Major Trump Donor Found in Epstein's 'Black Book'—Thomas Massie
Posted on r/politics |
Score: 30054 |
Comments: 876
Republican Representative Thomas Massie has revealed that billionaire John Paulson, a major donor to Donald Trump's campaign, was listed in Jeffrey Epstein's 'black book'. Massie raised this issue amid ongoing demands for full disclosure of Epstein-related documents, while Paulson's spokesperson denies any relationship with Epstein existed. The article notes that being in the black book does not imply criminal conduct.
Key Points:
Rep. Thomas Massie identified billionaire John Paulson as being in Epstein's black book
Paulson is a major donor to Trump's campaign and the Republican Party
Massie suggests powerful figures may be implicated or embarrassed by full document release
Paulson's spokesperson denies any relationship with Epstein existed
Epstein survivors and lawmakers continue pressing for full disclosure of all documents
""Well, let me give you the name of one of the billionaires who's running $2 million of ads in my district since I started this effort. His name is John Paulson. He's a hedge fund manager and a major donor to the Republican Party, a major donor to the speaker of the House, a major donor to the president's campaign, and he's in Epstein's black book.""
Hegseth Declares He Has 'Absolute Authority' to Kill Suspected Drug Dealers
Posted on r/politics |
Score: 11961 |
Comments: 1712
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared the U.S. has 'absolute authority' to kill suspected drug smugglers in international waters, following a military strike that killed 11 alleged members of the Venezuelan group Tren de Aragua. The Trump administration justified the action as a defense against drugs 'poisoning our country,' while Venezuelan officials dismissed the video evidence of the strike as fake and 'cartoonish.'
Key Points:
A U.S. airstrike in international waters killed 11 alleged 'narcoterrorists' from the Venezuelan group Tren de Aragua.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed 'absolute and complete authority' for the strike, citing 'defense of the American people' from drug trafficking.
Venezuelan officials dismissed the video evidence of the strike shared by President Trump as fake and AI-generated.
The action is part of a broader directive from Trump to target drug cartels in Latin America, escalating tensions with Venezuela.
The crime of drug trafficking does not carry the death penalty in the U.S., unlike some countries that carried out executions for drug offenses in 2023.
""We have the absolute authority and complete authority to conduct that. First of all, just the defense of the American people alone. A hundred thousand Americans were killed each year under the previous administration because of an open border and open drug traffic flow. That is an assault on the American people,""
Pentagon Official: Trump Boat Strike Was a Criminal Attack on Civilians
Posted on r/politics |
Score: 6437 |
Comments: 393
A high-ranking Pentagon official and military legal experts assert that the U.S. military strike on a boat in the Caribbean was a criminal attack on civilians, violating international law. The Trump administration justified the attack by labeling the targets as a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, but experts argue this domestic designation provides no legal authority for such military action.
Key Points:
A Pentagon official anonymously stated the lethal strike was a 'criminal attack on civilians'.
The attack was justified by the Trump administration by designating the targets, Tren de Aragua, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Military legal experts argue this domestic designation offers no authority for the military to use deadly force under international law.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's post-hoc justification that the boat was an 'imminent threat' was called 'completely unserious' by U.S. officials.
The firing of the military's top lawyers earlier in the year was cited as removing a critical legal 'firebreak' against such actions.
""The U.S. is now directly targeting civilians. Drug traffickers may be criminals but they aren’t combatants," the Department of Defense official said."
Trump Gets Abysmal Jobs Figures After Firing BLS Chief
Posted on r/politics |
Score: 6398 |
Comments: 321
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported disappointing August jobs figures, with only 22,000 jobs added compared to the forecasted 75,000. This comes just one month after President Trump fired the BLS commissioner in response to similarly weak July employment data. The report has heightened concerns about the health of the U.S. labor market and its implications for Federal Reserve policy.
Key Points:
August jobs report showed only 22,000 jobs added, far below the 75,000 forecast
This follows Trump's firing of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after weak July data
Unemployment rate edged up to 4.3% from 4.2%
Job gains in healthcare were offset by losses in federal government, mining, and manufacturing
Previous months' data revisions showed June and July figures were 21,000 lower than previously reported
"The figures are likely to exacerbate existing concerns over the health of the U.S. labor market, a key point of reference for the Federal Reserve as it weighs up the appropriate monetary policy to ensure maximum employment without exacerbating America's inflationary struggles."
At least 450 people taken into ICE custody at Hyundai plant in Georgia
Posted on r/politics |
Score: 4354 |
Comments: 757
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 475 people in a raid at a Hyundai manufacturing plant in Ellabell, Georgia. The operation, described as the largest single-site enforcement in Homeland Security Investigations history, is part of an ongoing criminal investigation into unlawful employment practices. Hyundai stated that none of those detained were its direct employees, while the South Korean government expressed concern over the rights of its citizens and companies.
Key Points:
475 individuals were taken into ICE custody at a Hyundai plant in Georgia.
The raid is part of an ongoing criminal investigation into unlawful employment practices.
It is described as the largest single-site enforcement operation in Homeland Security Investigations history.
Hyundai stated that none of those detained were its direct employees.
South Korea's foreign ministry expressed concern and regret over the raid.
""This in fact was the largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security Investigations," Schrank added."
Posted on r/selfhosted |
Score: 126 |
Comments: 17
This is the September 5, 2025, edition of the Self-Host Weekly newsletter, providing a recap of the latest activity in self-hosted software. It includes responses to feedback, community commentary, and highlights new software launches and updates. A key feature is the spotlight on a new self-hosted to-do app called rwMarkable.
Key Points:
Contains responses to recent reader feedback on the newsletter
Provides commentary on the week's top stories in self-hosting
Highlights new software updates and launches
Spotlights rwMarkable, a self-hosted checklist and to-do application
Shares other community-generated guides and content
"A spotlight on [rwMarkable](https://github.com/fccview/rwMarkable?ref=selfh.st) -- a self-hosted checklist and to-do app"
Building a programming language that reads like English: lessons from PlainLang
Posted on r/programming |
Score: 57 |
Comments: 40
Plain is a minimalist, English-like programming language designed to make coding feel like natural conversation by replacing cryptic symbols with everyday language. It maintains full programming capabilities while being highly accessible to beginners through intuitive syntax. The language features pronoun support, a CLI with REPL, and an interpreter architecture.
Key Points:
Natural English syntax using everyday language patterns instead of traditional programming symbols
Pronoun support allowing use of "it" to refer to previous results
Interactive CLI with REPL for experimentation and learning
Extensible interpreter architecture with clean separation of components
Support for variables, arithmetic operations, conditional logic, and loops
"Plain reimagines programming by using natural English sentences instead of cryptic symbols and keywords. The language maintains full programming power while being accessible to beginners and readable like plain English."
The article announces the creation of a new, actual tool and provides a direct link to it. It is a brief and enthusiastic confirmation of the tool's existence and availability.
Key Points:
An actual tool has been successfully created.
The announcement is made with a tone of confirmation and excitement.
Posted on r/programming |
Score: 43 |
Comments: 60
The article argues that Google's Protocol Buffers (protobuffers) are poorly designed, with an ad-hoc and unprincipled type system that introduces arbitrary restrictions and fails to solve problems already addressed by modern type theory. The author, a former Google employee, contends that these design flaws are not just theoretical but actively leak into and complicate application code.
Key Points:
Protobuffers have a terrible, unprincipled type system with numerous arbitrary restrictions.
Key features like 'oneof' and 'map' do not compose with each other or other language features.
The design is ad-hoc, with features that feel bolted on as afterthoughts.
The author proposes a simpler, more powerful system based on fundamental product and coproduct types.
The flaws are inherent to the design itself and are present even in Google's internal codebase.
"Protobuffers were obviously built by amateurs because they offer bad solutions to widely-known and already-solved problems."
A user has set up a *arr stack for media automation but cannot use torrents because the underlying protocols are blocked by a DPI in their country. They are seeking alternative methods to download movies and series.
Key Points:
User has a configured *arr stack for media automation
Torrent protocols are blocked by a Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) system in their country
User is seeking alternatives to torrents for downloading media
The request is specifically for movies and series
"The sad news is torrents underlying protocols are blocked by a DPI in my country"
Anthropic Agrees to Pay Authors at Least $1.5 Billion in AI Copyright Settlement
Posted on r/ClaudeAI |
Score: 34 |
Comments: 15
AI company Anthropic has agreed to pay at least $1.5 billion to settle a class action lawsuit brought by authors alleging copyright infringement, marking the first major settlement of its kind in the US. The company will pay approximately $3,000 for each of an estimated 500,000 copyrighted works it allegedly pirated from 'shadow libraries' like LibGen for AI training data. While Anthropic does not admit wrongdoing, the settlement sets a significant precedent for how AI companies must compensate copyright owners.
Key Points:
Anthropic will pay at least $1.5 billion, estimated at $3,000 per copyrighted work
This is the first class action settlement in the US centered on AI and copyright
The settlement covers approximately 500,000 works pirated from 'shadow libraries'
Anthropic does not admit any wrongdoing or liability
The case sets a precedent requiring AI companies to pay copyright owners for training data
""This landmark settlement far surpasses any other known copyright recovery. It is the first of its kind in the AI era. It will provide meaningful compensation for each class work and sets a precedent requiring AI companies to pay copyright owners.""
Posted on r/programming |
Score: 34 |
Comments: 12
The author explains their decision to switch from Docker to Podman, citing Docker's persistent, root-privileged daemon as a significant security risk and resource drain. Podman's daemonless architecture offers improved security by running containers under user privileges, eliminates a single point of failure, and provides a lighter resource footprint.
Key Points:
Docker's persistent, root-privileged daemon (dockerd) is a major security vulnerability and single point of failure.
Podman uses a daemonless architecture where containers run as direct children of the user's command.
This architecture significantly improves security by containing any container breach to the user's privileges on the host.
The lack of a daemon eliminates a single point of failure, preventing one container crash from affecting others.
Podman provides a lighter resource footprint as there is no constantly running background service.
"With Podman, even if someone somehow escalates privileges inside a container to root level, they're still just an unprivileged user on the actual host. It significantly reduces the surface of an attack."
I just want to know if there are more people thinking that SOLID is overrated and sometimes add unnecessary complexity
Posted on r/programming |
Score: 16 |
Comments: 41
Dan North explains his motivation for creating the CUPID principles as an alternative to SOLID, which he argues is outdated and flawed. He recounts how a tongue-in-cheek conference talk challenging each SOLID principle revealed that they were easier to refute than expected and that the alternative consistently pointed toward writing simple code. The article serves as a backstory for why he believes new principles for modern software development are necessary.
Key Points:
The author finds every principle in SOLID to be wrong or problematic for modern development.
A conference talk challenging SOLID revealed that 'write simple code' was a consistent and better alternative to each principle.
The 'Fits In My Head' heuristic is proposed as a practical measure for code simplicity over vague principles like Single Responsibility.
The article is a prelude to introducing the author's own set of principles, called CUPID.
The critique stems from the belief that SOLID's principles are often too vague and can lead to unnecessarily complex code.
"Write simple code. It is easy to challenge that with 'What does ‘simple’ even mean?' but I had a good working definition for that so I wasn’t too worried."
The author is seeking self-hosted alternatives to Fast Reverse Proxy (FRP) for exposing local services like game servers and web apps to the public internet. They require a solution that works for TCP/UDP traffic, does not require client installation, and is manageable behind a CGNAT.
Key Points:
Seeks a replacement for FRP, which is considered crude and outdated
Must be a self-hosted solution for exposing TCP/UDP services
End users must connect via domain/IP with no client software
A web interface for management is a desired feature
Primary use case is bypassing CGNAT restrictions on a home connection
"I currently use FRP (Fast Reverse Proxy) to expose local services (like game servers and web apps) publicly without requiring end users to install anything. While it works, I find FRP a bit crude and outdated, especially in terms of management and configuration."