Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

CAMP FIRE: Deadliest in California History. The Camp Fire Is Also The State's Most Destructive Fire Ever
HP | Dominique Mosbergen | 11/13/18

The wildfire raging in Northern California is now the deadliest in state history. At least 42 people are dead and 228 people still missing in the Camp fire, which left the town of Paradise and surrounding areas in ashes, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told reporters on Monday night.

The fire, Honea said, is the deadliest single fire on wildlands in California's history. That grim title had previously been held by the Griffith Park fire of 1933, which left 29 dead.

The Camp fire, which has destroyed more than 7,000 structures, is also the most destructive fire in California's recorded history.

"I've seen a lot of fire, but this is the worst I've ever seen," retired firefighter Dan McCard told CBS News of the devastating blaze. "The winds were so high. It was incredible." ... Read more

Trump Reportedly Plans To Fire DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen In Coming Weeks
HP | Nick Visser | 11/13/18

"The Secretary is honored to lead the men and women" of the Department of Homeland Security, an agency spokesman said after the Washington Post report.

... Trump has moved quickly to shake up his administration following the midterm elections, which ushered back in Democratic control of the U.S. House. He fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week after more than a year of criticism due to the man's decision to recuse himself from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of the 2016 presidential election. Others also appear to be on rocky ground, and the Post noted that some officials believe chief of staff John Kelly's future is also in doubt. ... Read more

The secret of why Trump won't release his taxes with Chris Cillizza | CNN | 10/04/18 | 7:25

Alexa, Should We Trust You?
TheAtlantic | Judith Shulevitz | 11/2018

We're all falling for Alexa, unless we're falling for Google Assistant, or Siri, or some other genie in a smart speaker. When I say "smart," I mean the speakers possess artificial intelligence, can conduct basic conversations, and are hooked up to the internet, which allows them to look stuff up and do things for you. And when I say "all," I know some readers will think, Speak for yourself! Friends my age--we're the last of the Baby Boomers--tell me they have no desire to talk to a computer or have a computer talk to them. Cynics of every age suspect their virtual assistants of eavesdropping, and not without reason. Smart speakers are yet another way for companies to keep tabs on our searches and purchases. Their microphones listen even when you're not interacting with them, because they have to be able to hear their "wake word," the command that snaps them to attention and puts them at your service.

The speakers' manufacturers promise that only speech that follows the wake word is archived in the cloud, and Amazon and Google, at least, make deleting those exchanges easy enough. Nonetheless, every so often weird glitches occur, like the time Alexa recorded a family's private conversation without their having said the wake word and emailed the recording to an acquaintance on their contacts list. Amazon explained that Alexa must have been awakened by a word that sounded like Alexa (Texas? A Lexus? Praxis?), then misconstrued elements of the ensuing conversation as a series of commands. The explanation did not make me feel much better. ... Read more