Today
A TECH GIANT AGREED TO PAY $17 BILLION FOR DESIGNING APPS TO ADDICT CHILDREN, IRAN BLOCKED INSPECTORS FROM THE NUCLEAR SITES THAT WERE HIT, AGENTS STARTED ARRESTING PARENTS AT SCHOOL BUS STOPS — AND A PROTEST GROUP WAS LABELED “GLOBAL TERRORISTS”

The way you've been building your wealth is working against you

In 2022, the last time the Fed made a major shift, the 60/40 portfolio had one of its worst years on record.

Bonds collapsed, stocks fell… there was nowhere to hide.

Larry Benedict saw it coming. He went 11-for-11 while most investors had no idea what hit them.

He says the same pattern is setting up now — on a much bigger scale.

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Meta agreed on Wednesday to pay $17 billion and redesign its platforms to settle claims that it designed Facebook and Instagram to addict children. Forty-seven states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories filed the case. The trial was about to put Mark Zuckerberg on the stand.

The AP reported that Virginia alone will receive $353 million. California will get about $1.5 billion. Under the deal, Meta must block overnight access for minors, cap daily use at two hours for anyone under 18, and silence most push notifications during school hours. The money will be paid over a decade.

Virginia’s attorney general said: “For years, Meta intentionally deceived the public about the addictive and harmful design features that have wreaked havoc on youth mental health.” Twenty-nine states originally sued in 2023. It took three years to reach a courtroom. The company settled before the CEO had to answer questions under oath.

In March, a California jury found Meta and Google liable for a young woman’s mental distress in a separate case and awarded $3 million. That was the first verdict. This is the settlement that followed… $17 billion to make it go away.

The company made $134 billion in revenue last year. The fine is $17 billion spread over ten years. That is less than two months of income per year of payments. The machine does not punish corporations. It invoices them.

47 STATES. $17 BILLION. DESIGNED TO ADDICT CHILDREN. THE CEO SETTLED BEFORE HE HAD TO TESTIFY UNDER OATH.

BREAKING

Iran Blocked International Inspectors from Visiting the Nuclear Sites That Were Hit by U.S. and Israeli Strikes

Iran blocked IAEA inspectors from visiting nuclear sites that were struck by the United States and Israel. Democracy Now reported Thursday that the inspectors were turned away. The sites were hit during the early weeks of the war.

The IAEA is the only independent body with the authority to verify what happened at those sites… whether the strikes destroyed the facilities, whether material was scattered, and whether the area is contaminated. Without inspectors on the ground, no government outside Iran and the countries that ordered the strikes can confirm what is there now.

Last week, a PBS report found that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile undercuts the president’s claim of “essential denuclearization.” Now the inspectors who could verify that claim are being kept out. The country that was bombed is refusing to let the world see what the bombs did.

The machine said it disarmed Iran. The data says otherwise. And the inspectors who could settle the question are standing outside a gate that will not open.

EXPOSED

ICE Agents Started Arresting Parents at School Bus Stops in Danbury, Connecticut

ICE agents arrested parents at school bus stops in Danbury, Connecticut. Democracy Now reported Thursday that agents targeted the bus stops as parents dropped off or picked up their children.

Danbury is a small city in western Connecticut. The bus stop is where parents stand every morning with their kids. It is the most visible, most public, most routine moment of a family’s day. And agents showed up there.

In July, the government arrested a mother and daughter from a hospital bed in Florida. Now it is taking parents from the school bus stop. Hospitals. Schools. Bus stops. Every place where families are most exposed has become an enforcement zone.

The machine does not arrest people in the dark anymore. It does it in front of their children at 7:30 in the morning.

“For years, Meta intentionally deceived the public about the addictive and harmful design features that have wreaked havoc on youth mental health.”

— Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, after the $17 billion settlement

DEVELOPING

The Government Designated a Protest Group as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists”

The U.S. government designated Palestine Action as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists.” Democracy Now reported the designation Thursday. The label puts the group on the same list as armed militias, drug cartels, and organizations responsible for mass violence.

Palestine Action is a direct-action protest group. Its members have blocked factory gates, occupied rooftops, and disrupted the operations of companies that sell arms to Israel. No member has been convicted of terrorism in any country.

The designation means anyone who donates to the group, works with it, or provides any form of support can face federal charges. Bank accounts can be frozen. Travel can be restricted. The label turns protest into a federal crime without a trial, a jury, or a conviction.

The machine ran “Operation Puppet Master” against unions and climate groups. It ran sham antisemitism probes against universities. And now it has put a protest group on the same list as armed cartels. The machine does not argue with dissent. It classifies it.

 Connecting the Dots 

▸ The Bigger Picture

Four stories from one Thursday. A tech company agreed to pay $17 billion for designing apps that addicted children… and the CEO settled before he had to testify. Iran blocked international inspectors from the nuclear sites that were hit… making it impossible to verify whether the war achieved what the president claimed. Agents arrested parents at school bus stops in Connecticut. And a protest group was put on the global terrorism list beside armed cartels and militias.

The press covers each on its own page. A “tech settlement.” A “nuclear standoff.” An “immigration operation.” A “terror designation.” But the thread is the same in every one.

The machine protects the powerful and controls everyone else. A company that made $134 billion pays a fine worth two months of revenue and calls it accountability. A war that was supposed to disarm a country cannot be verified because the inspectors are locked out. Parents are arrested where their children can see it. And a protest group is labeled terrorists because they blocked a factory gate. Every system of accountability… courts, inspectors, schools, the right to protest… has been either bought off, locked out, or reclassified as a threat. The fine is affordable. The inspectors are blocked. The parents are in handcuffs. And the protesters are on a list.

When the fine is a fraction of revenue and the protest is a felony… the machine is telling you who it protects and who it punishes. That’s the Seventh Floor.

They rely on the shadows.
It’s time to turn on the lights.