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@TFTC21@TFTC21

San Diego's council voted 5-3 last December to keep all 54 police surveillance technologies. Now a council committee has voted unanimously to turn off the city's license plate readers and ban police from using them, and the full council is expected to vote Monday.

@TFTC21@TFTC21

Cantor Fitzgerald was a sales agent for a Bitdeer equity offering of up to $1 billion this year. Bitdeer runs a data center in Malaysia. Cantor's old boss, Howard Lutnick, now favors a narrower chip export rule that covers Malaysia, the NYT reports.

@TFTC21@TFTC21

Bahrain says it has intercepted 125 missiles and 211 drones from Iran since the war began on Feb 28. Iran's Guards say six drones hit a US site there today, the second attack in a week after months of quiet. Bahrain says it intercepted several.

@TFTC21@TFTC21

SAHARA Las Vegas says it is the first casino on the Strip to accept bitcoin, and BurraPay takes a 5% cut of every deposit. Then it hands you dollar chips and pays winnings in dollars. Is that adoption, or a currency exchange booth? • Guests can deposit BTC, ETH or LTC at the casino cage through BurraPay • They get chips or gaming tickets denominated in U.S. dollars • BurraPay charges a 5% service fee on deposits • Only guests 21+ with an Infinity Rewards account, with ID checks • Crypto can't be bet directly at tables or slots, and crypto isn't offered for cash-out • It can't be used for hotel rooms, dining or other resort purchases Give SAHARA its due, since Nevada casinos have been cautious about crypto because of gaming regulation and this is a step past that. With that being said, the bitcoin is converted to dollars at the cage, so nobody is actually spending it, and you pay 5% for the trip. Fine as a convenience, as long as nobody confuses it with bitcoin becoming money on the Strip.

@TFTC21@TFTC21

The reported Rubio memo on Jensen Huang has not been shared with the Gang of Eight, the congressional leaders who get the most sensitive intelligence briefings, Rep. Jim Himes told CBS Face the Nation. A memo this big, and Congress's top intel people haven't seen it?

@TFTC21@TFTC21

The New York Times reports Nvidia's general counsel contacted Commerce investigators in August 2025 about their Megaspeed probe, saying a senior Commerce official had approved the contact. The investigators declined to meet. The case now sits at the Justice Department.

@TFTC21@TFTC21

More than 14,000 flights were cancelled after Friday's ground stop, and Transportation Secretary Duffy wants $50 billion. Rep. Jim Himes told CBS Face the Nation: "What about that other $12.5 billion that's sitting in your bank account?" Fair question.

@TFTC21@TFTC21

Treasury Secretary Bessent told Nvidia's board to hire its next CEO from outside the company, and gave it 10 days to answer on its export compliance. Why is a cabinet secretary setting the agenda? • Jensen Huang stepped down as CEO on Thursday, Nov 12 • On Fox News, Bessent said the board needs "a dramatic shakeup" given what was going on inside the company • Within 10 days, the board and outside counsel must answer questions about Nvidia's culture of compliance with export restrictions • He ties it to whether Nvidia overlooked warning signs of shell companies, many in Singapore, that funneled chips to China • Treasury, State, Defense and the trade representative's office favored putting Megaspeed, a Singapore firm suspected of helping Chinese firms get around export controls, on an export control list for months, but in his words "Commerce has the pen" Look at where the heat lands. Four agencies wanted Megaspeed listed, the listing belonged to Commerce, and the 10-day deadline goes to a private board. If the rules were that clear, why did it take a scandal and a Sunday TV interview to get this far?

@TFTC21@TFTC21

Men posing as Canada Post workers waterboarded a family in Port Moody in 2024 and took about $1.6 million in crypto. Jameson Lopp says he has learned of multiple undisclosed wrench attacks in Canada in the past month, directed by phone in a pattern he says mimics France.

@TFTC21@TFTC21

Bitcoin is back in "Extreme Fear" territory. There's blood in the streets. Are you dumping or stacking?

@TFTC21@TFTC21

A preliminary probe points to one router swap at a remote site for the nationwide ground stop. More than 6,000 flights were canceled Saturday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says an L3Harris contractor was switching copper to fiber when a router flooded the network.

@TFTC21@TFTC21

The AI labs are now being sued from both directions. In September, paying subscribers sued Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and SpaceX's AI unit for allegedly agreeing to slow AI down. Last Thursday, four nonprofits sued to freeze AI at today's capability. Pick a lane, I guess.

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The Commoner

Truth for the Commoner, every weekday. Money, machines, and the people trying to control both.

Independent writing by Marty Bent at TFTC since 2017. Money, markets, AI, energy and privacy, delivered free to your inbox.

Free, every weekday. Unsubscribe anytime using the link in each newsletter. By subscribing you agree to our Terms and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. Read recent issues.