Free Republic

Despite its price plunge, some diehard bitcoin aficionados still say the beleaguered cryptocurrency could hit six figures by year’s end. Tone Vays, a New York-based cryptocurrency analyst and blockchain consultant, has been among those arguing that the wild swings in bitcoin value since its debut in 2009 at less than a penny could mean that an even greater upswing may be possible this year. “Right now I think that bitcoin should still go down in price, but it will recover,” says Vays. “$100K this year is possible, but that’s very high. I put the current fair value at $25,000.”

"The Associated Press is admitting that they were lied to by a white nationalist who claimed his group was connected to the school shooter in Parkland, Florida." "Jordan Jereb, a member of white nationalist group “Republic of Florida,” claimed on Wednesday that Nikolas Cruz, the shooter that killed 17 people at a Parkland high school, was a member of his group and participated in paramilitary drills with them. The Associated Press ran with Jereb’s claims, leading a number of outlets to publish blurbs of their report." "However, Jereb later backtracked on his claims and said he was “confused” because there...

Special counsel Robert Mueller's office announced on Friday that California resident Richard Pinedo pleaded guilty to one count of identity fraud on February 12, according to court documents. The plea deal's release came immediately after Mueller's office announced charges against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities accused of interfering in the 2016 US election by mounting an elaborate and multi-faceted social media influence operation meant to sow political discord during and after the race. According to the statement of offense, Pinedo ran a company called "Auction Essistance," which offered services meant to get around the security requirements set by...

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has given its prestigious award for Public Engagement with Science to climate scientist, Michael E. Mann. No, this is not a joke – though it should be. That’s Michael Mann as in the creator of possibly the most discredited artefact in climate science history: the ludicrous, fabricated “Hockey Stick.” That’s Michael Mann, the litigious activist and vexatious Twitter troll who dismisses any scientist who disagrees with him as a “denier”; who was exposed in the Climategate emails trying to ruin the careers of his opponents and attempting to shut down the...

A couple years ago, someone who stole $3.5 million from the government food stamps program was sentenced to...one year in jail. WORCESTER – A federal judge Monday sentenced a local woman to a year in jail and ordered her to forfeit $3.5 million and pay restitution in what lawyers said was the largest food stamp fraud case in Massachusetts history. Vida Ofori Causey, 46, owner of J&W Aseda Plaza at 753 Main St., pleaded guilty in December to charges of conspiracy to commit Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits fraud, SNAP fraud, and money laundering in a $3.6 million cash-for-benefits scheme. The...

A tax scam aimed at stealing consumer refunds has ballooned, with the IRS reporting that the number of potential victims has soared from a few hundred to "several thousand in just days." Uncovered in the first week of filing season, the con appears to have started in tax preparers' offices, where infected computers provided access to complete return data on thousands of consumers. The crooks are using the purloined data - including Social Security numbers, dependents data and even bank account information - to file refund claims on behalf of the victimized taxpayers. The IRS does not know how many...

Full title of article: A Racist Con-Man: Obama’s Portrait Artist, Who Hires Cheap Chinese Labor To Paint “His” Work, Says “Kill Whitey” Is A Major Theme Since Obama’s portrait was unveiled, I’ve received a flurry of text messages from outraged artist friends I made while living in New York. No, they weren’t outraged because they saw Kehinde Wiley’s other painting that feature black women murdering white women. They were outraged because Kehinde Wiley is a terrible artist who only rose to prominence, something they have been attempting to do their entire lives, in the art world because he is a...

Maybe your phone is scratched up, the battery won’t hold a charge anymore, or you’re just plain sick of it. Whatever the reason, you start to shop around for a new phone, but all your budget will allow is a bland, mid-range device. So you hop online to see what kind of bargain you can pick up second hand. Someone is selling last year’s flagship iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, barely used, at a drastically lower price. You pounce and secure yourself a shiny new smartphone at a steal. The phone arrives in a couple of days, as described, and you...

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló has long blamed his predecessors and those in Washington – namely Republicans including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) – for his woes.Rosselló has called the ground-breaking Tax Cuts and Jobs Act a setback for the island.  The governor has also criticized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, despite their efforts to rebuild the power utility long-neglected by a long line of Puerto Rico leaders.While many things about Puerto Rico’s governance remain opaque, one thing is quite clear: Gov. Rosselló will stop at nothing to blame everyone else for his own failings. By blaming others and feigning...

Law Enforcement Dismantles Forum Used to Victimize Millions in all 50 States and Worldwide in One of the Largest Cyberfraud Enterprises Ever Prosecuted by the Department of Justice A federal indictment was unsealed today charging 36 individuals for their alleged roles in the Infraud Organization, an Internet-based cybercriminal enterprise engaged in the large-scale acquisition, sale, and dissemination of stolen identities, compromised debit and credit cards, personally identifiable information, financial and banking information, computer malware, and other contraband.

A new bill under consideration by Florida lawmakers would stop insurance companies from dodging workers compensation payouts by aiding in the arrest and deportation of unauthorized immigrants who are injured on the job. Legislators and advocates have been pushing for the measure since last summer, when ProPublica and NPR documented more than 130 cases in which immigrants who had suffered legitimate workplace injuries were flagged to law enforcement agencies by their employers' insurers. The workers faced felony fraud charges for using a fake ID when they sought medical care. Meanwhile, the insurers often avoided paying the workers' compensation benefits legally...

Chairman Goodlatte has written a letter to Presiding FISA Court Judge Rosemary Collyer, requesting the FBI application documents that underwrite the October 21st, 2016, “Title 1” surveillance request against Carter Page. Goodlatte is cutting to the chase and requesting the underlying FISC material directly from the court as provided by the DOJ and FBI. The Goodlatte request presents a very interesting dynamic because Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer was the FISC Justice who wrote the extensive 99-page opinion (based on the reporting by NSA Director Mike Rogers and the admissions from the Department of Justice) that outlined the intentional abuse and...

When Obama carried out his Solyndra con game, he broke the same law that Martha Stewart went to prison for breaking In 2009 the Obama administration gave $535 million to Solyndra, claiming that it would create 4,000 new jobs. However, instead of creating those 4,000 new jobs, the company went bankrupt. It was later revealed that the company’s shareholders and executives had made substantial donations to Obama’s campaign, that the company had spent a large sum of money on lobbying, and that Solyndra executives had had many meetings with White House officials. It was also revealed that the Obama administration had...

Newsweek has fired several top editors and reporters in the midst of legal problems and widespread turmoil in the newsroom, according to staffers familiar with the decision. The magazine's news director, Cristina Silvia, announced in a staff meeting that editor in chief Bob Roe, executive editor Ken Li, reporters Celeste Katz and Josh Saul, and International Business Times editor Josh Keefe had all been fired, the Daily Beast reported Monday. The firings come after Newsweek was accused of buying fraudulent web traffic to trick the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau into buying ad space, and after the Manhattan District Attorney's office...

Former Florida football player convicted of $20 million healthcare fraud conspiracy By Jay Weaver jweaver@miamiherald.com February 05, 2018 03:26 PM Updated 50 minutes ago Monty Grow, a former University of Florida and NFL player who made a small fortune selling pharmaceutical drugs, took the unusual step of testifying in his trial on charges of swindling millions from a federal program that provides medical insurance for the U.S. military. The 46-year-old Grow was hit again and again with questions by a federal prosecutor about receiving and paying kickbacks to score lucrative patient referrals for a major South Florida pharmacy. “You were...

The publisher of Newsweek and the International Business Times has been engaging in fraudulent online traffic practices that helped it secure a major ad buy from a US government agency, according to a new report released today by independent ad fraud researchers. IBTimes.com, the publisher’s US business site, last year won a significant portion of a large video and display advertising campaign for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal agency. Social Puncher, a consulting firm that investigates online ad fraud, alleges in its report that the ads were displayed to an audience on IBTimes.com that includes a significant amount...

The White House does not have to approve the release of a currently classified memo assembled within the House of representatives which purports to display extensive abuse of FISA authority within the FBI, deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley told WMAL Wednesday morning. “We don’t have to approve it. They have the right to de-classify the document,” Gidley told Daily Caller editorial director Vince Coglianese and WMAL host, citing “legal minds” consulted by the executive branch.

If something was perpetrated against you based on a fraud and evidence was presented to court under false pretense and you know it’s a fraud because obviously you didn’t do it. So you tell people it’s ridiculous why this fraud investigation is still going on and you tell people to end this ridiculous thing, and you may even fired people that was stalling on an obvious fraud. How can it be obstruction of justice?

What would happen if texts originating from a FBI agent to several [internals] discussed the assassination (possibility) of the POTUS or member of his family? What if the texts suggest foreign allies were involved? Forget the Russia set up [1 of 22]. This is only the beginning. Be careful what you wish for. AS THE WORLD TURNS. Could messages such as those be publicly disclosed? What happens to the FBI? What happens to the DOJ? What happens to special counsel? What happens in general? Every FBI/DOJ prev case could be challenged. Lawless. Think logically. We haven’t started the drops re:...