CDFingers wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2024 11:51 am Yeah, rules. That's the ticket. Tax the rich more, would work for me.

CDF

New York
CNN
—
After police found the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” printed on shell casings near the site where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down, merchandise bearing those words started to appear online.

The phrase might be linked to a 2010 book critiquing the health insurance industry titled, “Delay Deny Defend,” a common description of the industry’s tactics. Those words appeared on a number of items on Amazon’s store, including hats, T-shirts and pint glasses.

The suspect in the case has garnered sympathy and online fandom partly because of people’s problems with the health insurance industry. The majority of insured US adults had at least one issue, including denial of claims, with their health insurance in the span of a year, according to a survey released in June 2023 by KFF, a nonprofit health policy research group.

Amazon has pulled the merchandise from the website for violating the company’s rules, according to a person familiar with Amazon’s decision making. It’s unclear how many people bought items emblazoned with the phrase.

CDFingers wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2024 11:22 am

highdesert wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2024 9:19 am
--snrps--

Yup health insurance websites are being scrubbed of executives names, pics and bios. The problem is not just the US health insurance companies, it's US hospitals especially for profit hospital chains and it's US specialists who want to make their fortunes. We have to control healthcare costs but that doesn't mean that it should all fall on the shoulders of insured patients. No one is advocating shooting health insurance execs, but they're for profit companies seen as financially benefiting from the illnesses of patients.

I may have posted already what I've read, that when the rich kill the poor, it's capitalism, and when the poor kill the rich, it's crime. Capitalism is the problem. Greed is not good; greed kills.

CDF

As New York City prosecutors worked Thursday to bring murder charges against Luigi Mangione in the brazen killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, supporters of the suspect are donating tens of thousands of dollars for a defense fund established for him, leaving law enforcement officials worried Mangione is being turned into a martyr. Several online defense funds have been created for Mangione by anonymous people, including one on the crowdfunding website GiveSendGo that as of Thursday afternoon had raised over $50,000. The GiveSendGo defense fund for the 26-year-old Mangione was established by an anonymous group calling itself "The December 4th Legal Committee," apparently in reference to the day Mangione allegedly ambushed and gunned down Thompson in Midtown Manhattan as the executive walked to his company's shareholders conference at the New York Hilton hotel. "We are not here to celebrate violence, but we do believe in the constitutional right to fair legal representation," the anonymous group said in a statement.

The crowdfunding campaign prompted donations from more than 1,500 anonymous donors across the country, many of them leaving messages of support for Mangione, including one person who called themselves "A frustrated citizen" and thanked Mangione for "sparking the awareness and thought across this sleeping nation." The GiveSendGo fund for Mangione appeared to be briefly taken down before it was restored on Thursday. In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for GiveSendGo said the company "operates with a principle of not preemptively determining guilt or innocence." "Our platform does not adjudicate legal matters or the validity of causes. Instead, we allow campaigns to remain live unless they violate the specific terms outlined in our Terms of Use. Importantly, we do allow campaigns for legal defense funds, as we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to access due process," the GiveSendGo spokesperson said. The spokesperson added, "We understand the concerns raised by such campaigns and take these matters seriously. When campaigns are reported, our team conducts a thorough review to ensure they comply with our policies. While other platforms may choose a different approach, GiveSendGo's core value is to provide a space where all individuals, no matter their situation, can seek and receive support, with donors making their own informed decisions." Other crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe have also taken down campaigns soliciting donations for Mangione's defense.

"GoFundMe's Terms of Service prohibit fundraisers for the legal defense of violent crimes," the crowdfunding website said in a statement. "The fundraisers have been removed from our platform and all donors have been refunded. "Amazon and Etsy have removed from their websites merchandise featuring Mangione, including T-shirts and tote bags reading "Free Luigi" and the phrase "Deny, Defend, Depose," words police said were etched in the shell casings discovered at the scene of Thompson's homicide. "Celebrating this conduct is abhorrent to me. It's deeply disturbing," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told ABC News senior investigative reporter Aaron Katersky in an interview Wednesday night. "And what I would say to members of the public, people who as you described are celebrating this and maybe contemplating other action, that we will be vigilant and we will hold people accountable. We are at the ready." Prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney's office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to try to secure an indictment against Mangione, sources told ABC News on Thursday.

Mangione's attorney, Thomas Dickey of Altoona, Pennsylvania, where the suspect was arrested Monday following a five-day manhunt, said his client is presumed innocent and will plead not guilty to any charges filed against him. Mangione is contesting extradition to New York. Asked about people contributing to Mangione defense funds that have popped up, Dickey said, "People are entitled to their opinion and, like I said, if you're an American and you believe in the American criminal justice system, you have to presume him to be innocent and none of us would want anything other than that if that were us in their shoes. So, I'm glad he had some support." In a later interview on CNN, Dickey said he is leaning toward not accepting any money from his client's supporters for his defense. "To be honest with you, I probably wouldn't," Dickey told CNN. "I just don't feel comfortable about that. So, I don't know. I haven't given that much thought. Obviously, my client appreciates the support that he has, but I don't know, it just doesn't sit right with me, really."

CDFingers wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 12:33 pm Uncharacteristically I seem to be enjoying the idea that rich CEO's who exploit the poor are afraid of being, you know, cancelled. Their peace is being denied. FAFO.

CDF

Luigi Mangione has retained a top New York attorney for his legal defence in connection with the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Thomas Dickey, a seasoned trial attorney with more than 40 years of experience, has been representing the shooting suspect in Pennsylvania, since being brought the case on Tuesday. The Independent understands that Karen Friedman Agnifilo has been officially retained to represent Mangione, 26, in New York, after the executive, 50, was gunned down outside the New York Hilton in Midtown Manhattan on 4 December. Mangione has now retained high-powered attorney Ms Agnifilo, of Agnifilo Intrater LLP, to represent him in his legal case in New York. Ms Agnifilo is a veteran of New York City’s criminal justice system, having worked in criminal justice, litigation and trials for three decades, after graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Georgetown University Law Center.

The majority of her career was spent as a public servant, working at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, including as its chief assistant district attorney. She worked in that role as second-in-command under DA Cyrus Vance for seven years, from 2014 to 2021, having previously served as chief of the office’s trial division for four years. An experienced New York prosecutor has spoken of Ms Agnifilo’s extensive legal experience. They told CNN: “She’s got as much experience as any human being, especially in the state court. She knows every corridor, every judge, every clerk in the courthouse.” A representative for Ms Agnifilo told The Independent the attorney declined to comment at this time, including on who is paying Mangione’s legal fees.

Mr Dickey has refused to be drawn on whether Mangione’s prominent Baltimore family is fronting his legal costs. However, he did tell CNN that members of the public have offered funding. Mr Dickey, who has denied his client’s involvement in the New York shooting, has anticipated that Mangione will plead not guilty to the murder charge as well as to other counts in the city. The attorney has also suggested Mangione will deny charges related to a gun and fake ID that police said they found when they arrested him.

MUSKEGON, MI – Several employees at a Muskegon-area manufacturer witnessed their boss get stabbed by a fellow co-worker on Tuesday during a company meeting, court records show.

The alleged attacker, Nathan Joseph Mahoney, is now charged with attempted murder stemming from the altercation at Anderson Express in Fruitport Township.

--snrps--

Witnesses say Mahoney, 31, entered the conference room wearing a black medical mask. He walked up to Denslow before sticking a red-handled knife with a four-inch blade into Denslow’s side, the affidavit states.

--snrps--

Employees described Mahoney as having a quiet demeanor, police said.

A poll found 41 percent of adults under 30 consider the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson acceptable, more than the 40 percent in that demographic who consider it unacceptable. Anger over health insurance companies has been in the spotlight after Thompson was fatally shot Dec. 4 in New York City. Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old, was arrested last week in Pennsylvania and faces charges in Thompson’s killing. The survey from Emerson College Polling found 68 percent of all respondents found the actions of the person who shot and killed Thompson unacceptable.

But a startling 24 percent of those aged 18-29 found it “somewhat acceptable,” and 17 percent of that group found it completely acceptable. Since Thompson was shot, first in the back and then again as he fell to the ground, a number of social media posts from people saying they do not have sympathy for his death have gained popularity.

Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College Polling, said 22 percent of Democrats said they found the killing acceptable, compared to 16 percent of independents and 12 percent of Republicans. He said the overall findings underscored “shifting societal attitudes among the youngest electorate and within party lines.”

Federal prosecutors are looking into whether to charge Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of United Healthcare’s CEO, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News on Wednesday. If federal charges are filed, the New York state murder case against Mangione would have priority, the sources said. Mangione, 26, was indicted Tuesday on first-degree murder and other charges in the targeted killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who authorities said was shot from behind as he walked on a Manhattan sidewalk on Dec. 4.

The family of the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO had reported him missing last month, and his mother told police her son could be the person seen in surveillance photos one day before his arrest, law enforcement sources told NBC News. The family of Luigi Mangione, the man police believe killed CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, reported him missing to San Francisco police on Nov. 18, around two weeks before the Dec. 4 ambush shooting, a missing persons flyer shows.

Mangione’s mother said she last spoke to her son on July 1 and that he had been working in San Francisco, the flyer says. After the killing, a San Francisco police officer thought the images of the person of interest had similarities to the image of Mangione from the missing person report, multiple law enforcement officials said. San Francisco police contacted the FBI about the possible identity of the man in that photo, the FBI said.

Bisbee wrote: Sat Dec 21, 2024 5:07 am If we are lucky, this incoming administration will usher in the age of rising up against insufferable oppression. Because the end game of Capitalism as described by Marx is surely afoot.

Bisbee wrote: Sat Dec 21, 2024 5:07 am If we are lucky, this incoming administration will usher in the age of rising up against insufferable oppression. Because the end game of Capitalism as described by Marx is surely afoot.

This roiling, unfocused discontent found a point of convergence recently with Luigi Mangione’s alleged murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. This act of violence has captivated the country partially because the murder was so shocking and cinematic. But it also seems to have captured our angry zeitgeist, the ethos of a country that is so fed up with its elites and institutions that, in some circles at least, people are celebrating the murder of a father of two.

Magione’s crime doesn’t feel like an isolated event. We’ve seen an uptick in violence and threats of violence against politicians and business leaders. The first Gilded Age saw waves of violence against elites, too, and many of those killings became public sensations just like Thompson’s murder has.

So what can we, in this second Gilded Age, learn from the violence of the first?

By this point, you’ve likely spotted the parallels.

A country undergoing swift, uncomfortable change. A small group of plutocrats who seem like they’re taking all the money and wielding all the power. A sense that the system is rigged against ordinary people, that there’s no way to change society through normal channels. A political system that seems in thrall to the wealthy, which in turn pushes people toward radical politics. Disillusioned, unstable men who don’t see a way forward in life and decide they might as well strike against the people that they’ve decided are ruining the country.

Many of the Gilded Age killings caught the public imagination not just because their targets were powerful men; they felt like they were about something. Some segments of the American public were scandalized by the violence; others understood or even endorsed it.

CDFingers wrote: Sun Dec 22, 2024 6:36 am The root of suffering is desire, which is why greedy people suffer emotionally so much. This makes them lash out. The remedy is open carry. Open carry works, which is why we do not approach a dog showing his teeth. Greed is not good. The greedy suffer. So it goes.

CDF