 p.m. ET, moderated by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace. Wallace has selected six general topics: the candidates' records, the Supreme Court, the coronavirus, the economy, race and violence in cities, and election integrity. “Race and violence” plays straight into Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric, and the total exclusion of climate change seems like malpractice at best, but at least Wallace has also promised not to fact-check any of Trump’s lies.
  
• Even with the benefit of those outrageous gifts, the Trump team seems, uh, less than confident about his readiness. Following Trump’s repeated attempts to manage expectations by baselessly suggesting that Biden would be on some kind of debate-enhancement drug, the Trump campaign today floated the dumb, recycled rumor that Biden would be wearing a secret earpiece (presumably because his Antifa-controlled brain implant is on the fritz). That conspiracy theory has proliferated unchecked on Facebook, and was even featured on the platform’s news tab. Another beautiful day in Zuckerberg’s Hellworld Funhouse!
  
• Trump would of course rather talk about drug tests and earpieces than the fact that coronavirus cases are on the rise in half the country, he’s rushing to seat a Supreme Court nominee before the election in the hope that she’ll vote to illegitimately install him as president and/or strike down the Affordable Care Act, and his corrupt tax evasion and vast, mysterious debts are now front page news. That’s all likely to come up tonight anyway (in spite of the Trump campaign’s reported demand that Chris Wallace not utter the number of coronavirus deaths), and Biden and Kamala Harris have each released their 2019 tax returns in anticipation.
  

“But will the debates even matter this year,” you ask?

• Impossible to know! It’s true that polling has remained incredibly consistent since Biden emerged as the Democratic nominee. Biden heads into the debates with a consistent lead (two new Pennsylvania polls show him nine points ahead there), and if the pandemic, economic crisis, nationwide protests, and DNC Rhode Island Calamari Guy haven’t reshaped the race, it’s hard to imagine that a few debates will have an earth-shattering impact.
  
• On the other hand, they don’t need to be earth-shattering. Trump has spent his whole campaign trying to paint Biden as a dementia-addled invalid hiding in his basement, and their direct confrontation will provide incontrovertible proof to the contrary. Polls suggest that most voters have already made up their minds, but the ones who haven’t largely don’t know much about Biden’s platform, and the debates are a huge opportunity to inform them.
  

We’ll have a recap of the night in Wednesday’s What A Day, and you can watch along with us for real-time commentary, fact-checking, and borderline-fireable jokes (if we can keep up with John Kerry) in the Crooked Groupthread →

Look No Further Than The Crooked Media

Once more for the people in the back: The first 2020 presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is TODAY, September 29th at 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific. Watch with us live on https://crooked.com/debate—we’ll be streaming the whole thing along with our Groupthread, where we and other familiar faces from the Crooked Media family will be breaking down what’s happening and giving our live commentary. Watch with us at https://crooked.com/debate →

Under The Radar

The White House put enormous pressure on the CDC to downplay the risk of sending kids back to school. Trump administration officials, including Dr. Deborah Birx, repeatedly leaned on CDC officials to provide data that could illustrate a decline in cases and low risk of infection or death for school-age children—“a snazzy, easy-to-read document” to back up Trump’s demands that schools reopen before the election. Other members of the coronavirus task force were told to go around the CDC to find alternative data to support the White House’s position. Recent data shows that coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have increased at a faster rate among children and teenagers, and it goes without saying that the Trump administration trying to circumvent science to put kids in danger for political gain should be an unrecoverable scandal.

What Else?

Global coronavirus deaths have surpassed one million, and that wrenching number is still likely a significant undercount.
Kentucky Attorney General David Cameron has agreed to release the grand jury records in Breonna Taylor’s case, after a grand juror filed a motion for their release. Cameron acknowledged that he never asked the jury to consider homicide charges against the officers.
DNI John Ratcliffe has declassified a Russian intelligence assessment suggesting that Hillary Clinton hatched a plan to tie President Trump to 2016 Russian election interference (a claim the U.S. intelligence community says we have no reason to believe) on the day of a presidential debate. A reminder that Trump’s political appointees, who are supposed to run the federal government, are now spreading election propaganda on his behalf.
New interviews with immigrant women who were pressured into unnecessary surgeries at a Georgia ICE facility revealed awful details about their treatment. In some cases Dr. Mahendra Amin listed symptoms that the women hadn’t experienced or reported in order to justify surgery, even while addressing medical issues that had nothing to do with gynecology.
President Trump mocks his Christian supporters in private, according to former White House aides, and unsurprisingly. Trump reportedly also made this sweet comment to Michael Cohen when he learned that Barron had a playdate with a Jewish girl: “Great, I’m going to lose another one of my kids to your people.”
New York City voters have been receiving absentee ballots with the wrong names and address on the ballot envelopes, which sure seems bad. Those voters will all be sent a second ballot, along with a letter explaining what happened.
A new study from South Korea found that 90 percent of recovered coronavirus patients reported experiencing lingering side effects. Your periodic reminder that fatality rates, bad as they are, don’t tell the whole story.
Federal Judge Emmett Sullivan suggested he’s not ready to throw out the case against Michael Flynn, during a hearing at which Flynn’s attorney admitted to personally updating Trump and White House lawyers on the case.
New York City’s coronavirus positivity rate has shot up to over three percent, partially as a result of new outbreaks in some Hasidic communities. If the city’s positivity rate stays that high for the next seven days, public schools will automatically close.
Meanwhile, test positivity in Florida, which just flung open all business at full capacity, is now at nearly seven percent.
Sarah Palin is jonesing for some attention, if anyone would like to charitably gawk.

Be Smarter

The second installment of the New York Times report on Donald Trump’s tax returns outlines how The Apprentice temporarily rescued Trump from financial ruin. After burning through the cash his father gave him and somehow managing to lose money as a casino owner, Trump netted some $197 million from the show itself, and another $230 million through the various endorsements, hotel deals, and scams he secured through his resulting fame. Trump then borrowed from his more lucrative ventures to buy and prop up his many money-losing golf resorts, at the same time that Apprentice ratings and his licensing deals were in decline. That brilliant move helped land him in the financial hole where he once again resides, at great risk to our national security.

What A Sponsor

Is docu-binging a thing? If it isn’t then it most definitely should be. CuriosityStream has thousands of streamable documentaries and non-fiction TV shows on topics like History, Nature, Science, Food, Technology, Travel, and more. Featuring 35 Collections of curated programs handpicked by their experts, including award-winning exclusives & originals. Streaming to any device for viewing anytime, anywhere. Sign up for just $14.99 for the whole year when you use code WHATADAY.

Is That Hope I Feel?

MIT researchers say the compact fusion reactor they’re building is likely to work, which could be a huge step forward in the fight against climate change.
A federal appeals court has upheld a six-day extension for counting absentee ballots in Wisconsin.
Some U.S. Postal Service employees have been quietly resisting Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s harmful policies.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has signed a law allowing California to develop its own line of affordable generic drugs.

Enjoy

Jason on Twitter: "I will donate the remainder of my life income--whatever that may be and to whatever worthy cause--if Chris Wallace just asks Trump to name three novels. Just three! Name three novels. Three long books, you big dumb orange julius bitch"

Welcome to Lost in the Sauce, keeping you caught up on political and legal news that often gets buried in distractions and theater. House-keeping:

1. How to read: Since the coronavirus was the one big story last week, I’m going to do away with the “Main Course” division this week - these are all “sides” in the sense that I have a feeling many people missed these developments.
   
2. How to support: If you enjoy my work, please consider becoming a patron. I do this to keep track and will never hide behind a paywall, but these projects take a lot of time and effort to create. Even a couple of dollars a month helps. Since someone asked a few weeks ago (thank you!), here's a PayPal option
   
3. How to get notifications: If you’d like to be added to my newsletter, use this SIGNUP FORM and you’ll get these recaps in your inbox!
   

Let’s dig in!
Since the coronavirus was the one big story last week, I’m going to do away with the “Main Course” division this week - these are all “sides” in the sense that I have a feeling many people missed these developments.

Biden-probe subpoena

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) canceled a planned vote to issue a subpoena in its investigation into Hunter Biden and his work in Ukraine. Johnson informed the committee that instead of subpoenaing former consultant Andrii Telizhenko, he will issue a subpoena to the Democratic public relations firm he worked for: Blue Star Strategies.
Although Johnson said the subpoena vote was canceled to give senators time to “receive additional briefings,” a Ukrainian source (Chief editor of The Odessa Review Vladislav Davidzon) told CNN that the subject of the subpoena, Telizhenko, offered him cash to lobby Republican politicians to speak out against Ukraine’s anti-corruption efforts - specifically Ukrainian lawmaker’s attempts to censure two media networks for “broadcasting Russian propaganda.”

In October 2018, the same month that lawmakers voted in favor of a resolution to sanction the two stations, Telizhenko wrote to Davidzon, asking: "Have a question do you or your father have contacts with US Senators? I really need a favour for witch (sic) I can pay up to 5k."
...After expressing concerns about how the new Ukrainian proposals could shut the broadcasters down, Telizhenko then says: “My question is is it possible to get an official comment on a Senators (Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham for example) website next week about this situation of censorship in Ukraine? Really important for me and need fast.”

Ranking member on the committee, Sen. Gary Peters, opposed subpoenaing Telizhenko because he warned that the investigation could be tainted by Russian disinformation. The revelation that Telizhenko has indeed worked for Russian interests seems to substantiate his concerns.

• Sen. Murphy’s strategy: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) formally requested the inspectors general for the State Department, the Treasury Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Archives investigate whether those agencies are selectively cooperating with Republican-led efforts to “investigate” Joe and Hunter Biden — while refusing cooperation with Democratic oversight efforts directed at Trump.

Politicizing intelligence

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence provided its first briefing to Congress since the previous DNI, Joseph Maguire, was fired by Trump for allowing his aide to tell Congress that Russia was acting to boost his re-election chances. The current acting-DNI, Ric Grenell, backed out of briefing Congress himself, reportedly because he did not want to discuss issues that make President Trump angry. Instead, his office was represented by William Evanina, the top counterintelligence official at the ODNI.
The latest briefing provided information contradictory to Maguire’s briefing, confusing and frustrating House members. Grenell’s office told Congress that the Kremlin is not “directly aiding any candidate’s re-election or any other candidates’ election.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer reportedly confronted the ODNI officials, accusing them of politicizing critical intelligence and providing insufficient and contradictory information about Russia’s interference.

Russia ramps up interference

While the Trump administration continues to hide and spin intelligence, the media reports that Russia continues to interfere in the U.S. political system. According to seven current officials, the Kremlin is increasing efforts to inflame racial tensions in America as part of its ongoing operation to influence the November elections.

...Now, Russia is also trying to influence white supremacist groups, the officials said; they gave few details, but one official said federal investigators are examining how at least one neo-Nazi organization with ties to Russia is funded. Other Russian efforts, which American intelligence agencies have tracked, involve simply prodding white nationalists to more aggressively spread hate messages and amplifying their invective. Russian operatives are also trying to push black extremist groups toward violence...

Last week, Facebook and Twitter announced they had discovered a Russian-led network of professional trolls outsourced to operatives in Ghana and Nigeria. The network’s 71 Twitter accounts, 49 Facebook accounts, and 85 Instagram accounts were removed.

“These 71 removed accounts, operating out of Ghana and Nigeria and which we can reliably associate with Russia, attempted to sow discord by engaging in conversations about social issues, like race and civil rights,” said Twitter’s safety team in a statement.

Senate Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, sent a letter requesting that the EU introduce additional sanctions against “Putin’s Chef” Yevgeny Prighozin to deter him and the Kremlin from interfering in elections this year.

“As the presidential election in the United States draws closer, our concerns about foreign interference have intensified...The U.S. and European Union should be unified in facing this common threat and take concrete measures to isolate this malign actor and his affiliated firms. This includes sanctions, but also a joint diplomatic approach to urge that countries avoid engaging with Mr. Prigozhin, Wagner and any other organization associated with him."

Purge continues

Acting-DNI Ric Grenell imposed a hiring freeze at the ODNI starting last week, ordering a review of the agency’s personnel and mission:

Some current and former officials said they saw the effort as an attempt to oust intelligence officers who disagreed politically with Mr. Trump. Those officials questioned why Mr. Grenell, in the job temporarily, would undertake a large-scale reorganization, particularly one that previous directors had considered but put aside…Kashyap Patel, an aide in the director’s office who was transferred last month from the White House [and former aide to Representative Devin Nunes], is involved in the review…

The White House is also holding up the nomination of Kathryn Wheelbarger for one of the Pentagon’s top intelligence jobs because she is not considered sufficiently loyal to Trump. Wheelbarger, who has been serving as acting assistant secretary of Defense for international security affairs since November 2018, is nominated to become the deputy undersecretary of Defense for intelligence.

The post that Wheelbarger would fill is one of 21 senior positions at the Pentagon that are empty or filled on a temporary basis, a record high for the Trump administration.

In the middle of a global pandemic, one of the lead response agencies is losing its chief: Mark Green is set to resign from the U.S. Agency for International Development at the end of the month. Green will be replaced by USAID Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick, a Trump loyalist.

FEC nominee confirmation

Last Tuesday, the Senate held a confirmation hearing for Trump’s nominee to the Federal Election Commission, James “Trey” Trainor. It’s been over two years since Trainor was first nominated to fill the seat left empty by Republican Commissioner Lee Goodman in 2018. Then, last year, the commission’s vice chairman, Matthew Petersen, resigned, leaving only three members in place. The FEC needs a minimum of four members to take actions like investigating campaign finance violations, enforcing rules, and issuing fines.
Trainor is a controversial nominee with a history of advancing partisan gerrymandering and past work for Trump. After the Supreme Court invalidated a key part of the Voting Rights Act, Trainor worked with gerrymandering expert and Republican strategist Thomas Hofeller to successfully implement redistricting maps in Texas that were previously ruled to be discriminatory. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the following at Tuesday’s hearing:

“He has worked closely with Thomas Hofeller, notorious for masterminding Republican gerrymandering schemes, to redraw maps that significantly disenfranchise minority voters at the local level. Mr. Trainor’s former law firm described him as being ‘intimately involved’ in Texas’s 2003 redistricting, which the Supreme Court deemed in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Mr. Trainor has argued the Voting Rights Act has become a political tool.”

Schumer also quoted Trainor as saying in 2017 that political donations should be anonymous.

“The Republicans have nominated someone who wants to roll back Citizens United, which the overwhelming majority of the American people support, public disclosure of who’s giving,” Schumer said, adding: “It’s amazing.”

Trainor faced pressure to recuse himself from overseeing any campaign finance matters involving Trump, because he served as a legal adviser on Trump’s 2016 campaign team. Ranking Senate Rules and Administration Committee Member Amy Klobuchar pressed Trainor:

“So you’re not going to just recuse yourself from the beginning on a Trump matter?” Klobuchar asked, visibly surprised.
“No, not as a blanket recusal, and I don’t think that there is anyone at the commission currently who has a blanket recusal,” Trainor said. “I think we should all follow the same rules and guidelines.”

Judges finally speak out

U.S District Judge Lynn Adelman, of Wisconsin, published an article in the Harvard Law and Policy Review titled “The Roberts Court's Assault on Democracy.” Adelman takes Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to task for joining the court’s hard right justices in “undermining American democracy” by “carrying out a sustained assault on the right of poor people and minorities to vote” and “reinforcing the enormous imbalance in wealth and political power that has developed in recent decades.”

He described Roberts' 2005 Senate confirmation testimony as "misleading" and declared that "the Roberts Court has contributed to insuring that the political system in the United States pays little attention to ordinary Americans and responds only to the wishes of a relatively small number of powerful corporations and individuals."

Adelman also attacks President Trump for helping the Republican party continue policies that worsen wealth inequality:

Although he ran as a populist and promised to promote policies that benefited ordinary people, upon taking office Trump almost entirely reversed course. He appointed mostly wealthy far-right Republicans and their supporters to his cabinet and to key positions in his administration… Trump also supported a tax bill that provided big benefits to the country’s largest corporations and wealthiest individuals and virtually nothing to the majority of American taxpayers.
...Because Congressional Republicans depend on a relatively small number of wealthy donors to stay in power, their major public policy goal is to do whatever makes such donors happy.

Last week, another prominent member of the judicial community publicly blasted the Chief Justice: Former Hawaii District Judge for 27 years James Dannenberg submitted his resignation from the Supreme Court Bar to Roberts. In a public letter, Dannenberg criticized Roberts for “allowing the Court to become an ‘errand boy’ for an administration that has little respect for the rule of law.”
“I have been a member of the Supreme Court Bar since 1972, far longer than you have,” Dannenberg’s letter to Roberts begins.

The Court, under your leadership and with your votes, has wantonly flouted established precedent. Your “conservative” majority has cynically undermined basic freedoms by hypocritically weaponizing others… More than a score of decisions during your tenure have overturned established precedents—some more than forty years old– and you voted with the majority in most. There is nothing “conservative” about this trend. This is radical “legal activism” at its worst.
...The only constitutional freedoms ultimately recognized may soon be limited to those useful to wealthy, Republican, White, straight, Christian, and armed males— and the corporations they control. This is wrong. Period. This is not America.
...I no longer have respect for you or your majority, and I have little hope for change. I can’t vote you out of office because you have life tenure, but I can withdraw whatever insignificant support my Bar membership might seem to provide.

Important court rulings

McGahn and border wall
The full bench of the powerful D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals announced on Friday that it will rehear the House’s appeal for Don McGahn’s testimony, vacating the three-judge panel’s previous ruling that judges can’t resolve subpoena disputes between the executive branch and Congress. Arguments are set for April 28.
The same court will also take on the House’s challenge of Trump’s emergency declaration to use over $6 billion of federal funds to fund his southern border wall even though Congress only appropriated $1.375 billion. Trump-appointed judge Trevor McFadden dismissed the House’s initial lawsuit last year.
Mueller’s grand jury
In a 2-1 ruling, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the Justice Department must allow Congress access to secret material collected by Mueller’s grand jury in its Russian interference investigation. Judges Judith Rogers and Thomas Griffith - Clinton and W. Bush appointees, respectively - found that the House’s impeachment investigation is a legal judicial process that exempts Congress from secrecy rules that typically shield grand jury materials. The Appeals Court decision can be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Trump appointee Judge Neomi Rao dissented, saying the House did have legal grounds to ask the court to enforce the subpoena since the impeachment investigation has ended. Rao has taken Trump’s side in virtually every case she’s heard.

it’s hard not to see the trap Rao has built around Congress. Her Mazars opinion claims that Congress has only one path it can use to investigate President Trump. Then, when Congress traveled down the very same path that Rao identified in Mazars, Judge Rao invents a new limit — suggesting that Congress may only get one shot at an impeachment inquiry. Moreover, as Tatel suggests in the Mazars majority opinion, Rao appears to have invented the constitutional limit she placed on congressional investigations out of thin air.
The Atlantic’s David Frum wrote that Rao’s Mazars dissent was “wild talk that would shut down almost all congressional investigations.” Maybe that’s the point — at least as long as Trump is in the White House.

Food stamp cuts
Friday evening, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell issued an injunction preventing the Trump administration from implementing a rule change that would force nearly 700,000 Americans off food stamps.

"Especially now, as a global pandemic poses widespread health risks, guaranteeing that government officials at both the federal and state levels have flexibility to address the nutritional needs of residents and ensure their well-being through programs like SNAP, is essential," Howell wrote.

Trump cases

The Washington Post reported that District Court Judge Lorna Schofield ordered Trump and his three adult children to “search through 15 years of business records for materials that could inform a lawsuit alleging they profited by promoting a marketing scam targeting vulnerable investors.”

Trump is being sued by four people who say they were duped into joining the multilevel marketing company ACN years ago because of his endorsement. The suit characterizes ACN as a pyramid scheme and accuses Trump of having made misleading claims as a paid pitchman prior to his presidency. All four say they suffered financially as a result.
...In this case, unlike in others, he has not asserted presidential immunity as a defense, and his legal team has already turned over a number of documents.

Atlantic City officials announced they will soon be filing an injunction in Superior Court to demolish the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino tower because it is an “imminent hazard.” The city’s mayor, Mary Small, told the press that chunks of the building’s concrete and stucco facade are actively raining onto nearby streets.

“We could have had a fatality,” Small said. “Things will not be tolerated in the city of Atlantic City.”

The crumbling building has been owned by billionaire and Trump-ally Carl Icahn since 2016, though it has been closed since 2014.
Icahn endorsed Trump for president in 2016 and financially supported his campaign. Icahn also served as special economic adviser on financial regulation to Trump briefly in 2017, leaving amid concerns of conflicts of interest. In one of many concerning incidents, it was reported that stock for CVR Energy, in which Icahn has 82% ownership, doubled after President Trump's election, increasing $455 million in value.

• Don’t miss: Teen models, powerful men and private dinners: when Trump hosted Look of the Year. “In the early 90s, Donald Trump judged the world’s biggest modelling competition - since hit by allegations of abuse… The stories we have heard suggest that Casablancas, and some of the men in his orbit, used the contest to engage in sexual relationships with vulnerable young models. Some of these allegations amount to sexual harassment, abuse or exploitation of teenage girls; others are more accurately described as rape.”

Trump profiting off presidency: Week 164

• CNN: Hotels, clubs and restaurants owned by Trump or bearing his name have billed various federal agencies and personnel more than $1 million since he became the Republican nominee for president...About half of the documented expenses involve the U.S. Secret Service, which has been charged more than $600,000 by various Trump properties between September 2016 and August 2019.
  
• CREW: Taxpayers paid President Trump’s Doonbeg resort $15,144.94 for Secret Service lodging during Vice President Mike Pence’s September 2019 trip to Ireland… We can now say definitively that Pence’s detour not only cost taxpayers extra due to large transportation costs, but also that the bill subsidized one of Trump’s struggling businesses.
  
• CREW: On March 7, less than two weeks after President Trump returned from an official visit to India, the business he still owns and profits from made an announcement: it would now ship Trump-branded products to India. This appears to be a clear violation of the Trump family’s pledge of no new foreign business during the Trump presidency, and an invitation for corruption... India is joined on the announcement by Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scotland (which we must note is still technically part of the United Kingdom) and Germany.
  
• ProPublica: The Trump Organization paid bribes, through middlemen, to New York City tax assessors to lower its property tax bills for several Manhattan buildings in the 1980s and 1990s, according to five former tax assessors and city employees as well as a former Trump Organization employee. Two of the five city employees said they personally took bribes to lower the assessment on a Trump property; the other three said they had indirect knowledge of the payments.
  
• New York Times summarized by HuffPo: President Donald Trump’s campaign manager is quietly channeling money to Eric Trump’s wife, Lara Trump, and Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle… The family benefits are linked to a network of politically connected private companies — operating with the support and help of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner — that have charged roughly $75 million since 2017 to the Trump reelection campaign, the Republican National Committee and other Republican clients
  

States, elections, and environment

• Ecowatch: A federal judge in Alaska ruled late Wednesday against a Trump administration plan to open 1.8 million acres of America's largest national forest to logging. The Forest Service plan targeted part of the Tongass National Forest on Prince of Wales Island.
  
• Press release: The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today for failing to decide whether 241 plants and animals across the country — from the Midwest’s golden-winged warbler to Venus flytraps in the Carolinas — should be protected under the Endangered Species Act. The lawsuit, filed in district court in Washington, D.C., is one of the largest ever under the Act and seeks to undo years of illegal inaction by the Trump administration.
  
• NYT: A New York man who threatened to kill Representative Ilhan Omar in a hate-filled call to her office was sentenced to a year and a day in prison… Mr. Carlineo admitted to making the threatening call, and described himself as a patriot who loved Mr. Trump and hated “radical Muslims in our government,” according to the criminal complaint.
  
• ProPublica: The Republican National Committee has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to contractors closely connected to the organization’s chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel. One contract went to her husband’s insurance company. Two others went to businesses whose executives recently donated to Ronna for Chair, a largely inactive political action committee that McDaniel controls.
  
• CNN and NYT: Infowars founder and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was arrested in Texas on a charge of driving while intoxicated… [Also,] The New York State attorney general has issued a cease-and-desist order to Alex Jones, the conservative radio host, alarmed by false claims on his website that his diet supplements and toothpaste could be used to fight the coronavirus.
  

Immigration news

• Politico: Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday he was unaware of any indication from his agency that physical barriers along America’s borders would help halt the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. — contradicting an assertion President Donald Trump made earlier in the day.
  
• The Guardian: Doctors are concerned the spread of coronavirus to the US’s prison-like immigration detention centers is inevitable and will hit a system blighted by overcrowding and medical negligence… Dr Josiah Rich, an epidemiologist at Brown University, said one tool the US government has to prevent the spread of coronavirus is to release some of the 43,990 people in immigration detention, while their legal cases are being processed. People are held in these detention centers for civil immigration violations, not criminal charges, and the government can release them unless they are considered a danger to the community.
  
• NPR: The U.S. Supreme Court delivered the Trump administration another win on one of its signature immigration policies on Wednesday, allowing it to continue the controversial "Remain in Mexico" policy across the entire southern border. The policy, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols, requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their day in U.S. immigration court. That has led to roughly 60,000 migrants getting sent back across the border since MPP was first implemented in January 2019.
  
• NPR: Hundreds of asylum-seekers who reach the Texas-Mexico border aren't getting a chance to make their case in U.S. immigration court. Instead, the migrants — mostly women and children — are put on planes to Guatemala and told to ask for asylum in that country.
  
• CNN: In explosive audio obtained through the work of a leading human rights group and released by CNN, a Trump administration attorney is heard finally admitting what experts and advocates have been insisting from the start: Remain in Mexico, the administration policy forcing tens of thousands of vulnerable asylum-seekers to wait for their U.S. immigration court dates in Mexico, is in fact dangerous.
  
  • “I think what I’m hearing from the government is, and I’ll be honest, I don’t like it,” the judge said, according to the audio. “What I’m hearing is, that well everybody has to take that risk and that chance, and you get kidnapped, you get kidnapped, that’s the risk you take for being in Mexico, and wanting to apply for asylum here in the United States … I don’t think it’s humane. But we’re talking about human beings and lives. It’s not a piece of paper in my opinion. And I really don’t like what I just heard.”
• Washington Post: Pregnant woman dies after falling from border wall, a sign of migrants’ desperation… A year ago, during the height of the family migration surge, the couple probably would have tried to turn themselves in to seek asylum, he said. But an array of new restrictions imposed by the Trump administration is driving border-crossers to take more risks, migrant advocates say.