Gaythia Weis @Gaythia@social.cleverlibre.org

The key thing to note about reporting that hedge funds are trying to buy #SVB assets is that they're going directly to startups. They're taking advantage of the panic to make a profit. They're quite literally behaving like predatory payday loan sharks. They know damn well that the money is all there, and that they'll be able to cash in at 90-95 cents on the dollar. If there's a bailout, they'll get more than $1 for every dollar they spend.

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/hedge-funds-offering-buy-startup-deposits-stuck-silicon-valley-bank-semafor-2023-03-11/

If you love ants there is a great new video up from The Ant Network! #ants #antvideo

The Forest Ants of Florida. All about making a new home for some girls who like to live inside of twigs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29dmZf6pwBo

Don’t take good #AirQuality for granted. There are good chances that you are breathing polluted air.

“99% of People Breathe Dangerous Particulate Matter, Study Finds”

https://flip.it/o9sJPP

Indoor air is full of flu and COVID viruses. Will countries clean it up?
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00642-9

“Specialists in indoor air quality are buoyed by the prospect that the pandemic could bring lasting improvements to the air we breathe indoors.”

We really do need to improve indoor air quality to reduce the threat posed by air transmissible diseases.

#COVID #Nature #AirQuality #Science

HOA Foreclosures Are a “Lose-Lose” Game for Coloradans, but These Lawyers Win Regardless of the Outcome
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A retired NFL player’s legal battle with a homeowners association spotlights why critics say Colorado law incentivizes attorneys to advise that HOAs foreclose on residents rather than find less expensive solutions.

#HOA #Colorado #Lawsuit #Foreclosure #Lawyers #Denver #DenverBroncos #NFL #RealEstate

https://www.propublica.org/article/colorado-hoa-lawsuits-foreclosure-law-firms-paymah?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

The plot thickens!

Silicon Valley Bank chief pressed Congress to weaken risk regulations
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/11/silicon-valley-bank-weaken-risk-regulations-svb

> CEO Greg Becker personally led the bank’s half-million-dollar push to reduce scrutiny of his institution – and lawmakers obliged

> [T]he bank was lobbying lawmakers on “financial regulatory reform” and the Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act of 2015 – a bill that was the precursor to legislation ultimately signed by President Donald Trump

🤡 🤣

#SVB

What did Elon's BFF Peter Thiel know, and when did he know it? #SVB

"Founders Fund withdrew millions from SVB, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private information."

"Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund had no money with Silicon Valley Bank as of Thursday morning as the bank descended into chaos, according to a person familiar with the matter."

https://news.yahoo.com/thiel-founders-fund-withdrew-millions-005223894.html

The Company Testing Air in East Palestine Homes Was Hired by Norfolk Southern.

Experts Say That Testing Isn’t Enough.
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“It’s almost like if you want to find nothing, you run in and run out,” says one expert.

CTEH, the contractor doing these air quality tests in the area around the derailment, was hired by the operator of the freight train that derailed.

#Ohio #NorfolkSouthern #Safety #AirQuality #EastPalestine #CTEH

https://www.propublica.org/article/east-palestine-ohio-norfolk-southern-cteh?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

Welp, here's the most bonkers editorial feedback I've ever gotten. Editor tells me he's removed my reference to union organizing in a story because the audience for his publication is on average in their mid-60s and "wouldn't relate." I was like, um, you do know that union organizing in the US was at its peak in the 1950s, right? Our elders were unionized. I think it's clear where this magazine's anti-union edits are coming from.

Gizmodo Found 28,000 Apps Sending TikTok User Data

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/03/10/gizmodo-found-28000-apps-sending-tiktok-user-data/

#domesticsurveillance #nationalsecurity #surveillance #socialmedia #corruption #tiktokban #security #privacy #tiktok #china #1

Sarah Huckabee and other Republican ghouls across the country are planning to use poor children for cheap labor in dangerous industries and will shield businesses from civil liability if kids are sickened, injured or killed on the job https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/08/huckabee-sanders-arkansas-child-labor/

What did Norfolk Southern do with all the money it saved from cutting its workforce, running longer trains, refusing sick leave, and scrimping on safety?

Over the past two decades, it has boosted shareholder payouts by 4,500 percent.

Corporate greed, folks.

Mapping California’s ‘Zombie’ Forests

In these “zombie forests,” older, well-established trees — including ponderosa pines, Douglas firs and sugar pines — still tower overhead, but few young trees have been able to take root because the climate has become too warm and dry for them to thrive

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/03/06/climate/california-zombie-forests.html

#ClimateEmergency #pollution #ecology #environment #ClimateCrisis #ClimateCatastrophe
#ClimateChange #Climate #California #USA #US

‘Slavery was wrong’ and 5 other things educators won’t teach in the US anymore https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/03/06/slavery-was-wrong-5-other-things-educators-wont-teach-anymore/ ht @drreznicek

""What [the controversy is] talking about is who gets to be American and which of us deserves to be included in the American narrative --- and Black people deserve to be in the American narrative."

https://getpocket.com/collections/heres-how-kids-and-adults-can-learn-black-studies-outside-of-school

Walgreens will never get another dollar of my money. Its refusal to sell a vital, legal product is disgusting. If CVS goes along with this, the pharmacy cartel will be lending its considerable weight to a policy that the vast majority of Americans reject -- a policy mandated by a minority party of extremists. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/implications-walgreens-decision-abortion-pills-97617141