HomeVestors of America is a real-estate flipper known for its “We Buy Ugly Houses” advertisements. The business model: Independent franchisees buy up homes in need of a fast sale, renovate them, and sell them on at vast profit. It’s a win-win scenario — except when it isn’t. @ProPublica has run a series of stories on how home sellers are exploited by franchisees, which has led to the company making changes in its business practices. The latest article explores how one Texas franchisee exploited people who wanted to invest with him, in a Ponzi scheme that netted him millions and left them broke.

https://www.propublica.org/article/homevestors-fraud-charles-carrier-texas

#Money #Finance #HomeBuying #HomeInvestors #Texas #Dallas #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

We all have subjects we know we talk about too much (sorry in advance for boring your ears off about politics/our new dog). In the case of X’s Grok AI, it’s white genocide. @404mediaco’s Matthew Gault writes about how, on the afternoon of May 14, Grok answered virtually every question it was asked, whether it was about baseball, video games or HBO, with a reference to South African politics and the widely debunked claims that Afrikaners there are victims of racism. “I think they're literally just taking whatever prompt people are sending to Grok and adding a bunch of text about ‘white genocide’ in South Africa in front of it,” said Matthew Guzdial, an AI researcher at the University of Alberta.

https://www.404media.co/why-did-grok-start-talking-about-white-genocide/

#Tech #Technology #AI #ElonMusk #SouthAfrica #Africa #WhiteGenocide #Grok #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

During Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, Congress has not asserted itself as an equal branch of the U.S. government. @TheConversationUS explores how this erosion of power happened long before Trump took office, as a result of the nationalization of politics and polarization along party lines. “A weak Congress paired with what historian Arthur Schlesinger called the ‘Imperial Presidency’ is a recipe for an unaccountable president, running wild without the constitutionally provided oversight and checks on power that the founders provided to the people through their representation by the first branch of government,” writes political scientist Charlie Hunt.

https://theconversation.com/congress-began-losing-power-decades-ago-and-now-its-giving-away-what-remains-to-trump-254984

#TrumpAdministration #Congress #USPolitics #Autocracy #Dictatorship #Government #Law #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

On that note, some words from Bruce Springsteen, as shared by our @CultureDesk. "The last check on power after the checks and balances of government have failed, are the people, you and me," said the Boss at a show in Manchester, U.K. Here’s the video of his many anti-Trump remarks at the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZHWIYHlXOs&t=1s

#BruceSpringsteen #TheBoss #Springsteen #TrumpAdministration #USPolitics #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday