Category Archives: Uncategorized

ALL HORSES IN KENTUCKY DERBY WERE RELATED TO SECRETARIAT!

Report: All Horses in 151st Kentucky Derby Were Descended from Legendary Secretariat

Every horse that ran the 151st Kentucky Derby on Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky, is reportedly descended from one American champion.

Pedigrees apparently show those horses are descended from Secretariat, the horse that in 1973 ran the fastest mile-and-a-quarter in the derby’s history, the Louisville Courier Journal reported Saturday.

Looking back six generations of most horses will reportedly show they are descended from a champion such as Secretariat or Northern Dancer, the outlet said.

According to derby contending trainer Whit Beckman, “It’s one of those stats. It’s bound to happen at some point with how much he shows up in every single pedigree. It’s really cool. Very cool.”

Secretariat was a thoroughbred racehorse that became the first in 25 years to win the Triple Crown in 1973, per History.com. According to the site:

In 1974, Secretariat was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In 1999, he was the only non-human included among ESPN’s 50 greatest athletes of the century and he became the first thoroughbred to be honored with his own U.S. Postal stamp. Outside the paddock at Belmont Park now stands a statue of Secretariat with both his front feet in the air.

The History.com article said after his Triple Crown victory, Secretariat later sired nearly 600 horses that included more than 40 stakes winners. However, he was the only one of his kind.

Sovereignty won the derby on Saturday, and the crowd went wild watching the horses pound through the mud on the track.

UPI reported, “Sovereignty rallied by Journalism in deep stretch Saturday to win the 151st Kentucky Derby by 1 1/2 lengths, giving Dubai-based Godolphin its first victory in the Run for the Roses and a weekend international trifecta of top-level Classic victories.”

CRAZY CALIFORNIA ADDS TO ITS HIGH GAS PRICES THROUGH STUPID FUEL REGULATIONS!

California Losing Important Valero Oil Refinery, Exclusive Supplier of Travis AFB

Valero to shut Benicia refinery, which generates about 12% of the fuel in California . The reason: A toxic regulatory environment and high costs.

It turns out the biggest casualty in California’s War on Fossil Fuels may be our national security.

Last year, Governor “CRAZY STUPID”Gavin Newsom signed into law a measure ordering energy producers to stockpile gasoline, despite pushback from industry.

Soon after, Phillips 66 announced plans to stop operations at its Los Angeles-area refinery in the fourth quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, energy giant Chevron moved its headquarters to Texas, citing high taxes and burdensome regulations.

Now Valero Energy Corporation has announced plans to close its Benicia oil refinery, located just northeast of San Francisco, by the end of April 2026.

This facility, which processes between 145,000 and 170,000 barrels of crude oil per day, has been a significant economic engine for the city of Benicia and a major supplier of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and asphalt for the California market.

The challenging regulatory environment in the state that is hostile to fossil fuels was cited as a reason.

Valero CEO Lane Riggs cited challenging regulatory and enforcement environment for the decision to cease operations.

Benicia’s closure is the latest in a series of planned refinery shutdowns in the state. In October, Phillips 66 (PSX.N), opens new tab said it would shutter its Los Angeles-area refinery by the end of this year. Phillips 66 last year converted its Rodeo refinery into a renewables production facility.

Gasoline prices in California are among the highest in the country due to the state’s reliance on imports to offset declining supplies.

Keep in mind, California’s total oil consumption averages approximately 1.4 million barrels per day. This means the Benicia refinery processes about 12% of the oil California uses, so the shut-down will have significant impact on the state and the region.

However, Arizona and Nevada are likely to feel the impact of the closure as well.

Because California is an “energy island,” meeting demand for California and the parts of Nevada and Arizona that rely on its refineries will require costly imports of volatile fuel by emissions-heavy tanker ships.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has long blamed rising gas prices on refiners’ “price gouging,” but even though his own administration has said that it has no found no evidence of such, he called a special legislative session last year to pass new refinery regulations that both Democratic and Republican governors of neighboring states warned would lead to price hikes and supply shortages.

Now, with the closure announcement, the warnings from the energy industry and regional leaders are coming to fruition.

…With the state’s ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars in 2035, new refineries are not being built, leaving remaining refineries operating at nearly 100% capacity at all times. As a result, outages at even a single refinery result in spikes in gas prices.

As a reminder, the new regulations would require energy companies to stockpile gasoline. Furthermore, our state legislature was keen on allowing wildfire victims to sue energy companies due to ‘climate crisis’ claims.

But it turns out there is a serious national security consideration in this closure. The Valero refinery is the exclusive supplier of jet fuel to nearby Travis Air Force Base, which it delivers through a direct pipeline.

“If that is stopped, what does that mean to the base?” Young said. “Travis uses an amazing amount of fuel to fly all their planes, much more than can be easily replaced, and certainly not replaced within a year. So I think that this becomes a matter of real concern to the Defense Department and it’s potentially a national security issue.”

Valero dropped its bombshell April 16 announcement roughly six months after regional and state air regulators fined the company a record $82 million for secretly exceeding toxic emissions standards for at least 15 years. And last month, city leaders voted unanimously to impose moderate new safety regulations on the facility.

The fact that it is a national security issue may give the Trump administration the excuse it needs to kill the state’s inane environmental programs, replacing them with more reasonable and achievable federal ones.

Finally, Valero contributed about 20% of Benicia’s tax base. That city will now have to find a way to tighten the belt, as it is very unlikely a new business will swoop in and replace the monies Valero paid.

The pain has not really begun, as we haven’t fully entered the FO phase of the FAFO cycle. Hopefully, there will be a solution to the situation quickly, as I suspect California’s plans to run its own refineries will end in complete failure.

ztakddot | April 30, 2025 at 9:10 pm

Newsome. Nothing more needs to be said. His name is now a curse word.

DaveGinOly in reply to ztakddot. | April 30, 2025 at 9:34 pm

newsom; verb: To totally screw something up; see FUBAR

ztakddot in reply to DaveGinOly. | April 30, 2025 at 9:42 pm

Yeah. I was thinking of the F in FUBAR as in: Before he knew it he was Newsomed!
or Newsome around and find out = NAFO. That would lead to something like: She NAFO’d
or she Newsomed around and found out.

There would also be the ever popular NOAD: Newsome off and die. And then we come to
your favorite and mineL NUBAR = Newsomed Up Beyond all Recognition.

Gentle Grizzly in reply to ztakddot. | April 30, 2025 at 9:42 pm

In order to prop up the economy, Newsom could always move the state capital back

DaveGinOly | April 30, 2025 at 9:32 pm

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, nearly all of the USSR’s manufacturing capability, necessary for the conduct of the war, was in the path of the Wehrmacht. The Russians disassembled thousands of factories and moved them east of the Ural mountains, putting them out of range of even the Luftwaffe.

It would be a relatively simple operation, in comparison to the scope of the USSR’s reaction to the invasion, to dismantle the refineries in CA and move them to friendlier neighboring states.

The Gentle Grizzly | April 30, 2025 at 9:34 pm

Travis can be supplied via tanker trucks. Electric tanker trucks.

TargaGTS in reply to The Gentle Grizzly. | April 30, 2025 at 9:43 pm

I don’t know much about Travis other than it’s a GIGANTIC base, home to the AMC with a dozen or more resident units. A Marine Corps air base, which is generally only a fraction of the size (in terms of aircraft), will easily use well over 1-million gallons of Jet A each year, to say nothing of the fuel for the maintenance and other supply missions. Travis likely uses fuel measured in the tens of millions each year. That’s a lot tanker trucks.

Travis is the home of the 60th Air Mobility Wing. But you are correct. Travis is the gateway to the Pacific (and the largest military aerial port in the US).

I would be surprised if there isn’t robust existing authority the president can use to exempt critical infrastructure from state regulatory actions (particularly for national defense). If that exist, Trump should use it tomorrow and extend whatever tax/regulatory incentives he can to incent Valero to keep the refinery open. The cost to relocate Travis would be…exorbitant, and probably not even possible no matter what the cost because of geography. Travis is a gateway location between CONUS and the Pacific and Southeast Asian theaters.

Hope this pressures Maricopa County to release their requirement for the boutique gas mixture that saddles them with the highest pump prices in Arizona

Ironclaw | April 30, 2025 at 10:43 pm

When you make it impossible to do business, don’t be surprised when businesses leave

All refineries need to leave California and then then need to tell California they will no make their special blends. Good luck walking to work on the interstate.

“California is an energy island” – State regulations for their special blend for gasoline is the cause here. Entirely self inflicted. No refinery anywhere in the country, outside of CA, can supply them.

But it turns out there is a serious national security consideration in this closure. The Valero refinery is the exclusive supplier of jet fuel to nearby Travis Air Force Base, which it delivers through a direct pipeline.

How nice. Guess the federal government might want to reconsider the whole idea of “single-source contracting” when it comes to supplying our military bases. But I doubt they will.

President Trump needs to declare the refineries in California part of the National Defense Act via Executive Order. At the same time have Lee Zeldin rescind California’s special EPA waver. It’s past time that the Federal Government stop giving California special treatment.

US AUTO INDUSTRY RELATED JOBS BY STATE

Ranked: The Top 10 U.S. States by Auto Manufacturing Jobs

Automobile manufacturing continues to be a major source of employment across America, employing over a million people in 2025.

From Detroit’s “Motor City” heritage in Michigan to emerging plants in Southern states like Kentucky and Alabama, the U.S. has several vehicle manufacturing hubs.

This infographic ranks the top 10 U.S. states by total auto manufacturing jobs as of February 2025, using preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which only provides data for the top 10 states. It breaks down employment by vehicle manufacturing and assembly, body/trailer manufacturing, and vehicle parts manufacturing.

America’s Auto Manufacturing Hubs by Employees

Together, the top 10 states employ over 520,000 workers in auto manufacturing—making up more than half of the industry’s nationwide employment.

Here’s how the top 10 states stack up by auto manufacturing employment, as of February 2025:

Rank	State	Vehicles Manufacturing	Bodies and Trailers	Vehicle Parts Manufacturing	Total Employees	Annual growth rate

Rank	State	Vehicles Manufacturing	Bodies and Trailers	Vehicle Parts Manufacturing	Total Employees	Annual growth rate
1	Michigan	49K	0	115K	164K	-3.8%
2	Indiana	0	39K	53K	92K	-2.0%
3	Ohio	19K	0	65K	84K	-1.9%
4	Kentucky	24K	0	34K	58K	-0.7%
5	Alabama	23K	0	30K	53K	0.1%
6	California	25K	0	0	25K	-6.5%
7	Texas	16K	0	0	16K	-0.7%
8	Missouri	14K	0	0	14K	0.0%
9	New York	0	0	8K	8K	-0.5%
10	Mississippi	0	0	6K	6K	-0.1%

States in the Midwest remain the centers of auto manufacturing in America.

Michigan leads the pack with 164,000 auto manufacturing jobs, accounting for over 15% of all such jobs in the country. Its dominance is driven by legacy automakers like Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (previously Chrysler), who have significant manufacturing footprints in Detroit.

States like Indiana and Ohio are also heavily invested in parts production, with Indiana also leading in bodies and trailers manufacturing.

Meanwhile, Southern states are becoming increasingly important for vehicle manufacturing, with Kentucky and Alabama attracting investments from foreign automakers like Toyota, Hyundai, and Mercedes-Benz.

Overall, employment in U.S. auto manufacturing is down 12.7% from a year ago, with the parts manufacturing segment taking the biggest hit at -17.8%. California has seen the biggest decline in jobs in this segment, dropping 6.5% from February 2024 levels.

The State of the U.S. Auto Industry

The U.S. auto industry is facing speed bumps from the latest round of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, which include a 25% levy on imported auto parts and completely built up vehicles.

S&P Global forecasts that U.S. light vehicle sales will fall by 700,000 units in 2025, and North American production will decline by nearly 1.3 million units as a result of the new tariffs. Increased manufacturing costs from tariffs on auto parts are also likely to result in higher vehicle prices.

WARREN BUFFET BILLIONAIRE STILL LIVES IN HIS $31,500 HOUSE

Born in Nebraska, USA, Warren Buffett, nicknamed the “Oracle of Omaha,” is one of the most successful investors ever. His net worth and how he made it is the stuff of legend, yet he lives a modest and frugal lifestyle.

Testament to that is the billionaire has lived in the same house in the same neighborhood with his late wife for over 60 years. After renting 5505 for a few years back in the mid-50s for $175 a month, Buffett and his wife loved the stately home so much that he put in an offer.

Built in 1921, Buffett purchased the house in 1958 for $31,500, the equivalent of $329,505 in today’s dollars. Realtors have appraised it at between $1.2 and $1.5 million if put on the market today.

Location

The five-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom house is situated in downtown Fairview, a well-to-do, leafy suburb, with the University of Nebraska within walking distance. It is only a five-minute-long drive from McDonald’s, which is what Buffett starts his day with for breakfast.

Located on the corner of Farnam and S 55th Streets, passers-by will likely not notice that the Buffett residence has two frontages. Access to the double garage and ample parking area is via S 55th Street. The entrance to the house interior is through the large mahogany front door on Farnam Street.

The front facade of Warren Buffetts Nebraska home

Architectural style

Buffett’s house is an eclectic mix of styles. One aspect of the beige-bricked house looks like it belongs on farmland, with its barn-shaped roofline. Rectangular lead-paned windows let in copious amounts of light. A giant chimney stack and a long verandah complement the front facade.

It’s edged on the two sides by a mix of hedges, wooden gates, and wrought iron fencing. Buffett’s car can often be seen on the spacious driveway, though there’s a double garage at right angles to the street.

Interior

As you move inside, white is the dominant color running throughout the house, offset by shades of black, grey, and biscuit.

The heart of the home is U-shaped and features a chandelier in the center. The breakfast nook overlooks an informal lounge. This cozy area is where Buffett relaxes.

The mansion also has a more formal lounge with lofty, white-beamed ceilings mimicking the barnlike roof structure you see from outside.

The second-floor access is via the hardwood and white, wrought-iron banistered staircase.

A Romeo and Juliet-like balcony at the top allows a novel view of the simple but supremely elegant parlor.

A stunning chandelier takes center stage in the compact dining room, just off the formal lounge. It has undoubtedly seen its share of famous and distinguished diners for small, intimate soirees.

An invitation to dine at Chez Buffett is highly prized.

Upstairs, you will find the five bedrooms, the en suite, and the guest bathroom. The master is tastefully furnished and decorated in white, with black accents.

One can’t help but notice a recurring theme of arched doorways, and the entrance to the sunroom is no exception.

This room, just off the master bedroom, has a special place in Buffett’s heart as it is where he began his ascent to become one of the wealthiest and most respected financial boffins the last and this century has seen.

Hand written across the top of the door is “The Birthplace of Buffett Associates,” “May 1956,” “Warren E Buffett.” This inscription alone could be worth a lot of money when the house is sold.

Sunroom Door personally inscribed by Buffett

Lifestyle

It’s no secret that Buffett is notoriously frugal. Never one to splash his billions around, he changes his car around every decade; his double garage has sadly not seen many high-end, expensive cars over the years. He proudly claims to only buy pre-loved cars like Cadillacs and Lincolns.

It’s not all work and no play for the billionaire. He loves a good game of bridge, and his several grandchildren have filled the bedrooms of this much-loved house.

As seen on

PRIVATE EQUITY BUYING MOBILE HOME PARKS…CAPTIVE AUDIENCE AND FOREVER INCOME!

Why Is Private Equity Targeting Manufactured Home Parks?

Real estate has always been a safe investment, 2009 economic crisis notwithstanding. But it has generally been the middle class, upper class, and commercial real estate that has appealed the most to private equity firms.

Today, things have changed. Affordable and low-end housing, especially the manufactured home park markets, have been increasingly targeted by institutional investors and private equity firms. They’re buying them like crazy at a time when the industry itself is expanding.

Absolutely insane. Wall Street private equity firms are now buying up American mobile home parks and skyrocketing rents up to 60% on people.

“These communities have become the target of a new kind of landlord, private equity. Private equity firms are increasingly getting involved. Some of the biggest investors in America have moved into this industry. People living at a local mobile home park outraged over the sharp increase in lot rents. Rents were raised by nearly 60%.”

Resident: “I worked for 45 years. There is no American dream anymore. All it is survival.”

“Homes of America has gone on a buying spree spending nearly $300 million to acquire 138 parks across 17 states. They’ve raised rents and aggressively evicted residents.” and that’s just ONE FIRM buying, there are many more.

Resident says “I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Hope that I don’t wake up tomorrow. Death crossed my mind.” She can only afford one more month of rent

How much more will the American People continue to take?

It’s the captive-audience-nature that appeals the most. The investment may require a long time to turn a major profit, but time is on the side of the investors who want to continue making profits for years or even decades.

HOW INTERNATIONAL MONEY LAUNDERING WORKS

HOW INTERNATIONAL MONEY LAUNDERING WORKS!

Every few weeks, fireworks light up the night sky in Cambodia, set off by scammers to salute their biggest swindles.

By the time the shells pop and crackle, somebody’s life savings are probably gone. Maybe the victim fell for an online romance scam or bought into a fake cryptocurrency exchange. Whatever the scheme, the money has vanished, sucked into a complex money-laundering network that moves billions of dollars at a dizzying speed.

The F.B.I., China’s Ministry of Public Security, Interpol and others have tried to combat scammers, who often lurk on social media and dating apps, luring people into bogus financial schemes or other ruses. Telecom companies have blocked numbers. Banks have issued repeated warnings.

Yet the industry persists because its money-laundering operation is so efficient. Unsuspecting victims worldwide lose tens of billions of dollars each year, money that must be scrubbed of its criminal origins and deposited into the legitimate economy. The money-laundering system is so hydra-headed that when governments strike it in one place, it pops up in another.

This underworld peeks out in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, home to a global clearinghouse for money launderers. It can be glimpsed, too, in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, a notorious refuge for fraudsters. Scammers ply their trade from call centers, operating in fortified compounds or on the upper floors of unfinished high-rises. Seaside restaurants are packed with money launderers and other criminals doing business over spicy Chinese food.

Image

Outside the Golden Sun Sky Casino & Hotel in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, in March. Documents show that the British and American authorities have linked this casino to online scammers and human trafficking.

We obtained a cache of documents, a kind of money-laundering handbook, and spoke to nearly a half-dozen scammers and their launderers. The documents are not linked to any one scam or victim but reveal a method for moving illicit money that has proved all but impossible to stop.

The map locates the Cambodian capital city of Phnom Penh, in south-central Cambodia, as well as the southern coastal city of Sihanoukville.

By The New York Times

The money launderers are as vital to criminals as getaway drivers are to bank robbers. Without them, there would be no loot.

Once scammers persuade strangers to part with their savings, they need to quickly move money from one account to another, and one country to another, before their targets discover the ruse and alert their banks or the police.

In the end, the money arrives “clean” — with virtually no trace to the original scam.

So how does it get done?

Following the trail led us, surprisingly, to an established financial conglomerate in Cambodia called Huione Group.

This is not a back-alley shop with a side hustle in cleaning dirty money. Huione is an established firm that does brisk and legitimate business in Southeast Asia and has satellite companies in other parts of the world. Its QR codes are everywhere in Cambodia — customers use them to pay their bills in hotels, restaurants and supermarkets. Huione ads are plastered along major highways. Its suite of financial services include banking and insurance.

But Huione (pronounced Hu-WAY-wahn) is a constellation of affiliates, and not all of them are legitimate. One arm offers bespoke money laundering services, according to the documents, which come from the company, and interviews with two people who are directly familiar with the operation. They spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear for their safety. The company did not respond to requests for comment.

Another affiliate openly runs an online bazaar for criminals to find money launderers. The precise size of this marketplace is practically impossible to measure, but the analytics firm Elliptic has linked it to $26.8 billion in cryptocurrency transactions since 2021. The industry is so opaque that it is difficult to separate legitimate transactions from illegal ones, but Elliptic says the bazaar is the world’s largest illicit internet market.

Hun To, a cousin of Cambodia’s prime minister, is a director of one Huione company.

Huione’s clients include large criminal enterprises, such as a group in Myanmar that exploits human trafficking victims, according to a scammer, a money launderer and examinations of their cryptocurrency trade by the analytics firms Elliptic and Chainalysis.

Huione is a constellation of affiliates. The headquarters of one of its companies, Huione Pay, is in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

And yet, this money-laundering network operates with impunity. The group has never been targeted for sanctions by any government. The cryptocurrency company Tether has frozen some of the group’s accounts, at the behest of unspecified law enforcement officials, and the messaging app Telegram has shut down some of its channels. But neither measure made a lasting effect.

This is how it works.

Imagine you’re a scammer, cheating people out of their life savings. You need a way to get money out of countries around the world. You need a matchmaker.

A matchmaker is a trusted intermediary who will shepherd your loot home. A good matchmaker has a worldwide network of people, known as mules, who can move money within hours.

The money mule can be a person or a shell company that controls a local bank account or a cryptocurrency wallet.

Once you find a matchmaker, he will deposit money into escrow, essentially ensuring he won’t run away with your money along the way.

Now you are ready to start your scam.

Let us say that you’ve tricked someone into sending you $40,000.

Step 1: You, the scam boss, cut a deal with a matchmaker. For a U.S. scam, the matchmaker typically demands 15 percent of the proceeds for himself and his mules.

Step 2: Your matchmaker finds the right mules for the job, and gets you a deal.

Step 3: The matchmaker sends you the mule’s bank account or crypto wallet details. You send that information to your victim.

Step 4: Your victim sends $40,000 to your money mule’s account.

Step 5: The mule moves the money from one account to another account and eventually converts it to cryptocurrency.

Step 6: Finally, the mule takes a cut for his services and sends the rest to the matchmaker. The matchmaker pays himself, and gives you $34,000.

Moving Bricks

Huione makes money at every step of the process.

First, one affiliate, which until recently was called Huione Guarantee, hosts the marketplace where scammers can find matchmakers. The matchmakers are essential to the system and their work is so repetitive that the Chinese name for it is “moving bricks,” according to Yanyu Chen, an anthropologist who studies money-laundering schemes in Cambodia.

The online bazaar is made up of thousands of chat groups on Telegram.

Some Huione Pay branches advertise money-exchange services, including converting between Tether cryptocurrency and U.S. dollars.

On these Telegram channels, anonymous users advertise money laundering services with the wink and nod of barely disguised language. The posts are public; anyone with the Telegram app can see them. Some merchants also sell stolen personal data, applications for impersonating others and other essential services to scammers.

One channel, called “Demand and Supply,” had more than 400,000 users with hundreds of daily messages, including advertisements for money-laundering services. After we sent questions to Huione Group and others in late February, Telegram said it had removed the channel. But another quickly sprung up, with some 250,000 members joining within a week.

Huione Guarantee did not respond to repeated requests for comment but has denied its relationship with Huione Group, the financial conglomerate. It even changed its name in October, shedding the Huione name. But it told customers on Telegram that Huione Group remained one of its “strategic partners and shareholders.”

Second, the bazaar guarantees the laundering transactions. Why? Because there is little honor among thieves, and scammers get scammed, too. To prove their credibility, matchmakers and money mules pay a deposit to Huione Guarantee, which holds it in escrow. This assures scammers that nobody will abscond with their money (or if someone does, that person will lose some of their own money).

The price to launder money is determined by the crime committed to get it. Scams like impersonating government officials incur a higher cost because the victims are more likely to call the police or alert their banks.

Location affects the price, too. Launderers charge up to 60 percent to clean money in China. That is because the country has tightened controls since 2020, arresting thousands of people and freezing large sums of money in a nationwide crackdown.

China and Cambodia have agreed to collaborate on law enforcement operations, leading to multiple arrests of mostly lower-level criminals. This has not made a dent on the scamming and money-laundering industries.

While the matchmaker deals are worked out privately, one-on-one, the bazaar makes money, too. It sells ads on public groups, charges maintenance fees for private groups and takes small cuts from deals. Most of the transactions are denominated in the cryptocurrency Tether, but some are conducted in cash, gold and through bank transfers. (The bazaar even issued its own cryptocurrency last year.)

The bazaar denies any criminal association in disclaimers posted on its website and on Telegram channels. “All business in the public groups is provided by third-party merchants, which has nothing to do with Huione Guarantee,” one post says.

Third, another Huione affiliate, Huione International Pay, is more directly involved in laundering money. It is a matchmaker itself, according to internal company documents and two people familiar with its operations.

The documents and insiders indicate that Huione International Pay operates with the efficiency of a legitimate, professional bank. It is based inside the conglomerate’s headquarters in Phnom Penh, a glass and concrete building with two panda statues standing guard by the entrance.

Huione International Pay operates out of the conglomerate’s headquarters in Phnom Penh, according to two people familiar with the operation.

One company department handles customer relations for scammers and other illicit actors. Another monitors Telegram channels. A third department tracks money mule accounts in at least a dozen countries, according to internal documents we reviewed.

Huione’s companies operate with a veneer of legitimacy in a country with “very limited regulatory enforcement, if any at all,” said John Wojcik, a threat analyst with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The conglomerate’s obscure ownership structure creates challenges for targeted law enforcement, he said.

But even if Huione were shut down, other operators would quickly replace it, according to Mr. Wojcik.

“We can already see competitors now positioning themselves,” he said.

The National Bank of Cambodia, which regulates financial institutions, said the government was committed to ensuring that “financial transactions are safe and transparent.” It said the government was working to comply with international anti-money-laundering recommendations.

The national bank said that it had not renewed a license for Huione’s payment service (the one with the QR codes) to operate in Cambodia because it “did not meet the renewal requirements.” Huione quickly announced plans to register its business in Japan and Canada.

Hunting Mules

Money mules are the people who run the bank accounts and wallets.

Some mules open these bank accounts using fake identities, which artificial intelligence has made easier to create, according to Elad Fouks, who monitors fraud for Chainalysis.

Mules spread out the deposits and withdrawals to make them less noticeable to banks. Transactions below $10,000, for example, are less likely to draw attention. Most accounts and virtual wallets that are used for money laundering are active only for a few weeks or months.

Still, the mules — and not matchmakers or scammers — run the highest risk of getting caught.

In one U.S. court case that outlines the mechanics of such operations, the lead defendant, Daren Li, ran a money mule syndicate that registered 74 U.S. shell companies to launder nearly $80 million. The companies set up accounts at Bank of America and elsewhere.

When victims sent money to the accounts, the funds quickly moved to a bank in the Bahamas. From there, the money was used to purchase Tether cryptocurrency held on the exchange Binance.

Within days, the money moved to another virtual wallet.

Mr. Li worked with Huione International Pay to launder money, according to records we reviewed. But both the F.B.I. and the Secret Service declined to confirm the link. Mr. Li pleaded guilty in November to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Payday

Imagine, once again, that you are a scam boss. Something has gone wrong: Your mule has been arrested; the bank froze his account; or maybe he ran off with your money.

In these cases, your matchmaker arbitrates disputes.

If the mule is at fault, the matchmaker will help retrieve the deposit from escrow and get it to you. If nobody is to blame, the losses are chalked up to the cost of doing business.

But, if all goes well, you will have your payday, usually in Tether, which you can convert to U.S. dollars at a casino or using Huione’s payment company.

The buildings adjacent to the Golden Sun Sky Casino & Hotel in Sihanoukville have hosted large scam operations, British authorities say.

You can use that money to pay your employees.

These days, scamming operations mimic professional institutions, employing thousands of people in marketing, sales and human resources departments. Often, many employees are victims of human trafficking who are coerced into scamming faraway targets. Some scammers even model their organizations on 19th century company towns, paying wages only after employees complete a season of work. Until then, workers receive company credit.

The wages enrich the restaurants, casinos and brothels that make a killing from captive employees who are often confined to fortified compounds.

Also on the scammer payroll are attractive models who are paid to join video calls and persuade victims to part with their cash. Some of them swap their faces using artificial intelligence.

Scammers, like everyone else, have to pay their landlords — for housing and, in their case, for protection.

And then there are the behind-the-scenes services, many of which can be bought through Huione’s bazaar. Scammers pay software developers to build websites that imitate investment platforms. They need internet and computer infrastructure. And they pay thieves to steal personal data on potential victims: national identification numbers, credit card information, location data and even details about previous hotel stays.

Some of the money will go to dealerships that sell luxury cars. Some is used to buy property in places like London and Dubai.

And of course, some of it will go to fireworks.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD CHIEF MAKES ALMOST $1 MILLION SALARY FROM TAXPAYER DOLLARS!

Planned Parenthood President Makes $904,000

Planned Parenthood’s affiliate CEOs made more money than 98% of other US workers in the 2023 fiscal year, just a year before the organization received nearly $700 million from taxpayers, a watchdog organization reported March 20.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Alexis McGill Johnson earned $904,014 in 2022-2023, according to American Life League’s 2025 Report on Planned Parenthood CEO Compensation.

Across America, according to the Social Security Administration, the average raise increase was 5.32% for 2022. Compared with her 2021 salary of $683,697, Johnson’s 2022-2023 salary marked a 32% increase, according to the American Life League report.

Over the span of 2020 to 2023, Planned Parenthood’s affiliate CEOs’ average salary increased from $317,564 to $352,661, according to the report.

The report also includes a list of the top 20 PPFA Affiliates’ CEO income. At the top was the CEO of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, which has 24 facilities. The affiliate made $155 million in 2022-2023. Its CEO, Sue Dunlap, was compensated $875,942.

Planned Parenthood is considered a nonprofit organization. According to American Life League’s 2025 report, Planned Parenthood’s CEOs, on average, make more than triple the average salary of nonprofit CEOs.

Katie Brown, American Life League’s national director, decried the situation as a “vicious cycle” operating “right under our noses.”

“Hundreds of millions of our tax dollars are forked over to the oligarchs at Planned Parenthood, and in turn, they kill nearly half a million preborn Americans each year,” Brown said in a March 20 press release. “And the reward? A government-funded nonprofit CEO making nearly $1 million a year.”

“That should enrage Americans,” Xavios continued. “At this time in America, when it is clear that there has been an extremely inappropriate misuse of funds by our government and by other nongovernmental organizations, Planned Parenthood reeks of guilt.”

In 2021, the top 11 PPFA employees’ salaries totaled $5.48 million. In 2023, that total had increased to $5,737,115.

The data compilation comes shortly after a bombshell New York Times report found that a number of Planned Parenthood state affiliates are struggling with financial difficulties, high staff turnover rates, and dismal patient care.

As CatholicVote previously reported, Johnson said that the Times article, which had a number of harrowing anecdotal stories based on patients’ and employees’ experience, lacked context.

She also said that Planned Parenthood workers “are trying to provide care in a system that has very inequitable reimbursement rates.”

A number of Planned Parenthood affiliates, including in New York, Missouri, and Illinois, announced several facility closures in recent months. CatholicVote reported March 20 that Planned Parenthood of Greater New York (PPGNY) is closing its only facility in Manhattan, citing increasing operational costs and insufficient Medicaid reimbursements. Four other Planned Parenthood facilities in New York have closed in recent months, according to the Gothamist.

In January, Planned Parenthood of Illinois announced it would be closing four facilities.

American Life League’s report concluded that the climbing CEO salaries make the abortion giant’s financial trouble claims “seem hollow at best.”

The report’s lead researcher, Katherine Van Dyke, noted in the March 20 release that the increasing earnings of the CEOs conflict with the argument of the company’s financial decline.

Van Dyke said the report “shows that taxpayer money is truly the fuel for Planned Parenthood’s earnings and that the financial facts from their own reports do not align with the organization’s claims of financial woes.”

Elected officials must review this data and take appropriate action, she added.

“Now is the time for our country’s leaders to truly assess these numbers and give Planned Parenthood the boot when it comes to receiving government reimbursements or benefitting from any form of appropriations,” Van Dyke said. “In other words, it is time to defund this very wealthy and profitable abortion megacorporation.”

SECRET CLUB OF JUDGES TO THWART ADMINISTRATION AND CHIEF JUSTICE IS IN THE SECRET MEETINGS!

REVEALED: Chief Justice John Roberts Caught in Secretive, Invite-Only Club of Elite Judges and Lawyers That Includes James Boasberg, Beryl Howell, Amit Mehta and Ketanji Brown Jackson

by Jim Hoft Mar. 20, 2025

Members of the invite-only Inns of Court Club in Washington DC – James Boasbrg, Chief Justice John Roberts, Amit Mehta, Beryl Howell, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Investigative journalist Bad Kitty Unleashed reported on Thursday that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is involved in a secretive, invite-only club for elite judges in Washington, DC.

The secretive club America Inns of Court also includes the radical America-hating judges James Boasberg, Beryl Howell, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Amit Mehta—all hard-left judges and Trump-haters.

John Roberts has been Chief Justice of the Supreme Court since September 2005. What in the world is he doing fraternizing in a secret group with far-left colleagues?

This is a shocking development.

Source: Americans Inn of Courts

The Supreme Court Chief Justice is holding secretive meetings with far-left district judges who are running a judicial coup on the current President of the United States! This is a huge development.

Just think, two days ago, on Tuesday, Chief Justice Roberts released a statement attacking President Donald Trump for calling on these same crooked District judges to be impeached!

And now we have evidence that John Roberts was in a secret group with these same judges!

Here is what Roberts said to the US President, who is under siege by the judicial branch.

“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”

So who all is linked to this selective and secretive club? And recall all of their negative Trump rulings?

– Judge James Boasberg (President)
– Scotus Ketanji Brown Jackson (Vice President)
– Judge Amit Mehta (Secretary and a meeting held at her court.)
– Judge Beryl Howell
Justice (Professionalism Award)
-Justice John Roberts (Honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple)

The list includes some of the most soulless and vicious judges in DC District Court.

Wasn’t it something else that Judge John Roberts broke ethical conduct and stuck up for his, “brother Boasberg”?

George Soros has funded a fellowship at Middle Temple where John Roberts is a master of the bench.

First let me very quickly explain how this secret society called, the American Inns of Court came about. In the UK, they have the four Inns of Court that dates back hundreds of years. One of those is called Middle Temple (see Roberts photo). Well, the US created the American version of this in recent decades. There’s a massive list of branches.

The branch many of our judges belong to is The Edward Bennett Williams (EBW) Inn of Court. It’s so secretive, they deleted most signs of this branch from their website although they still met.

Now here’s Judge Beryl Howell. She was nominated by President Judge Boasberg, and VP Ketanji Brown Jackson approved of her nomination. Boasberg claims it was her work on Jan 6 that contributed to his choosing her for the American Inns Of Court Professionalism award.

Let me show you the scant meeting info that I found which included the DOJ and Inspector General Horowitz in attendance.

1. The Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court: BOP Custody / Current Status of BOP / Early Release & Reentry: Washington DC, 2/15/24

“Joel Sickler – invited panelist at EBW Inn of Court (February15, 2024, Washington DC). The meeting held in the District of Columbia Court of Judge Amit Mehta. In addition to panelists, approximately 150 lawyers including several Federal District Judges were also present. The panel was presented primarily with Michael Horowitz, DOJ Inspector General and Seth Eichenholtz, Deputy Assistant Attorney General – also featuring Vanessa Rojas, a returning citizen with direct and learned perspective regarding constructive reforms within the Bureau of Prisons.”

Also there was:

“Seth Rosenthal, Chief Deputy Attorney General for Office of AG District of Columbia.”

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2. Mathew Bester, 3 years ago in a quote Linkdn post:

“I really enjoyed talking about the latest DOJ developments last week on a great panel.”

Matthew was reposting Brent Gurney’s Post and yes the DOJ was there:

“I want to thank my co-hosts, Erin K. of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Lisa Phelan of Morrison & Foerster LLP, Inn member G. Zachary Terwilliger of Vinson & Elkins and our guest panelists Jim Fredricks of the DOJ Antitrust Division, Tiffany Rider of Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP and Matthew Bester of Accenture, for a robust and fascinating discussion of the issues.”

3. Yearly gala, I’ll review this later. But the Assistant United States Attorney at U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia replied in a comment. Was he there?

“Great job, Rebecca!”

I’ve seen lawsuits online for this secret org over recusal worries with this private club. I also saw a lawsuit that stated their secrecy is dangerous to democracy.

Freaking exposé! FIVE anti Trump judges are involved in a secretive, INVITE ONLY club for judges and lawyers called the American Inns of Court. Even the membership and meetings are secret. But somehow the DOJ has shown up at meetings. At least since Biden had been in… pic.twitter.com/PxbBQLWvtF

— Bad Kitty Unleashed (@pepesgrandma) March 20, 2025

Here’s the American Inns of Court judicial benefits flyer. Judges hobnobbing with other judges, the DOJ and lawyers, just doesn’t seem very ethical to me.

NETWORK WITH AND GAIN ACCESS TO COLLEAGUES

• Meet and interact with federal and state judges on a local, regional, and… pic.twitter.com/4AsNXYVvot

The perks of membership include being able to hobnob and network with top colleagues in the area.

Via Bad Kitty Unleashed:

Here’s the American Inns of Court judicial benefits flyer. Judges hobnobbing with other judges, the DOJ and lawyers, just doesn’t seem very ethical to me.

NETWORK WITH AND GAIN ACCESS TO COLLEAGUES

• Meet and interact with federal and state judges on a local, regional, and… pic.twitter.com/4AsNXYVvot

— Bad Kitty Unleashed (@pepesgrandma) March 20, 2025

This part of the report is just shocking!

Judge Beryl Howell was nominated to the American Inns of Court for our outstanding work sending hundreds of Trump-supporters to prison for months and years for walking inside the US Capitol on January 6, 2021!

These are NOT good people! And Beryl Howell has an atrocious record of partisan and abuse of Trump supporters. She is the definition of wicked.

Please read the rest at Bad Kitty Unleashed. This is a huge development.

GREENPEACE, THE CRAZY NUTCASE MOVEMENT THAT WATS US ALL TO LIVE IN CAVES GETS A TASTE OF ITS OWN MEDICINE

This has been a long time coming. Energy Transfer argued that Greenpeace didn’t just cheer from the sidelines—they whipped up a frenzy that crossed legal lines. Meanwhile, Greenpeace is crying foul, clutching their pearls and insisting this lawsuit is a corporate plot to “destroy the right to peaceful protest.” Constitutional rights experts are wringing their hands too, fretting about a “chilling effect” on free speech. Boo-hoo. The jury wasn’t buying the sob story, and now Greenpeace is staring down a payout that might just bankrupt their U.S. outfit. Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch.

Deepa Padmanabha, Greenpeace’s senior legal adviser, tried to spin it:

“What we saw over these three weeks was Energy Transfer’s blatant disregard for the voices of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. And while they also tried to distort the truth about Greenpeace’s role in the protests, we instead reaffirmed our unwavering commitment to non-violence in every action we take.”

Nice try, Deepa, but the jury saw through the sanctimony. Energy Transfer even played a clever card, suing three Greenpeace entities as one big happy family—checkmate.

So, what’s the takeaway? Is this a glorious win for holding activist groups accountable when their antics go too far? You bet it is. Greenpeace had it coming, and now they’re squirming. Sure, they’ll wail about corporate overreach and appeal until the cows come home, but for now, let’s savor the moment. The Dakota Access Pipeline’s been pumping oil for years despite their tantrums, and this ruling? It’s the cherry on top.

$50 MILLION AWARDED A STARBUCKS CUSTOMER FOR SPILLED HOT DRINK..WILL THE INSANITY OF SUCH JURY AWARDS EVER STOP?

Jury Awarded L.A. Man $50 Million After He Was Injured by Spilled Tea at Starbucks Drive-Through

A Los Angeles man who suffered what his lawyers describe as “life-altering” burns when he spilled a piping hot tea in his lap at a Starbucks has been awarded a venti-sized judgment of $50 million.

Michael Garcia, a delivery driver, had claimed that Starbucks was negligent because the tea was not adequately secured in the tray when he accepted it into his vehicle during a visit back in 2020.

The injuries were pretty extensive. Upon pulling the tray into his car, the tea spilled, and Garcia suffered severe burns and permanent genital damage. Lawyers indicate that the brutal injuries included third-degree burns and PTSD.

Security camera footage of the handoff from the barista to Garcia in his car shows that the order was in his hands exclusively before the drink spilled. Shortly thereafter, the man was clearly in a lot of agony.

A California jury has awarded $50 million to Michael Garcia, a delivery driver who suffered severe burns from a Starbucks coffee spill at a drive-thru. Garcia’s lawsuit claimed the lid was not properly secured, causing significant injuries. Starbucks denies wrongdoing and plans… pic.twitter.com/SCWU1lNLKT

There is no downplaying the severity of Garcia’s injuries. He underwent skin grafts and other procedures on his genitals, according to the Associated Press.

The question became who was at fault for the accident – the barista for not securing the drink or the man for spilling it. The jury clearly sided with Garcia in this case. They deliberated for just 40 minutes before awarding the massive judgment.

“It’s a reasonable verdict. It’s justified. This injury changed Michael’s life, it was gross negligence,” Garcia’s trial attorney, Nicholas Rowley, said following his client’s win.

Starbucks initially tried to settle with the man for $3 million before the trial. As the case progressed, they upped the offer to a staggering $30 million. However, as part of the agreement, Garcia insisted they also apologize to him, change their policies, and issue a memo to employees to double-check the cups before handing them out.

Starbucks would not agree to those terms and subsequently cost themselves another $20 million. They aren’t happy with the jury’s decision.

“We sympathize with Mr. Garcia, but we disagree with the jury’s decision that we were at fault for this incident and believe the damages awarded to be excessive,” a statement from Starbucks reads. “We plan to appeal. We have always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including the handling of hot drinks.”

The case is reminiscent of one involving McDonald’s in the ’90s. Stella Liebeck, a 79-year-old woman at the time, sued McDonald’s after suffering third-degree burns from spilling a scalding hot coffee on her lap.

In an almost identical scenario, Liebeck required skin grafts and extensive medical treatment for her injuries. One main difference is that the woman had been trying to add cream and sugar to the coffee by attempting to pry the lid off the cup.

She initially sought $20,000 to cover medical expenses, but after McDonald’s offered only $800, she brought them to court. A jury awarded her $200,000 in compensatory damages and $2.7 million in punitive damages, which was a mind-numbing sum at the time.

Similar incident in 1992. Coming around again…..

The “original” hot coffee lawsuit against McDonalds. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/WcU3jsZ9Js

This isn’t the first time Starbucks got hit with a multi-million judgment. Shannon Phillips, a former Starbucks regional manager, won a $25.6 million verdict after a federal jury in New Jersey found that she was wrongfully terminated because she was white.

Phillips sued the coffee giant when she was fired shortly after the 2018 arrests of two black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks she oversaw. The lawsuit alleged that Starbucks scapegoated Phillips to appease public outrage.