Mark W. Bender (@OnTheMarkDesign) header
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Southern California
Joined January 2010
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Mark W. Bender retweeted
๐๐‘๐„๐’๐ˆ๐ƒ๐„๐๐“ ๐‡๐€๐‘๐‘๐ˆ๐’ ๐Œ๐€๐‘๐Š๐’ ๐€๐Œ๐„๐‘๐ˆ๐‚๐€โ€™๐’ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“๐ŸŽ๐“๐‡ (๐’๐€๐“๐ˆ๐‘๐„) Some of you may be surprised to hear that I'm a novelist. Well, it's true, and on occasion, I'm inspired to write a bit of fiction. Here's a writeup that came to mind this morning: Somewhere out in the multiverse, thereโ€™s a timeline where November 2024 went the other way. Yesterday, in that universe, President Kamala Harris stepped to the podium to mark 250 years of American independence. To be clear: this speech is ๐ฌ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ซ๐ž. She never gave it. Itโ€™s parody, written for the occasion. Read it anyway โ€” then try to tell me your brain didnโ€™t hear it in her voice. โ€œ๐˜”๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ด, ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค 250๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ.โ€ It builds from there: โ€œ๐˜–๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ.โ€ The constitutional scholarship is even sharper: โ€œ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ โ€” ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ-๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ โ€” ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ.โ€ Then the policy vision: โ€œ๐˜๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ.โ€ The philosophy of time itself: โ€œ๐˜ˆ๐˜ด ๐˜ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ตโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ.โ€ And the big finish: โ€œ๐˜“๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ 250 ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ขโ€™๐˜ฅ.โ€ ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐žโ€™๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ๐งโ€™๐ญ ๐š ๐ฃ๐จ๐ค๐ž. Parody only works when it sits close to the truth. In March 2022, the real Vice President of the United States stood in Sunset, Louisiana and said this โ€” ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐: โ€œ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต? ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜š๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ต, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ.โ€ Four times in under thirty seconds. (The American Presidency Project) And when NBC asked whether the administrationโ€™s COVID strategy needed to change, she answered: โ€œ๐˜๐˜ตโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ.โ€ The speech above is fiction. The word salad ๐ง๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ. The scariest part of writing this parody is how little of it had to be invented. ๐’๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐ž๐งโ€™๐ญ ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐œ๐ค๐ฒ. ๐Ž๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ž๐.
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Mark W. Bender retweeted
Two pictures. One simple IQ test, based on how you react to each. Up front: I do not promote violence. I do not promote racism. But something is very off today. Watch how many large accounts are handling the picture on the bottom. A group in masks on a train. Call them white supremacists. Call them whatever you want. I could not care less who they are. There is a woman sitting right in the middle of them. Calm. At peace. Untouched. She rode to her stop and walked home. Nobody laid a finger on her. And THAT is the image the LEFT wants framed like it belongs in a museum. Pulitzer material. A historic moment. Some grand juxtaposition of good versus evil. The picture on top is a woman being murdered. Real footage. She grabbed her own throat and died on the floor of a train while strangers tried to save her. And them? Silence. They buried her in a day. Not one of these large accounts wrote a thread about the soul of the nation for HER. She was a footnote. The masked men who touched no one are apparently the crisis. One train where everyone went home. One bus where someone did not. Every single time I point this out, they do not argue. They do not engage. They block. So its pretty clear at this point. If you had nothing to say about the woman who was actually killed, but you think the picture below deserves an award, you are one of the following: > an anarchist who wants to burn this country down > racist itching for a race war who thinks now is the time > someone who spits on every person who bled to make this country open to every color, every religion, every background You have spent 25 years trying to start an identity war. Democracy does not die from bad people marching. Bad people have always marched. Democracy dies when half the country decides discourse is beneath them and propaganda is the entire job. You cannot spend 25 years telling people their identity is based on color, background, immigration etc. and then act shocked when the other side starts agreeing with you. I want a country where the woman on that train is safe from the man with the knife AND safe from the men in the masks. That used to be the only acceptable position. Stop making everything into something its not. The rhetoric leads to more violence and hate. You know exactly what you're doing it and it's slippery slope. Image courtesy of @C_3C_3
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Mark W. Bender retweeted
โ€œElon Musk is a trillionaire.โ€ As a securities law attorney, please allow me to explain how anyone who says this is basically lying to you: 1. The Securities and Exchange Commission has a myriad of laws that prevent founders and other large stockholders of publicly traded companies from dumping their shares. There are substantial holding period requirements, volume of sales limitations and public reporting obligations for stock sales. Basically, Elon holds largely illiquid shares, he is a โ€œtrillionaireโ€ on paper only, and the best analogy is when people peg your net worth based on your homeโ€™s market price. Thatโ€™s not money in your pocket, thatโ€™s the house you live in. 2. All that money raised in the IPO? Thatโ€™s not going into Elonโ€™s pocket like the lying socialist idiots want you to believe. Itโ€™s a capital influx that will be used to make more rockets and get more payloads into orbit. Itโ€™s a CAPITAL investmentโ€”that money is like a business loan, itโ€™s not your money to keep, itโ€™s your money to grow the business. 3. If it WERE legal for Elon to dump his shares, the share price would crash basically instantly and the company could very well fail. If you bought SpaceX shares in the IPO, congrats. You just bought a lottery ticket, just like Elon. May the odds ever be in your favor. So the next time someone screeches about how unfair it is that Elon Musk creates wealth that benefits all of humanity, throw the truth back in their faces.
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A welder took a $28 an hour job in 2015 at a company he had never heard of. On Friday, Juan Hernandez became a millionaire. He spent ten years building the structures that lifted rockets onto the launch pad. SpaceX paid him partly in stock, the way it paid its cooks, machinists, technicians and cafeteria staff, equity instead of bigger salaries. His $10,000 grant grew into $880,000 at the IPO price. The first day pop carried it past a million. He is 42, an immigrant from Mexico, married, three kids. He says he is keeping the job. He is not the outlier. He is the pattern. 4,400 current and former SpaceX employees became millionaires on Friday. One in five people who ever badged into the company. About 400 of them are walking away with $100 million or more. One employee took every cash bonus in stock instead of money. He is sitting on 50,000 shares, worth more than $8 million at Friday's prices. And then there is the other side of the cafeteria. Some employees sold their shares years ago, certain the company would never go public because Musk said he hated public markets. A few traded their stock for restaurant gift cards. The New York Times says they are consumed by regret. Same grant, same building, same years. One group held the claim. The other ate it. None of the winners can touch the money yet. The first selling window opens after the August earnings report, and the rest unlocks in waves through December. Underneath all of it sits the only lesson the market ever teaches. The welder and the gift card came from the same place. The difference was never the work. It was the ownership. Salary pays for the month. Equity pays for the era. A cook in Brownsville just answered the question every buyer of SPCX is asking at $170: what is a claim on this company actually worth? The piece prices that exact question at $2.2 trillion.
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Mark W. Bender retweeted
Hereโ€™s the patch the #Angels will wear the rest of the season to honor Garret Anderson
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Mark W. Bender retweeted
Mike Trout is on a HEATER! Repost and reply for a chance to win this Mike Trout @Topps Refractor card!
All FIVE of Mike Trout's homers during the series at Yankee Stadium โฌ‡๏ธ
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Mark W. Bender retweeted
Youโ€™ve probably heard the news by now: Minnesota fraudsters stole over $1 billion from Medicaid. And you deserve an explanation. Our staff at CMS told me theyโ€™ve never seen anything like this in Medicaid โ€” and everyone from Gov. Tim Walz on down needs to be investigated, because theyโ€™ve been asleep at the wheel. Based on what we know now, this is a clear dereliction of duty. First, the facts: In recent years, Minnesota Medicaid launched several new programs, including Housing Stabilization Services, which helped disabled homeless individuals, and Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention, which reimbursed therapy costs for families with autistic children. Some bad actors in Minnesotaโ€™s Somali community decided to game the system. And when they got away with it, they decided to go bigger. The housing program was supposed to cost $2.6 million dollars annually. Last year, it paid out over $100 million. The autism program ballooned from $3 million in 2018 to nearly $400 million in 2023. These scammers used stolen taxpayer money to buy flashy cars, purchase overseas real estate, and offer kickbacks to parents who enrolled their kids at fake autism treatment centers. Some of it may have even made its way to the Somalian terrorist group Al-Shebab. So why didnโ€™t Walz stop them? Thatโ€™s simple: because he went all-in on identity politics. Somalis are a huge voting bloc, and the stateโ€™s leaders were afraid that โ€œforcefully tackling this issue might cause political backlash.โ€ Thatโ€™s not me saying that. Itโ€™s a Somali-American fraud investigator who talked to The New York Times. Somali scammers get rich off the programs Gov. Walz was supposed to be managing. Minnesota politicians get elected with Somali votes and keep the money flowing. This isnโ€™t just fraud: itโ€™s political patronage at public expense. When Minnesota told CMS about the problem last year, they assured us theyโ€™d handle it. By summer, it was obvious they couldnโ€™t โ€” or wouldnโ€™t. So, we stepped in and shut down the worst program: housing. We also froze provider enrollment in a few of the most abused programs. So where do we go from here? To restore the integrity of the Medicaid program, Minnesota must: 1. Provide CMS with weekly updates on how the state is stopping fraud. 2. Freeze enrollment of all high-risk providers for 6 months. 3. Confirm all providers in place are legitimate or remove them. 4. Send CMS a corrective action plan of how these will prevent this from happening again. If weโ€™re unsatisfied with the stateโ€™s plans or cooperation, weโ€™ll stop paying the federal share of these programs. The message to Walz is clear: either fix this in 60 days or start looking under your couch for spare change, because weโ€™re done footing the bill for your incompetence. With CMS on the case, these scammers and their bureaucratic enablers have nowhere left to hide. The vulnerable Americans who depend on these programs โ€” and the taxpayers who fund them โ€” deserve the truth.
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Mark W. Bender retweeted
Not trying to make a political point here. I spent years as a mortgage banker at Quicken Loans (now Rocket Mortgage), the number one mortgage lender in the country, before I ever went to law school. So when I see stories like this, I look at them a little differently. Hereโ€™s the deal. How you classify a property as a primary, secondary, or investment home changes everything about the loan. The down payment, the interest rate, the underwriting, all of it. Primary or secondary homes can get by with as little as 3 to 10 percent down. Investment properties usually require 25 percent or more. So if youโ€™re a brand new real estate investor with limited cash, thereโ€™s a big incentive to call something a โ€œsecond homeโ€ instead of an โ€œinvestment property.โ€ But thatโ€™s why lenders make you sign a Second Home Rider, a separate document where you specifically promise youโ€™ll use it as a second residence, not rent it out. You also assert like NINE times in the application process it will be owner occupiedโ€ฆ Could this kind of thing ever be an honest mistake? I doubt it. The facts, at least as reported, look pretty bad. You buy a house, say itโ€™s a second home, immediately rent it out, tell your insurer itโ€™s owner-occupied, and then report rental income on your taxes. Thatโ€™s not a misunderstanding. Thatโ€™s a pattern. By the way guys, taking home owners insurance under the misrepresentation that itโ€™s a primary for better rates is a great way to have a claim denied when your house burns down. Very shortsighted mistake that many make... Would a bank ever catch this on their own? Probably not. Banks rarely dig that deep unless thereโ€™s a default or an insurance claim. They just donโ€™t have the infrastructure or frankly the desire to chase it down. So yes, itโ€™s definitely selective prosecution. The amount of money at issue is small, and most people would never be charged for something like this. But still, if the facts are accurate, itโ€™s just a series of really bad moves. And the wild part is that sheโ€™s a lawyer. Sheโ€™s the Attorney General of New York. Sheโ€™s prosecuted the former president for similar financial misrepresentations. Youโ€™d think someone with that background would fully understand what those documents say and what it means to misstate intent on a loan. Itโ€™s going to be a tough case for her to defend, unless sheโ€™s able to present additional information that clarifies the situation. Itโ€™s possibleโ€ฆ In the meantime, there are lots of financial and life lessons in this story for all of us.
Here is the evidence that changed my mind. The NY AG has some real issues: Evidence DOJ says proves Letitia James defrauded the bank: 1. Claimed Norfolk home was a โ€œsecondary residenceโ€ to get better loan terms 2. Signed a โ€œSecond Home Riderโ€ promising to live there 3. Actually rented it out to tenants 4. Reported rental income on her tax returns 5. Told insurer it was owner-occupied 6. Saved ~$18,933 from the false claim โ€” Case filed 10/9/25, E.D. Va.
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I understand that Barack Obama's comments on Charlie Kirk and the shooter offended a lot of people yesterday... But, I actually think it's appropriate that he's speaking out, given his extensive experience as a gay man in a relationship with a transvestite.
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This was the exact moment that I knew our commander in chief was a sexual predator and I lost the rest of what little respect I had for him. We were returning late one night from a long trip to Europe on AF-1, landed at Andrews, and helicoptered on Marine One to the White House. We landed on the South Lawn at about midnight and, after ensuring the president was on his way to his residence upstairs, I headed to my bedroom in the East Wing. Shortly thereafter, my phone rang and it was the AF-1 presidential pilot. โ€œBuzz, we have a problem,โ€ he said. Oh shit,โ€ I thought. Apparently, Clinton had cornered a female AF-1 steward in the galley and molested her. She was young, a staff sergeant, and married with children. I knew her, liked her, and she was super sweet. Now, she was in tears. I asked the pilot what she wanted. He told me that she didnโ€™t want to be another โ€œbimbo,โ€ she wanted to remain in the Air Force and be promotable. All she wanted was an apology. In the world of Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones, and Kathleen Willey, this wasnโ€™t surprising to me. It was, however terribly disappointing and sad. So, that morning, as a young major, I had to walk to the Oval Office and tell the commander-in-chief that he needed to apologize to the young lady. Iโ€™ve been shot at with hot metal but this was the toughest day in my life. I remember on my way to talk with him thinking โ€œI didnโ€™t sign up for this shit.โ€ Two weeks later, we got the two together onboard AF-1 in the presidentโ€™s office and he offered a very uncontrite โ€œhalf apology.โ€ He didnโ€™t care. If anybody in the military had done that it wouldโ€™ve been jail, expulsion, or both. It wouldโ€™ve been Fort Leavenworth. But not for this president, not for this man. It was just another day. Yet another in my experiences working for a man with absolutely no integrity and no moral fiber.
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Mark W. Bender retweeted
๐Ÿšจ SCOTT BESSENT TO THE FED: "I am calling for an INTERNAL REVIEW." "The Federal Reserve Board expenses since 2004 are up 4x...they just print money to spend it!" "The Fed does a regular review of their monetary policy framework. I think that this is a good opportunity for Chair Powell's legacy to do an internal review of all the Fed's operations, away from the monetary policy function." "Everything else that the Fed has started, has done over the years has just grown and grown and grown and this is what happens when you don't have oversight. They aren't subject to appropriations." "Monetary policy should run in the background on behalf of the American people."
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Mark W. Bender retweeted
Let me get this straightโ€ฆ Democrats want ICE agents to present ID to "make sure" they are actually federal agents... BUT they DON'T want voter ID to make sure those voting in our elections are actually American citizens. Make it make sense.
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This was known in 2021 but anyone who spoke of it was deemed anti-vax or a conspiracy theorist. I should know, I lost some friends over it.
Today, FDA provided important updates on the risk of myocarditis after receiving an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, noting the risk is higher in young men.
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CNBC forced to recognize that Trump's tariffs have brought in over $121 BILLION to the US without imposing a burden on the consumers. It's almost like the "experts" were wrong!
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Hereโ€™s what happens when you enter other countries illegally - Singapore, that's 6 months in prison - If you enter illegally, Russia, that's 2 years in labor camp - India, that's 8 years in prison - Pakistan, 10 years in prison - North Korea, obviously death penalty - And if you enter here in Canada or the US and even Europe. And what do you get? Free housing, healthcare, education, food, public transport, cell phones, cash. โ€œCome on, guys. A country can only be a country if it protects its borders. Immigration is not bad. But illegal immigration should be penalized at the full extent of the law.โ€
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Mark W. Bender retweeted
Yโ€™all wanna know how I know Trump is not controlled by the Deep State? Because the media has been publishing 99% negative Trump coverage since he came down the escalator. Because they tried to overthrow him, tried to imprison him, then tried to kill him. If Trump was part of the establishment, the establishment would not have tried so hard to stop him. If Trump was part of the machine, Trump would not have exposed the machine. Anyone saying Trump is compromised is just admitting they are unserious and unworthy of your attention. Without Trump, the public wouldnโ€™t even know the Deep State exists.
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Mark W. Bender retweeted
Friendly reminder that we wouldnโ€™t be in this mess if Obama didnโ€™t send $1.7 billion on pallets of cash to Iran and if Biden didnโ€™t unfreeze oil trade deals with Iran that funneled them $50+ billion Once again, Trump is forced to clean up the mess of the DC warmonger machine
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Mark W. Bender retweeted
Political violence is a form of surrender. It's a confession that your ideas are not good enough to win the day, so you have to resort to violence like a dumb animal. Violence is intellectual cowardice disguised as bravado.
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Imagine throwing a โ€œNo Kingsโ€ protest after your party refused to hold a primary, coronated Kamala without a single vote, sued to keep RFK Jr. off the ballot, and attempted to remove Trump from state ballots only after your illegal lawfare scheme failed. If there was a modern day monarchy in America there would be one party you could point to. The Democrats.
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"Lil Series: FAFO" ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿงชโ€ข๐Ÿ”Š
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