TVA Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson
“The Grapes of Wrath” was a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about Americans displaced from their farmland, in part due to government policies. Today, a true life version is playing out in the rural South. A secretive multi-billion dollar federal agency is at the heart of an American battle between government and landowners.
It’s the Tennessee Valley Authority, led by a CEO who was making 26 times more than the president of the United States. In our story, the landowners are joined by a country music star turned activist who’s fighting with a mission and a song.
Psyops
Kirk was assassinated on September 10th while speaking on a college campus. Authorities say suspect Tyler Robinson may have been radicalized online, aided and abetted by an extended network of people who may have known about his plans.
He’s not the only accused killer with such ties. Lisa Fletcher has more.
Pilot Vaccines
As air travel soars, lingering fears about Covid vaccine side effects cast a shadow over aviation safety. Passengers wonder if their vaccinated pilots could face sudden mid-air health crises.
A 2022 survey revealed 23% U.S. commercial and military pilots reported adverse effects, including heart inflammation, which can trigger sudden death.
Sherry Walker, a researcher and a captain at a major airline, warns that official responses have sidestepped concerns, leaving critical questions about pilot health unanswered.
Amazon Agrees to $2.5 Billion Settlement with FTC over Allegations of Deceptive Prime Practices
CNBC reports that Amazon has reached a $2.5 billion settlement with the FTC over allegations that the company engaged in deceptive practices related to its Prime subscription program. The settlement, announced on Thursday, comes just three days into the trial between Amazon and the FTC in a Seattle federal court.
The FTC had filed its lawsuit against Amazon in June 2023, accusing the e-commerce giant of deceiving tens of millions of customers into signing up for Prime memberships and making it difficult for them to cancel their subscriptions. The lawsuit also sought to hold three senior Amazon executives individually liable if the jury sided with the FTC.
Under the terms of the settlement, Amazon will pay a $1 billion civil penalty to the FTC and refund $1.5 billion to an estimated 35 million customers who were affected by what the FTC called “unwanted Prime enrollment or deferred cancellation.” The company has not admitted any wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement.
The agreement prohibits Amazon from misrepresenting the terms of Prime and requires the company to make clear and conspicuous disclosures about the program’s terms during the enrollment process. Additionally, Amazon must obtain consumers’ express consent before charging them for a subscription and provide an easy way for users to cancel their memberships.
As part of the settlement, two Amazon executives, Prime boss Jamil Ghani and Neil Lindsay, a senior vice president in the company’s health division who previously held a role in the Prime business, will be prohibited from engaging in unlawful conduct related to the allegations.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson called the penalty a “monumental win” for the agency under the Trump administration, stating, “The Trump-Vance FTC is committed to fighting back when companies try to cheat ordinary Americans out of their hard-earned pay.”
The $2.5 billion penalty is one of the largest ever imposed by the FTC, second only to the $5 billion fine levied against Facebook (now Meta) in 2019 for violating consumers’ privacy. However, the fine represents only about 0.1 percent of Amazon’s current market cap of nearly $2.4 trillion.
Hegseth orders hundreds of military commanders to Virginia for unprecedented meeting
A meeting of this size and scope is highly unusual and would usually take place on a secure video teleconference — around 800 generals and admirals are spread across the U.S. and world.
The lack of details surrounding the gathering has some fearing a looming purge. War Secretary Pete Hegseth has previously said he wants to cut 20% of senior generals and admirals.
The order, first reported by The Washington Post, applies to senior officers with the rank of brigadier general or above or their Navy equivalent and their top enlisted advisers.
In May, Hegseth issued a directive to slash about 100 generals and admirals, along with a “minimum” 20% cut to four-star officers. He ordered an additional 10% reduction in general and flag officers across the military.
The secretary called the reductions part of his “less generals, more GIs policy.”
According to Hegseth, there are currently 44 four-star and flag officers across the military, making for a ratio of one general to 1,400 troops, compared to the ratio during World War II of one general to 6,000 troops.
It comes as administration officials have been preparing for a new national defense strategy that makes homeland defense a top priority, where the strategy had long had a focus on pivoting to the Indo-Pacific.
That strategy is expected to guide a global force posture review that could see major changes to the positioning of U.S. troops at bases across the globe.
California Bill Raises Alarm Over Algorithmic Censorship, Awaits Governor Newsom’s Signature
Senate Bill 771, passed by both chambers of the state legislature, opens the door to holding platforms liable for the content their algorithms distribute, a move that threatens to make online moderation subject to legal penalties if it’s not aligned with state-defined civil rights protections.
Introduced by Senator Henry Stern and backed by several Assembly coauthors, the bill declares its intention is “not to regulate speech or viewpoint” but to ensure “California’s civil rights protections apply with equal force in the digital sphere.”
However, its language suggests otherwise.
If signed into law, SB 771 would impose civil penalties of up to $1 million per violation for platforms that “violate Section 51.7, 51.9, 52, or 52.1 through its algorithms that relay content to users” or that “aid, abet, act in concert, or conspire” in such violations.
Penalties may be doubled when minors are involved. Platforms are also presumed to have “actual knowledge of the operations of [their] own algorithms,” regardless of intent.
In other words, if an algorithm delivers content that is later linked to alleged civil rights violations, the platform could be held liable, even if the content was posted by a third party.
The bill effectively treats algorithmic content delivery as a legally distinct act, stating that “deploying an algorithm that relays content to users may be considered to be an act of the platform independent from the message of the content relayed.”…
Newsfeed News.com 