What Could Possibly Go Wrong

Aetna to Obamacare: We’re outta here

"Aetna is saying goodbye to Obamacare. The insurance giant announced Wednesday that it would not offer policies in Nebraska or Delaware next year, completing its exit from the exchanges. Earlier this year, Aetna said it would pull out of Iowa and Virginia in 2018. The company said it expects to lose more than $200 million in its individual business line this year, on top of nearly $700 million in losses between 2014 and 2016. Aetna withdrew from 11 of its 15 markets for 2017. It has 255,000 Obamacare policyholders this year, down from 964,000 at the end of last year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAetna to Obamacare: We’re outta here

California’s Single-Payer Health Plan Costs More Than the State’s Whole Budget

"The list of states that have tried to go single-payer is still a small sample size, but a fairly wide ranging one. It includes states with large populations and small ones. States with a variety of economies and tax systems. States that are growing quickly and those that aren't. Despite that range of variables, one thing remains constant: state-level single-payer health plans would require massive increases in tax revenue, equal or larger than the amount of revenue consumed by every other state-level program in a single year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia’s Single-Payer Health Plan Costs More Than the State’s Whole Budget

Manchester Bomber Was Product of West’s Libya/Syria Intervention

"A radicalized Libyan whose family fled Gaddafi's secular Libya, and later trained to be an armed 'rebel' in Syria, fighting for the US and UK 'regime change' policy toward the secular Assad government, Salman Abedi was the direct product of US and UK interventions in the greater Middle East." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingManchester Bomber Was Product of West’s Libya/Syria Intervention

Maduro: Trump’s ‘imperialist hand’ is behind Venezuelan revolution

"Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday said that his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, is deeply involved in 'terrorist' activities and the violence that is unfolding in the South American nation with an eye toward 'taking political control' there. Maduro said on his weekly radio-television show that his country is facing an 'attack by violent forces (...) intolerance and generalized destruction,' and that behind all this turmoil is 'the imperialist hand of Donald Trump.' 'Trump has his hands infected and stuck deeply into this conspiracy and this attack that has as its objective taking political control in Venezuela, recolonizing Venezuela,' Maduro claimed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMaduro: Trump’s ‘imperialist hand’ is behind Venezuelan revolution

UK hospital meltdown after ransomware worm uses NSA vuln to raid IT

"UK hospitals have effectively shut down and are turning away non-emergency patients after ransomware ransacked its networks. Doctors have been reduced to using pen and paper, and closing A&E to non-critical patients, amid the tech blackout. The security hole has been patched for modern Windows versions, but not WindowsXP – and the NHS is a massive user of the legacy operating system." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUK hospital meltdown after ransomware worm uses NSA vuln to raid IT

Some consumer PCs also appear to have dangerous Intel exploit

"If you think you're immune from a scary exploit found in Intel's Active Management Technology just because you're a consumer, think again. The problem is, plenty of consumers use business-class hardware—and not just the fringe who'll buy or inherit commercial-class laptops and workstations. Many budget PCs use chipsets, firmware, and motherboards that were designed for small business machines. These machines may be exposed to the exploit through Intel's Small Business Advantage technology, which is is a scaled-down version of AMT." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSome consumer PCs also appear to have dangerous Intel exploit

Peter Schiff, Trumpcare: Different Plan, Same Problems

"A new form of insurance that this law may create: A policy that would pay for health insurance premiums if the user ever got sick enough to need them. Such insurance would be very cheap, as the maximum exposure to the insurance company is only 130% of the premium for a standard health insurance policy. In the end, the only people buying health insurance would be those who can buy it for free using their tax credits and really sick people for whom insurance premiums are cheaper than their medical bills. But as insurance companies lose money on the latter group, they will be forced to raise their premiums on the former. This puts us right back in the box we are stuck in with Obamacare." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeter Schiff, Trumpcare: Different Plan, Same Problems

Thieves drain 2FA-protected bank accounts by abusing mobile networks

"The unidentified attackers exploited weaknesses in Signalling System No. 7, a telephony signaling language that more than 800 telecommunications companies around the world use to ensure their networks interoperate. SS7, as the protocol is known, makes it possible for a person in one country to send text messages to someone in another country. It also allows phone calls to go uninterrupted when the caller is traveling on a train. The same functionality can be used to eavesdrop on conversations, track geographic whereabouts, or intercept text messages." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThieves drain 2FA-protected bank accounts by abusing mobile networks

I never knew how screwed up global banking was until I started my own bank

"You can imagine my surprise when I found out that SWIFT runs on Windows Vista - an obsolete operating system that Microsoft no longer supports. When my bank received its SWIFT code, we were told that we had to have a computer running Vista in the office in order to connect to SWIFT. It was such an absurd exercise to find an obsolete computer running an obsolete operating system to connect to the supposedly most advanced and important international payment network in the world. Unsurprisingly, SWIFT has been hacked numerous times, both by the NSA as well as private hackers who have stolen a great deal of money from their victims." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingI never knew how screwed up global banking was until I started my own bank