Tag: law

Gaiman Sues Alleged Victim

But not for defamation. Oh, no, he wouldn’t want to open up that can of worms. He’s suing the woman who used to live in his house for breaking her NDA.

The author Neil Gaiman is seeking more than $500,000 from Caroline Wallner, the potter who accused him of sexual misconduct during the time she lived and worked on his property in Woodstock.
Wallner moved to Gaiman’s property in 2014 when he offered her and her ex-husband, a builder, work as caretakers. The alleged abuse occurred between 2018 and 2020, after Wallner’s marriage had fallen apart and her husband had moved out, leaving Wallner behind to take care of their three children. It was then, Wallner says, that Gaiman began to pressure her for sex in exchange for staying on the property. “‘I like our trade,’” she recalled him saying. “‘You take care of me, and I’ll take care of you.’”

Gaiman denied that he’d abused Wallner and told New York that it was she who had initiated their sexual encounters, but in 2021, Gaiman paid Wallner $275,000 in exchange for signing an extensive nondisclosure agreement that prevents her from suing Gaiman or telling anyone about her alleged experiences with him. Now, Gaiman has filed a demand for arbitration, accusing Wallner of breaching their NDA by sharing her story with the media, including with New York Magazine. In his claim, Gaiman argued that Wallner violated the confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions of their agreement and is requesting a full repayment of their settlement amount, plus attorneys’ fees and $50,000 for each interview she’s given to the media. (Wallner’s ex-husband, who signed the NDA as well, is also named in the claim, shared with New York.)

Vincent White, Wallner’s lawyer, was surprised Gaiman had filed the claim against his client. White, an employment lawyer in New York who specializes in sexual harassment in the workplace, said that in his experience, allegedly abusive men only rarely sued women for violating NDAs because the optics were so poor. When you’re trying to silence someone who’s alleging “really heinous acts,” White said, “everyone thinks, Oh, the allegation must be true. I would think he may have come to the conclusion he has nothing left to lose.”

Unless Gaiman has a gambling problem or went short on gold, there is only one reason to sue Wallner for breaking her NDA: he’s hoping to intimidate other individuals under NDA with him from breaking theirs. Which means that if he’s unsuccessful, we’re very likely going to see more alleged victims coming forward; I expect the final number to be closer to 50 than the eight who have already spoken out.

And imagine how awful and creepy a man has to be to even want to buy a woman’s silence about her experience with him, let alone pay millions of dollars for it.

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Trans Women are Not Women

The UK Supreme Court has correctly observed that the adjective modifies the verb:

The Supreme Court has announced that the definition of a woman is based on biological sex in a landmark judgement. Lord Hodge said that five Supreme Court justices had unanimously decided that ‘the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act refer to a ‘biological woman and biological sex’.

He recognised ‘the strength of feeling on both sides’ and cautioned against seeing the judgement as a triumph for one side over another, stressing that the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.

But the decision could have far-reaching implications on how sex-based rights apply, including how women-only spaces are allowed to operate.

It is interesting, however, to observe how many NPCs can have their programming rearranged by nothing more than repetitive exposure to even the dumbest rhetoric.

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Russell Brand Arrested

One can’t say that this arrest comes as a huge surprise. Although I had Jared Leto and Neil Gaiman higher on my Arrest Bingo card than Russell Brand. It’s not a great time to be a skeezy celebrity known for preying upon one’s fans, however “consensually” one wishes to insist it all was.

British police on Friday charged Russell Brand with rape and sexual assault following an 18-month investigation sparked when four women alleged they had been assaulted by the controversial comedian.

London’s Metropolitan Police force said Brand, 50, faces one count of rape, one of indecent assault, one of oral rape and two of sexual assault. The alleged offenses involve four women and took place between 1999 and 2005 in central London and the English seaside town of Bournemouth.

Police said the investigation remains open and urged anyone with relevant information to contact the force.

In September 2023, British media outlets Channel 4 and the Sunday Times published claims by four women of being sexually assaulted or raped by Brand. The accusers have not been identified.

The comedian, author and “Get Him To The Greek” actor has denied the allegations, saying his relationships were “always consensual.”

Brand is due to appear in a London court on May 2.

The obvious question this raises is if it’s only celebrities currently out of favor with the media who will be held accountable before the law or if it will go after its skeezy darlings too.

And, you know, what about those Pakistani rape gangs whose victims number in the thousands?

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It’s Just the Opening Bid

The “tariff rates” to which the God-Emperor 2.0 utilized to generate his newly-announced tariffs aren’t actually anything of the sort.

Flexport’s team was able to reverse engineer the formula the Administration used to generate the “reciprocal tariffs.” It’s quite simple, they took the trade deficit the US has with each country and divided it by our imports from that country.

This makes a lot more sense, because Switzerland doesn’t have a 61 percent tariff on anything. Which means that we’re in the realm of rhetoric here, not dialectic, and I suspect what the God-Emperor intends is for everyone to simply accept a 10-12 percent tariff rate without any reciprocating tariffs on their own imports.

I’ll admit, I’ve seldom been more wrong than seeing the initial tariffs being graduated UK-EU-CH instead of the other way around, as I was expecting. But Trump’s usual tactic is to slap his interlocutor into accepting his framework, then offering a much more palatable deal that would have looked unattainable before the metaphorical slap in the face.

Regardless, he’s doing the right thing if he wants to rebuild America’s industrial capabilities again.

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Democracy in the UK

It’s a good thing the British Labour Party aren’t authoritarians and that they’re fighting so strongly against authoritarianism in Russia, because without them, the British wouldn’t have freedom and democracy and protection from Gab! Meanwhile, in the UK…

Just days after we exposed the UK government’s escalating attacks – including their admission of targeting our infrastructure providers in an act of economic terrorism – new developments confirm that our warnings about the dangers of the UK’s Online Safety Act are being recognized at the highest levels, while simultaneously revealing the truly draconian nature of their threats.

First, the Vindication: A recent report in The Guardian has revealed that officials from the U.S. State Department directly challenged the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, regarding the severe threat the Online Safety Act poses to freedom of expression.

According to the report:

-Officials from the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) met with Ofcom in London.

-During this meeting, they explicitly raised concerns about how the Online Safety Act risks infringing free speech.

-A State Department spokesperson confirmed this, stating: “As vice-president Vance has said, we are concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom. It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression.”

This is significant validation of everything Gab has been fighting against. Even elements within the US government recognize the UK Online Safety Act for the threat it is.

Now, the Stark Escalation: While Ofcom downplays the Act, claiming it only targets “illegal content,” the reality is far more sinister and extends into unprecedented personal threats. The scope of this law isn’t limited; it potentially applies to any user-to-user service accessible in the UK.

And here’s the truly chilling part: Buried within this tyrannical legislation is the power for UK authorities to bring criminal charges against named senior managers at companies deemed non-compliant.

Andrew Torba is at the forefront of this fight and he’s really proven the importance of one man standing his ground against the forces that Clown World brings to bear on every organization that refuses to submit to its Narrative. Fortunately, it appears the God-Emperor 2.0 and his administration are starting to pay attention to this sort of thing, but we can’t count on him or anyone else to ride to the rescue.

We just have to keep building our platforms and infrastructures. I should have some good news on those fronts on tonight’s Arkhaven Nights.

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No More Pressing 2

Arkansas is the first state to get serious about immigration and employment

English Checks Have Begun! Truck driver in Arkansas at a weigh station

  • They’re stopping ALL trucks
  • Everyone is handed a piece of paper
  • They must read it out loud
  • They must also write what they’re told to write

“I was actually witnessing people in handcuffs that had been pulled in. I was like, what’s going on? He goes, we’ve come across now that if you cannot read or write in English, that it’s a $5,000 fine.

And if you have a company in Arkansas that employs people that can’t read or write in English, it’s a $10,000 fine paid on the spot.

If you cannot pay it, you’re automatically arrested and lose your license.

We need this in EVERY state!!

It’s about time. This should have been implemented as standard across the USA before Reagan accepted the first immigration amnesty.

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Yes, English IS Our Official Language

The God-Emperor 2.0 finally establishes de jure what has always been the de facto case. But it’s official US law now, and all the press-2-for-Spanish apologists are free to voluntarily remigrate themselves and their objections.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Purpose and Policy. From the founding of our Republic, English has been used as our national language. Our Nation’s historic governing documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, have all been written in English. It is therefore long past time that English is declared as the official language of the United States. A nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society, and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exchange ideas in one shared language.

In welcoming new Americans, a policy of encouraging the learning and adoption of our national language will make the United States a shared home and empower new citizens to achieve the American dream. Speaking English not only opens doors economically, but it helps newcomers engage in their communities, participate in national traditions, and give back to our society. This order recognizes and celebrates the long tradition of multilingual American citizens who have learned English and passed it to their children for generations to come.

To promote unity, cultivate a shared American culture for all citizens, ensure consistency in government operations, and create a pathway to civic engagement, it is in America’s best interest for the Federal Government to designate one — and only one — official language. Establishing English as the official language will not only streamline communication but also reinforce shared national values, and create a more cohesive and efficient society.

Accordingly, this order designates English as the official language of the United States.

And the winning continues. Still not tired.

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America First Investment Policy

I’ve agreed to contribute a pair of posts per week to the White Bull’s business and policy substack; my first post there addresses the God-Emperor 2.0’s recent executive order that transforms America’s previously open door approach to foreign investment.

Investment by United States allies and partners can create hundreds of thousands of jobs and significant wealth for the United States. Our Nation is committed to maintaining the strong, open investment environment that benefits our economy and our people, while enhancing our ability to protect the United States from new and evolving threats that can accompany foreign investment.

Investment at all costs is not always in the national interest, however.

This is a major change from the “all free trade is good for the US economy” mantra that has ruled US trade policy since the 1980s. While this is not the place for a lesson in Economics 101 or a departure into economic history, the fact that M (imports) are subtracted from the sum total that is the result of the GDP equation is sufficient to point out that when (X-M) is negative, which is to say that there is a trade deficit, the economy is contracting, all else being equal.

In the same way, while “investment in America” sounds as if it should always be positive, if it is described as “selling American assets and property to foreign countries,” it obviously isn’t in any and all circumstances. There are times where the sale of American products are advantageous to the American economy, such as the sale of American steel to foreign automotive manufacturers, and times when they are not.

Read the whole thing there. As with Sigma Game, I’m aware that business and government policy tend to be of limited interest to the general readership here, so it will be good to have a specific place to address those topics regularly for the benefit of those who actually like reading about such things. But never fear, if I happen to post something there that I think is – or even that I think should be – important for everyone here to know, I’ll post it here as well.

But as with tariffs, a judicious foreign investment policy that takes each case on its merits is a vast improvement than simply selling off all of the family jewels to the first foreigner who happens to want them.

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The Epstein Files are Coming

Pam Bondi assures us that the Epstein Files will be released and they will be released soon.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has announced plans to begin releasing documents related to Jeffrey Epstein’s case, including the deceased sex trafficker’s list of contacts, alleged clients, and flight logs to his private island, “hopefully” as early as Thursday. US President Donald Trump pledged to release the files as part of a broader effort to declassify high-profile cases. Bondi said the Epstein files have been “sitting on her desk for review” since last week, stressing that Trump “doesn’t make empty promises.”

“There are well over – this will make you sick – 200 victims… well over 250, actually. So we have to make sure their identity is protected, and their personal information,” Bondi told Fox News on Wednesday, explaining the delay.

That’s a credible explanation. But we’ll see… until it happens, it hasn’t happened.

UPDATE: It appears that Phase One of the files have been released to 15 influencers, but is not yet available online. Looks like Cerno’s one of them…

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It Actually Is What it Is

White Bull has launched their long-awaited substack focused on business and the intersection of policy on business with a very solid piece on tariffs. This is particularly important, because both the media and most official government positions on tariffs are still stuck in 18th century critiques of European mercantilism and therefore take nothing that has happened and nothing that we’ve learned in the last 250 years into account.

Before the 2024 election Trump said, “Tariffs are the greatest thing ever invented.” While it is typical Trumpian hyperbole, it is not wrong. Following almost 4 decades of globalists being hell bent on eliminating trade barriers, US trade policy supporting exporting US manufacturing to Canada/Mexico with NAFTA, or China with MFN and then accession to WTO (thank you Bill Clinton + Laura Tyson), the US has essentially been subsidizing other nations at its own expense. Tariffs are one of many tools that the US needs to start using to recalibrate its place vis a vis the global marketplace.

The globalists in Congress keep saying that Trump doesn’t know what he is talking about when he discusses who actually pays the tariffs.They say consumers pay the tariffs. Well, they are (partly) right and everyone knows this. What they don’t talk about is that unless the producers who have tariffs levied on them reduce their wholesale prices, the cost to the American consumer will increase by retail price + the tariff %. American consumers are smart enough to shift their buying preferences towards better value, alternative products or wait on purchases until alternatives emerge. American manufacturers will be motivated to bring manufacturing back to the US, since profitability is possible again. Everybody in America wins! At Davos a few weeks ago, even the pragmatic Jaime Dimon came out in favor of tariffs, saying, “I would put into perspective: If it’s a little inflationary, but it’s good for national security, so be it. I mean, get over it.”

Tariffs were a very effective tool for the US during the 1800s, and between 1861-1933 the US had one of the highest average tariff rates on manufactured imports in the world. Is it surprising that after 1933/New Deal, tariffs started to disappear while being replaced by income taxes, sales taxes and a myriad of social programs started to emerge? Tariffs can be raised, lowered or eliminated entirely as needed. But taxes and entitlements rarely disappear creating virtually unlimited budgets for politicians to tap into or steal. And while there is always the danger of a trade war, it looks like many ‘deals’ will get cut to decrease US trade deficits with targeted countries before needing to actually levy the tariffs.

IT IS WHAT IT IS promises to be as significant in the business and technology space as FANDOM PULSE has already proved to be in the entertainment and culture space. If you’re running a side hustle or you’re a full-time entrepreneur with your own small business, you will definitely want to be a part of the conversation there. It’s something I’ve wanted White Bull to do for a long time, simply so I don’t have to, because it is one thing that we just haven’t had in the greater community.

We’ve just never really had a place where those of us who are active in business can discuss what is going on around the world in the context of our business operations, so I think this will be an important step going forward.

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