MENIFEE, Calif. (KTLA) – A Southern California woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to fraudulently obtaining more than half a million dollars in COVID-related unemployment benefits, nearly $270,000 of which she spent. Cara Marie Kirk-Connell, 32, of Menifee, admitted to buying stolen identities from people with access to the darknet and using the data to submit claims to the state Employment Development Department, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. She also confessed to watching YouTube videos that show people how to commit EDD fraud, prosecutors said.

GOP Sen. Ron Johnson (Wis.) on Friday blocked an effort to pass a second round of stimulus checks, arguing coronavirus relief needs to be targeted and raising concerns about the country's debt.

Joe Biden, please, I’m begging you.

The study suggests people may have previously underestimated the communication abilities of other non-domesticated species

Operatives from an elite CIA-trained paramilitary unit massacred at least 51 civilians in 10 previously undocumented night raids.

NEWS DECEMBER 18, 2020 3:51 PM BY PETER HELMAN 25 Van Morrison is not a fan of the COVID-19 restrictions intended to curb the spread of the pandemic, and he wants everyone to know it. He’s been releasing a series of anti-lockdown anthems with titles like “Born To Be Free” and “No More Lockdown” and lyrics like “No more taking our freedom/ And our God-given rights/ Pretending it’s for our safety/ When it’s really to enslave” and “No more Imperial College Scientists making up crooked facts.” Last month, Morrison announced that he was teaming up with fellow boomer rock icon Eric Clapton for another one, “Stand And Deliver.” It’s here now, and it’s more of the same shit.

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement it received an anonymous tip about an alcohol operation at a municipal building in the town of Rainsville on Thursday. Investigators then uncovered what’s described as a large illegal winery inside the Rainsville Waste Water Treatment Plant. Photos released by investigators show glass containers, buckets, a fermenting rack and other equipment often used by people who make wine at home. The agency says officers seized a lot of illegal alcohol, and arrests are expected. The town of about 5,100 people is 100 miles northeast of Birmingham.

For Google, bringing on Gebru lent credibility to the tech giant's efforts in examining how technology can exacerbate systemic bias and discrimination. Yet she says Google's support for Gebru only went so far. "They wanted to have my presence, but not me exactly. They wanted to have the idea of me being at Google, but not the reality of me being at Google," Gebru said.

John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, is facing possible dismissal from the Chicago Police Department for offensive posts on social media

Unpacking what happened with the New YorkTimes’ beloved — and now, partially debunked — ISIS podcast.

About 30 hours into my stay in Night City, I was just wandering around, simultaneously minding my own business and trying to figure out which of my many open side quests to complete, when I suddenly died. The cause of death wasn’t immediately clear, but I eventually figured out what happened: A whole-ass car fell from the sky and squashed me, then rolled off into the sunset.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has released a budget proposal aimed at addressing equity and systemic racism, the first of several to be released as part of his overall state budget plan this week.  The plan includes $2.5 million for the state Equity Office that was created by the Legislature earlier this year. The Office will develop the state’s five-year equity plan that will help the state develop language access requirements, remove barriers to accessing state services, and decrease inequities across state government.  According to Inslee, the Equity office will also help agencies develop and implement their own diversity, equity, and inclusion plans. "To promote systemic and cultural changes, the office will introduce best practices and change management to agencies and design an online performance dashboard that measures agencies’ progress toward diversity goals."

With more services than ever collecting your data, it’s easy to start asking why anyone should care about most of it. This is why. Because people start having ideas like this. In a new blog post for the International Monetary Fund, four researchers presented their findings from a working paper that examines the current relationship between finance and tech as well as its potential future. Gazing into their crystal ball, the researchers see the possibility of using the data from your browsing, search, and purchase history to create a more accurate mechanism for determining the credit rating of an individual or business. They believe that this approach could result in greater lending to borrowers who would potentially be denied by traditional financial institutions. At its heart, the paper is trying to wrestle with the dawning notion that the institutional banking system is facing a serious threat from tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple. The researchers identify two key areas in which this is true: Tech companies have greater access to soft-information, and messaging platforms can take the place of the physical locations that banks rely on for meeting with customers. The concept of using your web history to inform credit ratings is framed around the notion that lenders rely on hard-data that might obscure the worthiness of a borrower or paint an unnecessarily dire picture during hard times. Citing soft-data points like “the type of browser and hardware used to access the internet, the history of online searches and purchases” that could be incorporated into evaluating a borrower, the researchers believe that when a lender has a more intimate relationship with the potential client’s history, they might be more willing to cut them some slack. “Banks tend to cushion credit terms for their long-term customers during downturns,” the paper’s authors write. This is because they have a history and relationship with the customer. Now, imagine the kind of intimate history that Facebook could have with a borrower and suddenly its digital cash initiative starts to make more sense.

"Just make what most people consider a shitload of money and use it to pay off your meager debts, idiots."

Today is the 100th day since the launch of Defector, which means that it’s time to settle a grudge that began over a year ago. Well, well, well. Well, WELL, well, well, well, well. Jason Calacanis. You venture-capitalist moron. You big-time shit boy. We have some updates for you: Anyway, the upshot of all of this is: You just played yourself, you imbecile. You fucking fool! What happens next is up to you. You could send us a check, and upon receipt of that check I will post another blog on this site calling you all sorts of rude names and reminding everyone that you are a pathetic leech on society. This can be done with you coming to my home with $500,000 in cash stuffed into a bag, at which point I will spit on you. Or you could not pay us, and be labeled as a fraud and a coward from this day until your final breath escapes your lips. No matter what choice you make, nothing will ever change the fact that you suck, dude. You suck so much.

Oh my goodness, you’re here! Welcome, welcome! Come on in. Duff that snow off your boots. And for God’s sake, take off that pesky mask already! Karen and I just quarantined for six days in St. Barts! The staff at the Gustavia Hilton kept a proper distance the entire time, and they only charged us $300 a night for the room! So we don’t have the virus. Only the little people have to worry about that sort of thing. And we had the grandest time when we were in the tropics. Have you ever had spiny lobster? You simply MUST try it. Karen said it was unlike any lobster she’d ever had whilst summering in Cape Elizabeth! [sits down on a velour sofa] Anyway, now we’re home again. We do love traveling, especially with so much extra elbow room on the plane these days. But we ALSO love coming back to our country estate. Feeding the labradoodle. Drinking wassail with our favorite neighbors. Welcoming the kids home from Bucknell. Tipping five bucks to Chacho, our trusted landscaper who’s been with us FOREVER. And decorating for Christmas! Can you believe it’s already Christmas? The year has gone by so fast! One day we’re planning a debutante ball for our precious Dede, the next thing we know we’ve got a dozen charity balls to attend! I can’t even remember HOW many times we visited Randy at his vineyard this summer! Did we give you a Christmas card? Here… [hands you a Christmas card that’s actually one of those really long our-year-in-review letters that no one reads] ENJOY! And have yourself a cranberry spritzer while you’re at it. We have a LOT of catching up to do. But first, take in the winter wonderland that is our fair home! Because once again, we have festooned it with goodies from the Williams-Sonoma catalog. It’s the only catalog in existence willing to tell the TRUTH, which is that, if you’re wealthy and ignorant enough, life never has to change. Pandemic SCHMANdemic, it says! Who needs a vaccine when you can have café-quality espresso AT HOME? Only treatment I’ll ever need! Sit down next to me, dear friend. Let’s you and I peruse this season’s catalog together, in the spirit of giving. Will there be tartan? OH YOU BETTER FUCKING BELIEVE THERE’LL BE TARTAN. Other people keep giving each other highly communicable lung infections this time of year. Why not give the gift of SMEG instead, I say?

ommittee assignments are one of the least eye-catching parts of politics, but they’re also one of the most important ways in which actual political power is wielded. Certain committees in the House, like Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Appropriations, have outsized influence and money power. (They are often called the “money” committees, not just because they’re where the action is but because members can earn lots of money in campaign contributions from industries with business before them.) Deliberations over the next several days will be extremely important for progressives in the House, as they angle to lock down seats on these powerful committees for their members. To that end, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was expected to secure a prized position on the Energy and Commerce Committee, a seat vacated by outgoing New Yorker Eliot Engel. Among other issues, the committee has jurisdiction over health care and climate change issues, a natural for a congresswoman who has championed Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. Ocasio-Cortez was expected to cruise comfortably to the position. She was the first to raise her hand for the seat, and she won the backing of dean of the New York delegation Rep. Jerry Nadler. But last week, as Politico reported, Long Islander Kathleen Rice made an out-of-nowhere, last-second bid for the seat, interrupting the process. Rep. Rice is a backbencher from the party’s right flank who, in 2018, refused to support Nancy Pelosi for Speaker. Without the support of Nadler, and with the famous opposition of Steering Committee leader Pelosi, Rice’s attempt didn’t seem to be serious.

Tax cuts for the wealthy have long drawn support from conservative lawmakers and economists who argue that such measures will "trickle down" and eventually boost jobs and incomes for everyone else. But a new study from the London School of Economics says 50 years of such tax cuts have only helped one group — the rich. The new paper, by David Hope of the London School of Economics and Julian Limberg of King's College London, examines 18 developed countries — from Australia to the United States — over a 50-year period from 1965 to 2015. The study compared countries that passed tax cuts in a specific year, such as the U.S. in 1982 when President Ronald Reagan slashed taxes on the wealthy, with those that didn't, and then examined their economic outcomes. Per capita gross domestic product and unemployment rates were nearly identical after five years in countries that slashed taxes on the rich and in those that didn't, the study found. But the analysis discovered one major change: The incomes of the rich grew much faster in countries where tax rates were lowered. Instead of trickling down to the middle class, tax cuts for the rich may not accomplish much more than help the rich keep more of their riches and exacerbate income inequality, the research indicates.

Don’t let fear of a loose hole keep you from experiencing the salacious splendors of butt stuff, if you’re inclined to try. Just be kind to yourself and listen to your body.

Three fraternities—Beta Theta Pi, Phi Gamma Delta, and Kappa Sigma—are alleged to have been the sites of illegal drug activity and some members are facing criminal charges.