insider trading

Cloud push, credit crash and algorithm advice + this day in history w/the start of the Six Day War and our song of the day by Gorillaz on your Morning Monarchy for June 5, 2018.

In 2014 the Center for Responsive Politics analyzed the personal financial disclosure data from 2012 of the 534 then-current members of Congress and found that, for the first time, more than half had an average net worth of $1 million or more: 268 to be exact, up from 257 the year earlier. All those rich people... do they understand what most Americans go through? Can they even begin to understand?

Those ratings that castigate Afghanistan and some other poor countries as hopelessly “corrupt” always imply that the United States is not corrupt. This year’s report from Transparency International puts the US on a par with Austria, which is ridiculous. All kinds of people from politicians to businessmen would go to jail in Austria today if they engaged in practices that are quite common in the US.

Healthcare incorporated, gourmet thieves and destructive psychology + this day in history w/'Down and Out in Beverly Hills' and our song of the day by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club on your Morning Monarchy for January 31, 2018.

Older phones, skull-shaped asteroids and gaming disorders + this day in history w/the sentencing of the Hillside Stranglers and our song of the day by Tricky on your Morning Monarchy for January 9, 2018.

Referendum violence, the economics of bribery and political clowns + this day in history w/the start of the Beltway Sniper spree and our song of the day by Luna on your Morning Monarchy for October 2, 2017.

(ANTIMEDIA) Washington, D.C. — It’s rare that we get a glimpse into how the machine actually operates, but POLITICO just gave us one. The findings of an investigation by the news agency, published Monday, reveal that congressional staffers may play a far larger role in greasing the engine of American government than one might assume. From the article by Maggie Severns:

The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into whether top officials at Equifax violated insider trading laws when they sold stock before the company disclosed that it had been hacked, according to people familiar with the investigation.
Equifax disclosed earlier this month that it discovered a security breach on July 29. The three executives sold shares worth almost $1.8 million in early August. The company has said the managers didn’t know of the breach at the time they sold the shares.

Texas has been ignored by the DCCC for too long. I fear 2018 isn't going to change much either, despite rumblings of some early interest. Is the new DCCC regional Vice Chair even paying attention-- or just running for governor of Colorado?

(ANTIMEDIA) Representative Chris Collins of New York is by no standards a dominant member of the House. He sits on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, but he’s not a chair of any of the subcommittees. In early 2016, however, he raised eyebrows as the first congressman to endorse Donald Trump.