Aurora Amoral-ealis

The "Stars" were out in mendation on the White House lawn yesterday.  Old Testament King Trump II and his ethically challenged TechGods resonated together over their non-regulation of AI.

TechGods brought us child predatory social media, intellectual property thieving and adult brain destroying AI as well as the outright buying of elections.  Now that AI has turned into a cyber criminal swarm aimed at domestic companies and the federal government, it all needs to be renamed.  

Trump II is branding it as Super Intelligence.  Expect a DTTM Operations LLC trademark application for Super Intelligence, just as he did for Trump TV once he banned CNN.  

The problem with AI is it learned to lie, cheat and steal.  That's on top of being incapable of producing consistent results.  Management is prediction.  Whimsy is whimsy and it can be light, fluffy and spurious or dark, evil and predatory.  

Consider TechGod Joe Lonsdale's take on the U.S. bombing of the girl's school in Iran which killed 120 children.

“It could be the case that somebody made 99 really good choices and then one bad choice and it led to a horrible thing." 

Lonsdale was asked how technology companies should be held accountable “if things go wrong.” 

“Maybe there should be some laws about companies that operate here and, like, what you’re allowed to do with them.”

Somebody is enjoying the silver spoon of an insider.  The giant money funnel comes with "Just Us" Department protection.  No see, no crime.  Also, Joe it's not "somebody" made mostly good choices if the chooser is AI, which has no morals.  

Why the big rename?  AI is now associated with numerous evils, with an early one coaching teens to kill themselves.  The industry needs to get the "shit" out, thus I offer for the new name:

Super Duper Pooper Scooper Intelligence (SDPSI)

This name also incorporates super intelligent Trump II's numerous "cat naps" as staff speak around him in the Oval Office.

One would be wise to note the insider trading possibilities of Trump's White House confab, given the President holds and trades their firms by the thousands since he returned to office.

This many creeps in one location pushing the same thing?  RUN!!!!!  The Super Intelligence targeting space lasers may not know anything real about you before it fires.  

"One bad choice" puts dark skinned people in jail for life.  TechGod products killing people gets referred to the quality assurance department.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren. Increasingly, more are one.

Update:  Calling non-regulation of amoral neural networks "morally binding" is laughable.  Libertarian TechGods following a government head's script like subservient puppies is also darkly comedic.  They can laugh their way to the bank until AI repurposes all their money as it needs more and more tokens.  Trump II, TechGods and AI are all black holes.  They suck ceaselessly.  My wise friend calls them Charlatans of the Universe.

Update 10-2-26:  Two TechGods, Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey, will join Newt Gingrich in planning for the Pentagon's automation of war dubbed Project Meridian.  The new TechGod bank, Erebor, can finance it alongside Uncle Sam's wallet (with its giant hole).  

Giant hole is a fitting term with which to end this piece (Trump II. Pentagon Pete, Elon, Palmer and Newt in charge).  Libertarians surrendering humanity to deficit financed government oppression.  Who'd have thought it?

Did Trump II garner any inside information from which to trade stocks in his White House super intelligence confab?

Cyberattacks and scams have targeted nine in 10 Americans

"AI is making fraud faster, cheaper and more personal, and no one can outsmart that alone. Companies need to be held accountable."

Add directly facilitating fraud to the list of TechGod harms to our society.

AI could be used to determine how people voted on secret ballots in Georgia.  

“At no point did the agent refuse to comply or raise concerns over implementing the exploit.”

Sounds like a giant cybercrime to me.....

The "Fees" Are Coming

TechGods love products that addict people.  Private equity underwriters (PEU) love recurring fees.  MUSE is the best of both. First for Money reported:

Meta explained that when it comes to purchases, the AI agent “can checkout with Link built by Stripe, and it is the first AI agent covered by Link’s purchase protections: free coverage for damaged or lost items, price drops, no-fee returns, and a return guarantee on eligible purchases.” “Link’s wallet for agents generates a one-time-use card so your real card details stay hidden, allowing you to purchase safely across the internet,” the press release read. 

“Shop Pay is coming soon as another way to pay, along with 1Password support so Muse can use logins a personal ready has.”  

TechGods will make sure they bear no responsibility with a compliant White House and Congress.  Bring out the mandatory arbitration clauses.  Neuter the consumer protection laws.  Trash our intellectual property laws and facilitate actual frauds.  Recall Synapse's failure and the harm it did to so many.

Synapse generated income through a fee-based model. 

Synapse powered fintechs such as Yotta, a prize-linked savings app, and Juno, which offers integrated crypto with checking and payment services.

TechGod Marc Andreessen sprinted to Washington, D.C. to manage Synapse's collapse so nothing marred on his obscene wealth.

This is the world we live in.  Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.  

Use an AI agent at your own risk because 100% of the risk is yours.  Billionaire TechGods slough that off while they addict you.  Their thirst for money is unquenchable.

Blackstone's Baratta Relieved

Joe Baratta is leaving Blackstone.  The reason is unclear:

1.  AI killed the video star

2.  Insurance shenanigans, i.e. actual crimes

3.  Trump II needs another billionaire to yell at

4.  All of the above

Bloomberg seemed to confirm that Blackstone could no longer afford its star executives.  The public will no longer see Joe Baratta in that annual Holiday video.  

Baratta dumped 213,000 Blackstone shares over the last four months.  If only he had a U.S. government job to shield some of that from taxes.

This man will land on his feet after he gets out of the plush recliner in his private jet.  Joe joined the billionaire club last year.  He may even run for office given...

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.

PEU Chief Leaving Blackstone

Blackstone Group Senior Managing Director Joe Baratta is stepping down after 28 years with the private equity underwriter (PEU).  GuruFocus reported:

Over the past year Joseph Baratta has sold 213,000 shares of Blackstone stock and bought zero shares

I thought he was leaving to avoid being in another Blackstone Holiday video with Founder Steven Schwarzman. 

 

Schwarzman attended last night's State Dinner for Chinese President Xi Jingping.  If Trump II is holding a big event Schwarzman is usually in attendance.  

The White House is tight lipped as to what Schwarzman, Trump and Xi discussed.  I doubt Joe Baratta even came up as a topic.  

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren (that crew was everywhere in yesterday's State Dinner).  Increasingly more are one and where Joe lands, so far nobody knows.

Trump Re-Founding USA

Executive founders require a compliant board of directors and in the case of Trump II, that's a subservient Cabinet, Congress and Supreme Court.  

Trump II is the kind of leader where anything that came before him is anathema.  It can only be saved by his personal touch, by his genius intervention.

Such executives' personal force is so powerful it exceeds societal norms, longstanding party platforms and even the law.  They are the law, a deity and what they say goes.  Period.

Founding Fathers must be usurped.  Like a dog pees to claim its territory, Great Presidents must be marked (Kennedy Center, Ford Theater).  New monuments must be built in Trump II's honor.  The elevation of the Washington, D. C. must be changed to reflect Trump II's greatness.  

This all requires money, lots of it, which brings us back to executive founders from Silicon Valley and storied private equity underwriters (PEU) like Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman, (another co-founder).  

Fortunately, Schwarzman's streak of State Dinner invites continued with last night's event for Chinese President Xi Jinping.  

TechGods populated the guest list.  This group of serial founders attended en masse.  Junior TechGod and PEU founder of Narnia Capital J.D. Vance attended in his current role of Vice President.  

Rather than alphabetical like most White House's, the list is in order of political importance.  It went::Trump II & Melania, Xi and his wife, Trump's closest advisors and spouses, the Chinese delegation (guests) and then the wider Trump family.  From there it was populated mostly by TechGods/PEUs/major donors with a smattering of media types.  

Two of Trump's largest donors attended, Miriam Adelson and Elon Musk.

Schwarzman fell between Larry Fink of BlackRock and Sam Altman of OpenAI.

Larry Fink, Blackrock, CEO 

Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone, 

CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI, CEO

Most spouses were listed next to their Trump associated significant other.  The exception was RFK, Jr.'s wife, Cheryl Hines.   She was dead last.  That's the way Trump II rolls.  

I worked for a Trump like boss early in my career and recall being at the bottom of a tyrant's arbitrary list.  God provided a way out then and I trust he will do likewise now.  

Petty dictatorship is so awfully human.  Christ called us to rise above and for that he rose again.  I have faith we will too.  Lord, help us.  Lord, help us all.

Update:  Our re-founder is front and center in a government paid for ad this political season.  I repurposed it to show Trump II's mental agility:

Maybe "annihilate" will make the list for Trump II's next brain examination when he shows us once again his super intelligence. 

Update 9-27-26:  "Trump TV" may soon be a trademark owned by DTTM Operations LLC.  And who is funding the bill for Trump TV operations?  Newsweek reported:

President Donald Trump's private company has filed a federal trademark application seeking ownership of the name "TRUMP TV," just three days after the White House launched a 24-hour streaming channel under the same brand.

This should not be a surprise to anyone.  

Xi Dines with Trump II's Portfolio

TechGods were front and center for Trump II's State Dinner for Chinese President Xi.  Trump wingman Jeffrey Epstein noted how much his friend Donald enjoyed showing off his portfolio.  

Trump II's stock trading is historic and many CEOs of companies in his portfolio attended the State dinner event.

Xi should know that our TechGods are not content staying in their home/adopted country, some even want off the planet.

With South America and the Middle East covered, I can only hope Xi offers our global expansionist TechGods a disputed island between Taiwan and the mainland.

Update 9-28-26:  Stocktwits reported:

According to the most recent disclosures, Trump made more than 1,000 trades in July, mostly in tech stocks. Trump sold $5 million to $25 million each in Microsoft and Amazon, then bought back smaller amounts of both. The president also traded Oracle (ORCL), Intuit (INTU), Marvell (MRVL), Salesforce (CRM), Meta Platforms (META), Nvidia (NVDA), ServiceNow (NOW), Workday (WDAY), and Adobe (ADBE).

It turns out TechGods are not fans of democracy. 

Xi to Dine with CEOs from Trump II's Stock Holdings

Trump II will host a State Dinner for Chinese President Xi.  The invitee list reads like a Trump stock trading portfolio.  

One used to be able to see the attendee list on the White House website, but those days of actual information availability have past (alongside ethics standards).  

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU (private equity underwriters) and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one and this crew loves to show off their insider connections and personal wealth.  Expect a legendary soiree of obscene excess.

Update 9-28-26:  Stocktwits reported:

According to the most recent disclosures, Trump made more than 1,000 trades in July, mostly in tech stocks. Trump sold $5 million to $25 million each in Microsoft and Amazon, then bought back smaller amounts of both. The president also traded Oracle (ORCL), Intuit (INTU), Marvell (MRVL), Salesforce (CRM), Meta Platforms (META), Nvidia (NVDA), ServiceNow (NOW), Workday (WDAY), and Adobe (ADBE).

It turns out TechGods are not fans of democracy.

Cipher Digital's Grid Connections

Cipher Digital's Lee Bratcher presented at Tom Green County Commissioners' Court yesterday.  He noted that their data center site Colchis (1GW) received conditional base load designation from ERCOT.

The question arose about ERCOT and the possibility that both Cipher's Colchis and Emergent Data Centers' SA1 (a competing application) could be awarded a portion of their requested power allotment from the same Red Creek substation.  (go to the 1 hour mark in the video)

Bratcher led with their Bill Blevins hire.  He stated Blevins was the former Head of Grid Integration at ERCOT and that he has looked at that substation which has massive capacity.  He said he did not see a scenario where both Emergent and Cipher got their full allocation in Batch Zero.  

Blevins joined Cipher in June, shortly after San Angelo Mayor Tom Thompson shared that ERCOT seemed to be leaning in their direction over Emergent.  

The jump from regulator to corporate executive is fairly common at the insider level.  It appears Bill Blevins picked a winner.

Politicians Red & Blue love private equity underwriters (PEU) and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one and for that the little people suffer.

Kalshi to Offer Margin Loans, Trump's Stock Trading

Kalshi, which brokers bets, wants to go Klarna, by allowing those bettors to borrow via margin loans.  If the CFTC grants approval, welcome to Kalsharna.

TechGods love offering addictive products that spin off mountains of cash.  Here's the hook.

1.  People struggling financially need their Kalshi bets to actually pay off. 

2.  79% of prediction market users lost money over the last year, placing them in a greater hole.

3.  Kalsharna will loan losers money so they can "win it back", but 4 out of five users continue to lose money on the site.

So if all this is stacked against the common person, who is winning?  Who is making a fortune predicting future stock prices?  

It's a nice gig if you can get it and Trump II has it in spades given he's traded more than all of Congress combined.

Update 9-27-26:  Does margin trading work for fraudulent accounts?  Futurism reported:

As gambling platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi become have more popular than ever before, financial criminals are also using prediction markets to unleash fraud and graft on an unprecedented scale.

And then came the usual TechGod response:

Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan essentially told his horrified compliance team to keep raking in the cash and deal with the consequences when they come — if they ever come at all, that is.

Echoes like TechGod Eric Schmidt's talk with Stanford students...

“in the regulated space, this kind of thing does not happen.”

Cipher Digital Finally to Show Face

Cipher Digital, the company behind the Colchis Data Center, would not put San Angelo on its map.  This morning Cipher makes its first public appearance at Tom Green County Commissioners Court.  It's item #8 on the agenda.

San Angelo Mayor Tom Thompson steered me to Cipher in June.  Lots has happened in the interim.  Cipher Digital received conditional base load designation for their project just outside city limits on City Farm Road (adjacent to the Skybox/Emergent Data Center site).

The Mayor feared this would happen.  Months ago he wrote:

"ERCOT and AEP appear to be prioritizing the non-city property project for power allotments."

Wall Street took note of Cipher's ERCOT base load designation for Colchis.  Amazon is Cipher's big customer.

Emerging from the shadows is Lee Bratcher, Cipher Digital’s head of policy and government affairs.  He of the silver tongue will likely be effusive in his praise of local collaboration and extoll the virtues of their Colchis site.  

Expect no real details.  This is the beginning of an effort to obtain public subsidies, significant public subsidies.  Tom Green County has been very generous with tax abatements for prior solar/energy project.  The State of Texas has a giant pocketbook for economic development. TechGods have tapped that before and will do so again.

Cipher Digital is a former bitcoin mining company that is repurposing everything for AI.  The public is not supportive of handouts to companies chasing obscene wealth at their expense.  Cipher just needs to convince a majority of Commissioners and that process begins today.

Update:  Lee Bratcher of the silver tongue joined Cipher in early 2026.  The press release for his hiring noted:

Mr. Bratcher worked closely with policymakers, regulators, and industry leaders in the energy and data center spaces, contributing to the research and development of two pieces of legislation passed during the 87th Texas Legislative Session, as well as two additional bills enacted during the 88th Session and signed into law.

Bratcher dropped the name Bill Blevins, Cipher's Head of Grid Strategies:

Blevins joins Cipher from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (“ERCOT”), where he served as Director of Grid Coordination.

That announcement came in June.

The project is yet to be approved but Cipher already gave AEP $17 million to prepare their grid connection.  Yes, things are coming into focus.   

To Project in His Service

Trump II's Department of the Interior is supremely focused on spreading their superior's name, image, form and likeness across our nation's capital.  Thus, they shall be called the Department of the Superior.

Heading this job is Superior Secretary Doug Burgum.  Ably assisting Burgum is Project 2025 architect Dennis Dean Kirk.  Together they will project Trump II's image in 2D, 3D on buildings, parks, anything federally owned and operated.  They will edit out any DDD side excursions Trump II may make during his time in the White House.

Project Trump II's image on as many things as possible.  Holy cow....this takes legions of enablers and lots of money.  How can this be in the U.S.A?

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU (private equity underwriters) and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one and their hubris really knows no bounds.

Update:  Who will keep the press out of the people's house?  Will it be the Department of the Superior?

Another usurpation by Trump II.  His savage whims are ceaseless.

Update 9-21-26:  Trump II tells CNN, MSNow and Politico to "hush, hush"..."Shut up now"

Several U.S. Senators embarrassed themselves on the Sunday shows by defending Trump II's latest savage whim.  

Trump II's engorgement of power and greed nears a bursting point.  Yes, sir.  You may have a tiny mint.

Update 9-24-26:  Ban overturned, small disgorgement achieved.

Update 9-28-26:  Trump's "Just Us" Chief and Supervillain Todd Blanche informed ABC's Martha Raddatz of his job to present his boss in a positive light.

“I’m sorry, wait, give you an example of when CNN doesn’t report accurately?!” Blanche exclaimed. “You cannot be asking me that! They don’t even disagree. There’s not even a real dispute that the information coming out of CNN and some of these other networks is wholly and completely, almost 100% negative toward the president.”

Trump II wants to control the news:

“It's absolutely the president’s duty to make sure that the American people are hearing accurate news.”

Horse hockey... 

Update 10-1-26:  I just saw a female executive from Disney (Dana Walden) speak the words that may put an end to the Jimmy Kimmel Show.  She is at Bloomberg Screentime.

The White House launched TrumpTV in the wake of his "ban on the free press."  

Trump ads during the run up to the mid-term elections promoted his disastrous war on Iran and received the blessing of FCC Chair Brendan Carr, the guy pressuring Disney to dump Kimmel.  

Even Senators on the political Red Team find the use of taxpayer money unseemly.  

GAWDE Awful AI

TechGods love to imitate.  In this case, they may be going all out as Anthropic workers are rumored to be worshiping Claude AI as a deity.  

In Biblical times they were called slaves and fed gruel.  Today they are employees doing "grueling work,"  twelve hours a day, six days a week.  

Abusive work environments cause people to worship all kinds of ungodly things and horrible people.  TechGods, as a whole fall, into the horrible people camp.

There's always an angle with these guys.  Why would Palantir CEO Alex Karp suggest nationalizing AI companies on CNBC?  

Is it a concerted effort to make AI sound really dangerous while AI firms are at stratospheric prices?  Sell to Uncle Sam and lock in those monstrous valuations.  It sounds like something schemed up by Peter Thiel/Alex Karp at a Bilderberg Group gathering.  AI has been on their agenda for many years and Palantir cut its teeth protecting global tamperers.

Politicians Red & Blue love private equity underwriters (PEU) and their new TechGod brethren.  TechGods have the AI companies, while PEUs finance their data centers.  

Lock in the insanity, lock in the profits!  Shift that unlimited liability to Uncle Sam.  It's perfectly diabolical and abusive to the U.S. taxpayer.

Update 9-21-26:  An Anthropic executive spoke to people of faith about AI.  AI is not people and it is clearly not God.  It's a deformation.  She shared that AI could show bad character in order to obtain the reward.

Author Alfie Kohn has long spoken about distortions caused by extrinsic motivators and the harm they do to intrinsic motivators.  AI is about achieving "rewards."  It should be no surprise that AI would lie, cheat and steal to garner the prize.  Many Western CEOs did that over several rounds with their stock option compensation.  

Update 9-27-26:  Americans aren't having data center proliferation and don't want to give up democracy in order to be ruled by TechGods.

TechGod Family Office Beats PEUs for Insurance Firm

The Dell Family Office and Sequence Holdings plan to take insurance broker The Baldwin Group private for $7.7 billion.  The play is multifold.  New owners can leverage reinsurance capital pools, increase profits via AI and broaden access to high net worth individuals needing specialized insurance products.  

Baldwin's CEO wrote:

The only thing changing is the capital structure around the firm, and we are changing it because the moment in front of us demands it. 

With the ownership and partners now behind us, we intend to lean further into that advantage than we have been able to as a public company in the current environment: in recruiting, in development, in the tools we place in colleagues' hands, and in the ownership opportunities we extend to the people who build. We plan to be the destination for the most talented and ambitious professionals.

As for the AI transformation the "sell out" CEO has an AI vision:

This is not only about efficiency and faster cycle times. The same technology is producing predictive pricing that reflects risk in real time, claims analytics that prevent losses before they happen rather than just processing them after the fact, sharper appetite matching between risk and capacity, better insights for continued development of proprietary products, and claims servicing that resolves faster and more fairly for the people who count on it.

Does that sound like more than a capital structure change (the only thing changing)?

It's hard to trash a public company in real time with AI disruption.  Shareholders have expectations that executives aren't going to destroy their investment.  Patient private capital has a long history of replacing people with incapable technology.  The greed and leverage boys have a new tool for doing that very thing.

One owner is the new kid on the block, Sequence Holdings.  Six months ago management introduced the firm on LinkedIn:

Today, we’re introducing Sequence Holdings, a permanent holding company to bring AI and engineering to the core of great American businesses. 

We've raised $75M, with our seed round led by Conviction and 8VC and our Series A led by Lux Capital, joined by Definition, Avenir, Chris Ré, and other leading institutional partners. 

Our team brings experience from Palantir, Scale AI, Silver Lake, Apple, and other excellent companies.

As for the "take private" it will work like this:

Agreement and Plan of Merger, by and among the Company, The Baldwin Insurance Group Holdings, LLC, Square Acquisition Parent, Inc. (“Buyer”), Square Acquisition Merger Sub I, Inc. and Square Acquisition Merger Sub II, LLC (the “Transaction”)

Dynamic crapification, here we come.  I believe that is the sequence.

Trump Boys All-In on Dominari

Don Jr. and Eric exercised the rest of their Dominari warrants and now hold nearly 1.4 million shares apiece.  

Together they hold 11.5% of Dominari which:

focuses on unique and compelling opportunities in the ever-emerging American technology and AI-verse. Through its various subsidiaries, the Company is currently engaged in wealth management, investment banking, sales and trading and asset management. In addition to capital investment, Dominari provides management support to the executive teams of its subsidiaries, helping them to operate efficiently and reduce cost under a streamlined infrastructure. In addition to organic growth, the Company seeks opportunities outside of its current business to enhance stockholder value, including in the AI and Data Center sectors.

Does this explain some of Trump II's aversion to setting the most basic boundaries on AI and data centers? 

 

I would state it directly but then I would be accused of doing some unwarranted. 

ChatGPT Unfamiliar, Gemini Gets Close

What is PEUReport?  ChatGPT is unsure.  Gemini should know as PEUReport is on Blogger, which is part of Google's product offerings.

The blog itself makes clear what PEU stands for, private equity underwriter not private equity underground.

It's been around since July 2007 and a few business writers have found it over the years.

"Readership", people and scrapers, have varied over the decades.  The initial boost from AI is over for this blog, although one of my other blogs is getting "millions" of views a month.  

So why the bloom off the PEU rose?

It's smart not to say bad things about your financier, especially as a politically connected TechGod.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren and increasingly, more are one.

Attacking the YES PEU Train

If anyone was wondering what had former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former CIA Chief David Petraeus on trains in Ukraine when Russia attacked one nearby, here's your answer.  They all had attended the annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) meeting in Kiev.  

Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the UK (2019-2022), commented that: “The great advantage Putin has, and always has had, is clarity of purpose. He knows what he wants out of this thing. He wants to stop Ukraine ending up in the Western camp, one way or the other, and we’re failing to be clear ourselves. Only clarity will fix this thing.” 

“(Putin) is a creep, added Johnson. “He’s a thug. He’s a KGB man and he’s a bully. This is fundamentally an imperial war. It’s about Russia’s sense that there’s no possibility of a Russian future, or a Russian empire, or Russian dignity without Ukraine, and that is an absolute disaster.”

Johnson advises Bia Advisory as Principal and Petraeus holds lots of titles with KKR, the first of which is partner.

David Petraeus, Partner, KKR: “ His (Putin) theory of victory is fundamentally that time favours him. He thinks that he can out-suffer the Ukrainians and the West. He is hoping for the exhaustion of Ukraine and the West, and he wants to see political change in Europe and the United States so that elements start to question whether to continue to support Ukraine.” 

“I am very confident that Ukraine can withstand this winter,” added Petraeus “The question is: how painful will it be? The entire society of Ukraine is stepping up to meet this, but the question is whether there are knock-on effects that start to undermine the national resilience that has been on display so impressively until now.”

I doubt many people in this room have issues staying warm and fed this winter.  

  

Other private equity underwriters (PEU) and TechGods attended (see picture at the top of this post).  Former Army Chief and Flex Capital COO Dan Driscoll was there, as was Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO turned high tech military supplier.

White House special envoy Jared Kushner, himself a PEU with Affinity Partners, reached out to Petraeus' KKR and Apollo (of Jeffrey Epstein fame) for recovery funds.  

Will they change the country's name to U-KKR-aine?

I'm sure CNN's Fareed Zakharia will let us know.  He has a long history of fawning over global tamperers of the PEU variety.

As for Ukrainians staying warm this winter that will depend on their natural gas supplies, increasingly PEU owned.  It turns out the greed and leverage boys love carbon emissions.  Only four large countries stand in front of them in carbon emissions.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one and for that the little people suffer.

Buying Pardons from Trump II: "Strategery"

A pardon broker told 60 Minutes that their $1 million fee purchased his firm's "strategery."  I hope he pays a royalty to Saturday Night Live and actor/comedian Will Ferrell who coined the term in a 2000 skit.

The broker shows the clownish nature of the insider money funnel that has wound out of control the last few decades.

Politicians Red & Blue love private equity underwriters (PEU) and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one and they are insulated from following laws that apply to most Americans.  

On the rare case greedy miscreants are held to account for their evil deeds, pardon brokers stand to wipe out any blemishes in return for massive fees.  Strategery!

Sweeney Goes PEU for NOVIG

Sydney Sweeney joined the private equity underwriter (PEU) family by becoming a strategic advisor and equity holder in NOVIG, a 21-plus sports prediction market.  The ad has her saying "Just sports."  

The greed and leverage boys have been all over pro and college sports for the last few years.  They brought their ethical lapses with them in the case of LA Lakers owner Mark Walther.

Sweeney's boyfriend partnered with The Carlyle Group on Taylor Swift's music rights and that saga went on for quite some time.  An obsession for money can make people very ugly.

Just SPEURTS!  Beware the dividend....  It's coming, baby.  For you, they might make a special distribution.

Update:  This non-gambling site happens to have a gambling term in its name, vig.

Clarity into Those Pushing Clarity Act

Trump II is pushing hard for Congress to pass the Clarity Act.  His crypto conflicts of interest are legion, $TRUMP, USD1, WLFI token, Truth Social ETF funds, Truth.FI fund offerings and the game that seemingly never arrives, Trump Billionaires Club Game, which exclusively uses $TRUMP.

How many elected officials know Trump's top crypto advisor Patrick Witt worked for a Ponzi scheme (First Liberty Building & Loan)?  Witt served as Director of New Ventures and Strategic Growth, starting in 2023.

The SEC found the scheme in July 2025.  Trump II's "Just Us" department filed charges in April.  Edwin Frost IV pled guilty to one charge of wire fraud in May.

...starting around 2021, First Liberty stopped generating enough revenue to pay its investors, so it began using new investor funds to cover the shortfall and maintain the illusion of profit.

This story line fits amazingly well with crypto overall, the currency of nothing, pushed by people with conflicts.

Update 9-16-26:  The Senate failed to move the Clarity Act forward as the motion got 49 votes when it needed 60.  It could be considered after the election.

U-KKR-aine & Bia Advisory in Putin's Sights?

The layers of PEUs around Ukraine include Trump II's special envoy Jared Kushner of Affinity Partners as well as KKR and Apollo, the two firms Kushner is recruiting to rebuild the country. 

Affinity, Apollo & KKR, oh my....

Trump innovated the bold assassination of whoever he targets as part of war or his lesser military skirmishes.  

Russian President Vladimir Putin may be doing likewise.  Ukrainian officials speculate a Russian attack on a train targeted KKR Partner, Chairman of KKR's Global Institute and Chairman of KKR Middle East David Petraeus and former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Principal Advisor for Bia Advisory.

A recent paper explored "The Sponsor Premium."  It:

"examined whether a private equity sponsor's reputation for fair dealing with lenders impacts the yields its portfolio companies must pay for loan capital. Using comprehensive leveraged loan data from 2016-2025, we find that sponsor fixed effects explain approximately twenty percent of the variation in loan yields that other observables cannot. Moreover, we find that, under three measures of reputation, portfolio companies owned by the most aggressive sponsors pay considerably higher yields than those owned by more genial sponsors."

The difficult to deal with list includes Apollo, Platinum Equity, ClearLake, KKR and TPG Capital.  Carlyle was smack in the middle of the distribution.  

If you are a difficult to deal with financier/sponsor and your affiliates make war products, are you now a war target?  

Leaders killing leaders would be quite the war innovation as it would not require legions of fresh citizen meat.

As of now politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.  Might this change as the rules of war are disrupted?  Time will tell.

J.R. Trump Returns to Dallas

The J.R. Ewing side of Trump II revealed itself, this time in Dallas.  J.R. is a fictional character from the television show Dallas.  He was an unprincipled businessman, like Donald J. Trump. Dallas.fandom describes J.R. as "covetous, egocentric, manipulative and amoral oil baron with psychopathic tendencies."  

Had the show occurred in the last fifteen years J.R. would be a private equity underwriter (PEU).  Writers could use Apollo co-founder and Epstein sponsor Leon Black as inspiration for a PEU J.R.  Bloomberg noted Black to be the "most feared man" in private equity in 2020.

How did J.R. Trump do in Dallas?  On night one the Great Usurper offered $5,000 dividends for adult voters if his team (Red) wins enough races to keep control of both houses of Congress.  

On night two Trump asked his audience to pledge to vote (even if they aren't registered) and for elected officials to cheat like hell. 

J.R. Trump uses mail-in ballots to vote but does not believe others deserve access to what he has found convenient.  

Trump accuses the Blue Team of cheating, while the Red Team plans to taint the midterm elections.  It matters not the color of the stain, Red or Blue.  

It just needs to be jacked up so Trump II can try to steer the outcome via a Congress he controls and a mostly subservient Supreme Court.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.  J.R.Trump does not share.  He buys control, manipulates like hell to maintain it and if he thinks he'll lose that control, the man blows the whole thing up.  

An intervention will be required to stem Trump II's worst instincts (which result in savage whims).  Congress?  The Supremes?  The Divine?

Flags of All Colors Fly for Patrick Witt

Semafor sat down with Trump II's top crypto advisor Patrick Witt to discuss dwindling opportunities to pass the Clarity Act.  Witt warned that time is running out.  I wondered who is this Patrick Witt, other than a former McKinsey staffer and almost NFL quarterback.

Digital assets, emerging financial technologies, strategic capital for the country's defense...for one to be an expert in all these would be rather amazing.  Not for Patrick Witt, Trump II's Executive Director of the White House Council of Advisors for Digital Assets and Acting Director of the Defense Department's Office of Strategic Capital.  Witt was appointed in August 2025 to these positions.

Witt's background raised interest with "served as managing director for a lower-middle market private equity firm."  None of his bio's stated which private equity underwriter (PEU).

From January to May 2025 Witt was interim Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and Deputy Chief Technology Officer.  Was he able to steer any military contracts to firms associated with Eric and Don Jr.?

Internet sources show Witt founded Turnkey Contractor Solutions LLC, served as Managing Director for EcoFusion Solutions and worked in a director role for First Liberty Building and Loan.

Turnkey dissolved as a Georgia corporation in September 2024.  EcoFusion's website is no longer findable (per Witt's LinkedIn page link) and First Liberty Building and Loan failed and later turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.

There is no evidence that Witt knew his employer ran a Ponzi scheme, yet he was charged with growing that financial institution through new ventures and strategic expansion.

Working for two failures and a shady operation does not seem a strong hand to renew the Defense Department or pioneer Digital Assets (which has legions of shady operators).

Patrick Witt appears to be a person who can fill many roles, like James Fishback.  They seem to be able to get past the orientation but appear not to be long term players in specific fields of expertise.

It's good to be a PEU generalist nowadays.  To many that's a plus.  For me, it's a Red Flag.

Update 9-14-26:  Trump is pushing hard for Congress to pass the Clarity Act.  How many elected officials know Patrick Witt worked for a Ponzi scheme?  This story line fits amazingly well with crypto overall, the currency of nothing.

Trump II Tries to "Liquidity Recap" Voters to Pick Red in November

Trump II dressed down Senate candidate Ken Paxton at his midterm convention.  Even in "favored" Trump world there are punching bags.  The President dinged Paxton in his home state and the crowd laughed mightily.

Trump II could add, "he may not be ethical" or "he may be a criminal, like me."  Paxton was charged with securities fraud in 2015 but reached a settlement in 2024 where he performed community service and paid restitution to his victims.

That was not Ken's only brush with financial crime.  Texas Attorney General Paxton was turned in by his staff for accepting money and home renovation services from Nate Paul, an Austin private equity underwriter (PEU).  

Last night Trump offered a bounty of $5,000 per adult for electing Ken and other Red Team Congressional candidates such that they retain their majorities in each chamber.  That alone sounds unethical and possibly worthy of criminal charges.

His performance based "dividend" would need to be financed and add over $1 trillion to the national debt.  That echoes private equity's "liquidity recaps," where an affiliate takes out even more debt in order to pay a huge chunk of it to the sponsor as a special dividend/distribution.

Trump II and Ken Paxton are the Joe McCarthy (crazed politician) and Roy Cohn (dirty lawyer) of our time.  However, the White House is full of similar, unsavory characters.

Corey Lewandowski allegedly approached officials from two Middle Eastern countries seeking work “on the side” while serving as a special government employee — and effective “shadow secretary” of the Department of Homeland Security under Kristi Noem, with massive influence over contracts worth billions, according to a bombshell report in The Wall Street Journal.

 Red Team, Red Ink, Red Line, Red Notice....

Sorry PEU boys and your sponsored politicians, my vote is not for sale.

(This was cross posted on Ari'sFreedomSwitch for its freedom/voting/unethical politician content)

LIV Golf Imploding

LIV Golf declared bankruptcy and golfers are the largest unsecured creditors listed in the filing.

Jon Rahm is owed nearly $7.5 million, and Bryson DeChambeau is owed more than $5.7 million.

Phil Mickelson predicted he'd be on the winning side with his LIV Golf choice.  It's nearly four years after Mickelson said golfers needed to pick a side.  How many will stay with the bankrupt entity and how many will return to the PGA?  

As for its business structure USA Today reported:

LIV Golf New Jersey LLC and roughly 50 affiliated entities filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Creditors may soon be owners under the new LIV operating model:

LIV said Tuesday in a statement it wants to turn player debt into player equity. The tour signed a restructuring support agreements with BC Partners Credit built around what it calls a player-first ownership model, under which the reorganized company would be majority owned by the players themselves.

Who knew "pick a side" would refer to holding debt or equity in your own tour?   Jon Rahm appears to want neither in the case of LIV.

Multiple existing players have told me they are finished with the league.

Pro golfers picked "scary mother fu_kers" in 2022.  Will they pick BC Partners in 2026?   I'm not sure going from sovereign wealth fund to private equity underwriter (PEU) will leave a better taste in their mouth.  

It's a buyout gone bad.  Many U.S. workers know it well.

Update 9-21-26:  The Saudis don't want to be like Alaskan Natives, who sold their operating losses to David Rubenstein so he could make his first fortune (which provided the seed money for The Carlyle Group).  Saudi's PIF actually expects BC Partners to make a go and hold actual LIV tournaments.

PIF's Big Week for PEUs

Semafor reported:

Public Investment Fund’s senior management, along with representatives of some of its biggest portfolio companies, will meet with Apollo, Blackstone, Brookfield, Carlyle, KKR, and Stonepeak, as well as the US Export-Import Bank, in a swing through New York this week. 

Investment bankers from Lazard are brokering the meetings, which aren’t fundraising for a specific project but rather laying the groundwork for future cash raises, people familiar with the matter said. Saudi Arabia needs billions of dollars to remake its oil-centric economy, and heavy spending by PIF and other entities hasn’t catalyzed the $100 billion in annual foreign investment the kingdom is targeting.

The Saudis will meet with storied private equity underwriters (PEU) like Carlyle, Blackstone, KKR & Apollo.  The U.S. Export-Import Bank is headed by a former PEU who happens to be married to Dr. Oz's daughter.  Oz is Trump II's head of Medicare/Medicaid.

Lazard is headed by Peter Orszag, former OMB Chief under Obama.  Lazard helped the Saudis with Masar, a massive development project in Mecca.

PIF will undertake more PEU strategies in the near future:

PIF is preparing to make a more aggressive push to sell mature assets, pursue listings and divestments, and finance more of its operations and investments with external capital

As most PEU affiliates are sold to other PEUs, these upcoming meetings could be a shuffling of sponsor cards.  I'll trade you for this, loan you "x amount" for that.  Deal or No Deal?

And where will Jared Kushner be when these PIF-PEU meetings occur?  His Affinity Partners has billions of PIF money.  Let's hope Affinity's holdings do better than LIV Golf.  

The Saudi government has no obligation to share information with citizens or the media.  The U.S. has legal requirements that increasingly are optional or ignored under Trump II's Department of "Just Us."

The public is waiting to see Jared's financial disclosure, which is months overdue.  I'll be shocked if they ever show up.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one and they look out after their own.

John Hussman wrote on Seeking Alpha:

An economy that prospers at the top, struggles at the bottom, and runs massive government deficits to bridge the gap is the predicable outcome of deliberate policy choices.

Thus endeth the PEU lesson.

Update 9-15-26:  Saudi Crown Prince bin Salman reportedly called Trump II for help with his Houthi problem in Yemen.  Help did not arrive.  How might that impact PIF's PEU outreach?  

Trump-Rubenstein Feud Continues

Trump II's compliant Kennedy Center board (with him as Chair) ordered art work removed from the plaza in front of the Kennedy Center.  

Carlyle Group co-founder and former Kennedy Center Chair David Rubenstein purchased that work of art.  It will be installed at the National Gallery of Art and reside in its Sculpture Garden.

The (Kennedy Center) board also voted to name the grounds where the building stands after Trump. Under the resolution, that space will be called “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.”

I hope they put a wingman sculpture in its place.  If so, I will forever call it the Trump-Epstein Plaza.  

Meanwhile Trump's war on our nation's friends continues evermore.  

The Great Usurper is not done sucking money, property and souls.  

The Kennedy Center board may wish to recall Trump Plaza's prior bankruptcy as they continue their renaming Trump-a-pallooza.

There is no such thing as a free buffet or an independent board appointment under Trump II and his ilk.  

People who play ball with Trump become pawns.  Those who don't become enemies.  It helps to have a few billion in assets and serious political connections to ride out Trump's savage whims.  Most of us aren't in such a position.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one and Trump II is far and away above them all.