And you thought you had weird feet

An image shared on Facebook claims to show Afghan fighters joining Hezbollah. Verdict: False The image is from 2018 and took place in Syria. Fact Check: Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for an alleged Israeli drone strike that killed two members of the militant group, according to The New York Times. The rocket fire […]

'Should withdraw their support'

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Mr. Panikos Panayiotou is attracting diners from all over the world after the restaurant he built in his backyard became a local hotspot. Forking out tens of thousands to bring a slice of the Mediterranean to the industrial heartlands of Walsall, England, all the net proceeds from his delicious Greek menu go to charity. It’s […] The post Dad Attracts Diners from Across the Globe After Building $22k Greek Taverna–in His Backyard appeared first on Good News Network.

Among the worst ideas in the Biden administration’s proposed budget is a new annual tax of at least 25% on unrealized gains for Americans with incomes and assets of over $100 million. Taxing unrealized gains is an entirely new prospect that, if the Biden administration succeeds in doing it, would penalize individuals for owning assets that appreciate, regardless of whether those assets are sold. But there the proposed tax is anyway in President Joe Biden’s 188-page Fiscal Year 2025 U.S. Government Budget and accompanying 256-page General Explanations of the Administration’s FY 2025 Revenue Proposals. Such taxes are rare due to complexities in valuing these assets, liquidity concerns, and overall implementation challenges and risks. When implemented, such taxes lead to an exodus of taxpayers. For example, when Norway initiated a similar tax in fall 2022, over 30 Norwegian multimillionaires and billionaires left the country, moving to Switzerland. This number eclipsed the total number of multimillionaires and billionaires who abandoned Norway in the prior 13 years. Entrepreneurship is the engine of the U.S. economy, and the proposed tax on unrealized gains would act as a kill switch on several fronts. First, America’s wealthiest fund a significant share of high-risk, high-variance investments in early-stage, startup, and small-cap companies. The proposed tax would require that with every high variation, the investor must pay a tax on it. So the highs get higher and the lows stay lower. Thus, investors may be less likely to invest in growth-oriented ventures due to greater swings in valuation compared to larger, established companies. As an example, imagine being worth about $100 million and investing $1 million in a promising new biotech startup. BioNTech, a biotechnology immunotherapy company, began publicly trading at $13.82 ($1 million = 72,368.9 shares) and reached a high of $389.01 and a year-end price of $257.80. In this scenario, the investor would have owed taxes to the federal government on the $243.98-a-share gain ($17,656,564.22) at 25%, or $4,414,141.05 in taxes, even without selling any shares. Now fast-forward to today, when BioNTech’s stock price is trending down and now trading around $100. There is no tax on unrealized losses. Moreover, investors now will think far more about the time component of the equation and the expected future behavior and valuation of an exit. The new tax on unrealized gains could hasten the selling of assets by investors for tax reasons rather than legitimate business reasons. This tax also would hurt entrepreneurs who typically hold a large share of stock in their ventures. When successful, that share would increase substantially in value. Even if the entrepreneur doesn’t sell any stock in his or her successful company, he would owe taxes on the increase in value. An example here would be Fanatics, the Jacksonville-based online sports memorabilia and merchandise retailer. As of December’s latest investment round, Fanatics is valued at $31 billion. Under the Biden proposal, Fanatics founder and CEO Michael Rubin would owe substantial taxes on the unrealized gains over this appreciation. Taken together, these pressures would result in less capital for entrepreneurs, significantly lowering investment in entrepreneurship. This in turn would result in lower rates of innovation and productivity—a kill switch for entrepreneurship. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Biden’s Tax on Unrealized Gains Would Be Kill Switch for Entrepreneurship appeared first on The Daily Signal.

THE CENTER SQUARE—Tesla founder and X owner Elon Musk said Thursday that he plans to file a lawsuit against people and organizations working to prevent advertising dollars from going to conservative news media. Musk announced his intention on the social media giant X while sharing video of Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro’s congressional testimony Wednesday on the topic. “Having seen the evidence unearthed today by Congress, X has no choice but to file suit against the perpetrators and collaborators in the advertising boycott racket,” Musk wrote. “Hopefully, some states will consider criminal prosecution.” At Wednesday’s hearing before the House Judiciary Committee targeting a coalition called the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, Shapiro told lawmakers that legacy media and their political allies conspire with online advertising gatekeepers to paint conservative news organizations as “dangerous,” limiting their opportunity to receive advertising revenue. “There is in fact an internal pressure system created by Democratic legislators, this White House, legacy media, advertisers and pseudo-objective brand safety organizations,” Shapiro testified. “That system guarantees that advertising dollars flow only to left-leaning media brands.” Shapiro identified the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, or GARM, as one of those gatekeepers of online advertising revenue. “In reality, GARM acts as a cartel. Its members account for 90% of ad spending in the United States, almost a trillion dollars,” Shapiro testified. “In other words, if you’re not getting ad dollars from GARM members, it’s nearly impossible to run an ad-based business. And if you’re not following their preferred political narratives … you will not be deemed brand safe. Your business will be throttled.” Originally published by The Center Square The post Musk’s X to Sue Groups That Boycott Conservative News Sites appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. AT&T is facing severe criticism following a substantial data breach where hackers accessed the call records of “NEARLY ALL” its mobile subscribers, totaling approximately 109 million individuals. This doesn’t just affect AT&T customers, it affects everyone those customers have interacted with. In a statement to Reclaim The Net, the telecommunications giant confirmed that the breach occurred between April 14 and April 25, 2024, involving its Snowflake storage. Snowflake, a provider that facilitates large-scale data warehousing and analytics in the cloud, is now under scrutiny for security lapses in the wake of multiple breaches facilitated by stolen credentials. Recently, the security firm Mandiant identified a financially motivated hacker group, known as “UNC5537” targeting Snowflake users. This has led to a series of data thefts, prompting Snowflake to implement stricter security measures, including mandatory multi-factor authentication for its administrators. The stolen data includes call and text metadata from May 1 to October 31, 2022, and a specific breach on January 2, 2023. This metadata encompasses telephone numbers, interaction counts, and aggregate call durations, affecting not only AT&T’s direct customers but also those of various mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). AT&T took immediate action upon discovering the breach, engaging with cybersecurity experts and contacting the FBI. According to an official statement, the FBI, along with the Department of Justice (DOJ), evaluated the breach’s implications on national security and public safety, which led to delays in public disclosure sanctioned on May 9 and June 5, 2024. The FBI emphasized its role in assisting victims of cyberattacks and the importance of early communication with law enforcement in such incidents. “We have taken steps to close off the illegal access point,” AT&T continued in its statement. “We are working with law enforcement in its efforts to arrest those involved in the incident. We understand that at least one person has been apprehended.” Customers should take several proactive steps to protect their personal information and reduce potential risks: Be Wary of Phishing Attempts Hackers may attempt to use stolen data to craft convincing phishing emails or texts. Customers should be cautious about unsolicited communications asking for personal information or urging them to click on suspicious links. Use MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) While passwords were not compromised in this breach, enabling MFA where available can enhance security on all digital accounts. Avoid using text messages as a form of account verification. This is when a company sends you a code by text message that you have to use to access your account. It’s much safer to use a 2-factor authentication app. Avoid Using Standard Phone Calls and SMS Text Messages as Much as Possible Phone carriers, by virtue of their central role in facilitating communications, inherently collect and store vast amounts of metadata related to phone calls and text messages. This metadata, which includes details such as call times, durations, and the numbers involved, can be highly sensitive. Despite its non-content nature, metadata can reveal intricate details about a person’s life, habits, and social networks. Here are some reasons why phone carriers are often more vulnerable to metadata leaks: Large Data Stores: Phone carriers manage enormous volumes of data daily. Each call or text generates metadata that is logged and stored. The sheer volume of this data makes it a significant target for hackers, and managing its security can be challenging. Regulatory Requirements: Carriers are often required by law to retain metadata for certain periods for lawful intercept capabilities and other regulatory reasons. This obligation to store data can increase the risk of breaches, as older, possibly less secure systems may be used for storage. Complex Systems and Integration: The infrastructure of telecom companies is complex and often integrated with various legacy systems and third-party services. Each integration point can introduce vulnerabilities, potentially offering hackers multiple entry points to access and extract data. Insufficient Encryption Practices: While the content of communications might be encrypted, the metadata often is not. This oversight can leave sensitive information exposed to anyone who gains unauthorized access to the system. High Value for Surveillance and Advertising: Metadata is extremely valuable for surveillance purposes, as well as for targeted advertising. This makes it a lucrative target for unauthorized actors, including state-sponsored groups and cybercriminals looking to monetize the data. Delayed Disclosure: Carriers might delay disclosing data breaches due to ongoing investigations or national security implications, as seen in the AT&T breach. This delay can exacerbate the problem, increasing the window during which stolen data can be misused. Underestimation of Metadata Sensitivity: There is often a misconception that metadata is not as sensitive as direct communication content. This misunderstanding can lead to less rigorous security measures being applied to protect this type of data. Economic and Technical Resources: Despite having significant resources, phone carriers may prioritize cost-saving measures over the implementation of state-of-the-art security solutions. Additionally, updating and securing sprawling networks can be technically challenging and expensive. Use end-to-end encrypted apps to communicate instead and encourage family and friends to do the same. Using apps that offer end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is crucial for maintaining privacy and security, especially in the wake of breaches like the one experienced by AT&T, where call data was exposed. Here’s why E2EE apps are a better choice: Enhanced Privacy Protection: End-to-end encryption ensures that messages, calls, and files are encrypted on the sender’s device and only decrypted on the recipient’s device. This means that no one in between, not even the service providers or potential interceptors, can read or listen to the content. This is crucial when the metadata (like call logs and contact numbers) is exposed, as the content of the communications remains secure. Security Against Interception: E2EE is particularly important for protecting against potential eavesdropping. Even if a hacker can access transmission lines or servers, they cannot decrypt the encrypted data without the unique keys held only by the sender and receiver. Prevention of Third-Party Access: In cases where service providers are subpoenaed for user data, they cannot hand over what they do not have access to. E2EE means the service provider does not have the decryption keys and therefore cannot access the content of the communications, offering an additional layer of legal protection. Reduced Risk of Data Breaches: If a data breach occurs and encrypted data is stolen, the information remains protected because it is unreadable without the decryption keys. This significantly reduces the risk associated with data theft. Trust and Compliance: Using E2EE can help companies build trust with their customers by showing a commitment to privacy and security. It can also help in complying with privacy regulations and standards, which increasingly mandate the protection of personal data. Mitigation of Damage from Breaches: While encryption does not prevent data from being stolen, it devalues the data, making it useless to the thief. This is particularly important in incidents where sensitive information is at risk of being exposed. Given these advantages, users are strongly advised to prefer communication apps and services that offer robust end-to-end encryption. This not only protects the content of their communications but also serves as a critical defense mechanism in today’s digital and often vulnerable cyber landscape. AT&T has provided a FAQ page where customers can find out if their data was involved in the breach. It’s important for customers to use these resources to assess their exposure. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post “Nearly All” AT&T Customers are Affected by Massive Data Breach; What To Do Next appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Breaking From NYT: The $90 Million Shoe Just Dropped on Biden

NATO Diplomats: 'It Was Awful'