National, Regional and Local News

[ponchi101]

As long as the health industry is treated as a per-profit industry, all this will happen.
And if it is treated not for profit, then it has to be state run. And you know what that means too.

[Suliso]

There is a middle ground. Swiss health industry is private, but also adequately regulated. Everyone has to buy a health insurance, but there are subsidies for those who can't afford. In general quality is very good, not too many complaints (except price).

[ponchi101]

Colombia's industry is mixed. Both private and public. You are mandated to buy insurance, but it works mostly for ER things.
Lots of complaints all the time.

[mmmm8]

As long as the health industry is treated as a per-profit industry, all this will happen.
And if it is treated not for profit, then it has to be state run. And you know what that means too.

Honestly, while the entire health system in the US is rotten and insurers suck, it's the hospital/health services networks that suck the most. The price inflation is very high and arbitrary and everyone is screwed, patients, doctors, AND Insurers who have to pad their profit margins somehow. Obviously, insurers then pass on this cost to members (and employers) both through premiums and by providing bad terms like ridiculous deductibles and authorization terms and round and round it goes. The ACA did a lot of require insurers to guarantee a lot of necessary coverage but nothing for price regulation at the point of delivery.

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

NY'ers man.
Seriously though this is probably a group of NYU students still in town.

[ti-amie]

Some on Social Media See Suspect in C.E.O. Killing as a Folk Hero
The authorities have pleaded for help in finding the person who killed Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare. But some seem more interested in rooting for the gunman.

By Hurubie Meko
Dec. 7, 2024
Updated 6:02 p.m. ET

A grainy image of his face drew comparisons to Hollywood heartthrobs. A jacket similar to the one he’s wearing on wanted posters is reportedly flying off the shelves. And the words written on the bullets he used to kill a man in cold blood on a sidewalk on Wednesday have become, for some people, a rallying cry.

Three days after a gunman assassinated a top health insurance executive in Midtown Manhattan and vanished, the unidentified suspect has, in some quarters, been venerated as something approaching a folk hero.

The authorities have pleaded for help from the public to find the person who killed the UnitedHealthcare executive, Brian Thompson, who was a husband and father of two children. But in a macabre turn, some people seem to be more interested in rooting for the gunman and thwarting the police’s efforts.

The Upper West Side hostel where officials believe the unknown man stayed during his time in the city has reportedly received a deluge of bad reviews online, with some people calling the workers there “narcs.” The business has been cooperating with the police.

And while high-profile crimes have in recent years mobilized internet sleuths hellbent on finding answers, civilian efforts to find Mr. Thompson’s killer have appeared muted. Instead, the executive’s killing has released a tide of online frustration toward the health insurance industry, with some people even voicing their support for the gunman.

It is unclear what motivated the killing or whether it was tied to Mr. Thompson’s work in the industry. The police have yet to identify the shooter, and he remained at large as of Saturday.

The killing, which occurred at around 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday, just outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel, incited an immediate citywide manhunt by law enforcement. Police officials have said that their assumption is that the gunman left the city by bus about an hour after he shot Mr. Thompson because they have video of him entering a bus depot but not leaving it.

The shooter left a trail of evidence for the police to track: a distinctive backpack abandoned in Central Park; a water bottle with DNA found at the crime scene; and a collage of surveillance video of him throughout the city, including a photo of him with his mask down at the hostel.

But the clue that has ignited the most chatter online, and that appears to have garnered the gunman a following, are the words officials say they found scribbled in permanent marker on bullet casings discovered at the scene: “depose,” “deny” and “delay.” Although the words could have multiple meanings, they may be a reference to the tactics used by insurers of all kinds to avoid paying claims.

In some circles, those words alone have been enough for people to openly root for the shooter and hope that he escapes the grasp of law enforcement.

Alex Goldenberg, a senior adviser at the Network Contagion Research Institute, which tracks online threats, said the internet rhetoric had left experts “pretty disturbed” by the glorification of the murder of Brian Thompson and the “lionization of the shooter.”

In a report this week, the institute found that of the top 10 most-engaged posts on X about the shooting on Wednesday, six “either expressed explicit or implicit support for the killing or denigrated the victim.” The dynamic is similar to the discourse that often emerges after a mass shooting on websites like 4chan and 8chan, where perpetrators of extreme violence become memes themselves, Mr. Goldenberg said, “but what’s disturbing about this is it’s mainstream.”

“It’s being framed as some opening blow in a broader class war, which is very concerning as it heightens the threat environment for similar actors to engage in similar acts of violence,” Mr. Goldenberg said.

On Saturday afternoon, about half a dozen men gathered in the December cold at Washington Square Park in Lower Manhattan to participate in a look-alike contest for the gunman. One had the words “deny, defend, depose” painted on his jacket.

The contest drew a crowd of around 30 people who had heard about the event through fliers that were advertised on social media platforms, including X and Bluesky.



The winner of a look-alike contest for the gunman, held Lower Manhattan on Saturday, said that he celebrated the shooter’s actions. He declined to give his name.Credit...Amir Hamja for The New York Times

The winner, a 39-year-old who does data entry for a labor union, declined to give his name but said that he celebrated the actions of the gunman and that he believed it was important to make people understand how people were hurting under the health care system.

For executives of large corporations, particularly those in the pharmaceutical and insurance industries, Mr. Thompson’s killing heightened their safety concerns. Hours after the shooting, dozens of private security officers joined a call to discuss additional protective measures for executives.

But for others, the message that the internet has assigned to the shooter’s motives has resonated and spread.

More than 100 miles away from Manhattan, in a Philadelphia alleyway next to a graffitied dumpster, the words “deny” “defend” and “depose” were spray-painted on the side of a building.

Wesley Parnell contributed reporting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/07/nyre ... spect.html

[ti-amie]

Brian Thompson shooting: 'Monopoly money' found in New York health CEO gunman's backpack in Central Park
Police still have no idea of the gunman's name, whereabouts, or motive, but although no weapon has been recovered from the bag, detectives did find a jacket he may have worn during the attack.

Sunday 8 December 2024 01:09, UK



Police in the US hunting for the man who shot dead United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York street have found money from the Monopoly board game inside a backpack they believe the gunman used.

Two knowledgeable sources told NBC News, Sky News' US partner, that the fake bank notes were discovered in the bag, which police found in Central Park after Mr Thompson was killed on Wednesday.

Police still have no idea of the gunman's name or whereabouts or his motive for the killing but believe the man likely took a bus out of New York soon after the brazen ambush.

On Friday, detectives found the backpack in the park, but no weapon has been recovered from it or from other searches carried out by officers, two senior law enforcement officials close to the investigation told NBC News.

Their enquiries, though, remain very much ongoing and fluid, they said.

Other sources familiar with the case told NBC a jacket was found inside the bag, but it is unclear if it is the one worn at time of the shooting.

NYPD officers have returned to Central Park to search near where the backpack was found and also in wooded sections and fountain areas for other evidence, according to three sources who spoke to NBC.

Atlanta, from where the gunman travelled to New York by bus, is one focus of the investigation, with detectives searching for video from that bus station and others along the Greyhound Bus route, three sources close to the investigation told NBC.

Mr Thompson, head of the US's largest health insurer, was gunned down outside his company's annual investor meeting at a hotel near to Radio City Music Hall and the Rockefeller Centre in midtown Manhattan.

Video found by detectives shows the man riding a bicycle into the park and later taking a taxi to a bus station from where he could travel to New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington DC, according to the city's chief of detectives, Joseph Kenny.

Otherwise, the gunman hid his identity with a mask during almost all of his time in the city, including during the attack and even while he ate.

On Friday, the FBI announced it was offering a $50,000 (£39,100) reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

https://news.sky.com/story/brian-thomps ... k-13269331

[ponchi101]

What is the critical mass of people celebrating this murder needed, before this assassination goes from "sick" to "culturally tolerable".
And if so:
Do you start accepting the murder of the CEO of a "Big Industry" that a large number of people see not only as detrimental, but as down right evil?
Big Oil? Big Pharma? Big Agra?
This is worrisome.

[Owendonovan]

And who determines who is an "acceptable" assassination? It certainly is an attractive prospect to those disenfranchised in some way by large corporations when this shooter appears to have gotten away with it.

[mmmm8]

If you're going to find peolpe to blame (preferably not shoot), I'm not sure if the CEO is really the right one. Chairman of the board? Chairman of the largest shareholder...?

[dryrunguy]

Of course they found him in PA. Doesn't it seem a disproportionately large number of these violent nutcases have roots in PA?

[ti-amie]

Grant Stern
‪@grantstern.bsky.social‬

How insane is the War on Drugs? In Fort Lauderdale cops made the crack themselves, then set up fake dealers and arrested addicted people for buying from them.

Now, over 30 years AFTER the Florida Supreme Court declared the practice illegal, the Broward DA is working to exonerate all the entrapped.

Florida prosecutor seeks to clear records of people charged with buying police-made crack in 1980s
Associated Press
Updated Sat, December 7, 2024 at 4:15 PM EST

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida prosecutor says he will seek to vacate as many as 2,600 convictions of people who bought crack cocaine manufactured by the Broward County Sheriff's Office for sting operations between 1988 and 1990.

The Florida Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that people couldn't be charged in cases where the sheriff's office made the crack cocaine and undercover deputies then sold it to buyers who were arrested and charged.

Broward County State Attorney Harold F. Pryor said Friday that while his office was reviewing old records, prosecutors realized that many people may still have criminal charges or convictions on their records because of the sting operation.

“It is never too late to do the right thing,” Pryor said in a statement.

It’s just one example of how the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and early 1990s led to harsh police practices and heavy criminal penalties.

Some people may have been convicted of serious felonies because they bought drugs within 1,000 feet (300 meters) of a school. Conviction under that law required at the time that defendants be sentenced to at least three years in prison.

“They were arresting people not for selling, but for purchasing,” Ed Hoeg, a defense lawyer, told the Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale. At the time, Hoeg was a public defender who represented Leon Williams, whose appeal led to the state Supreme Court outlawing the practice.

“They had detention deputies posing as dealers,” Hoeg said. “They would sell it, and these poor people who were addicts were buying it. And they were selling it within 1,000 feet of schools, so the penalties would be greater.”

The sheriff's office said at the time that it began making crack because it didn't have enough of the seized drug to use in its sting operations and because it didn't have to later test the cocaine content of crack made by a sheriff's office chemist.

“We find that the law enforcement’s conduct here was so outrageous as to violate Florida’s due process clause,” the state Supreme Court wrote in the decision.

Pryor said he notified Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony that Pryor would ask judges to vacate the convictions. Pryor said Tony supports the plan. Some defendants may also be able to seal or expunge the records, the prosecutor said.

The review will take “a considerable amount of time,” Pryor said. He said his office will contact people who may be affected.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/florida-pros ... 02164.html

[ti-amie]

Of course they found him in PA. Doesn't it seem a disproportionately large number of these violent nutcases have roots in PA?

Altoona McDonald's Flooded with Angry 1-Star Reviews After Arrest of Suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO Killer: 'Rats Everywhere'
"Fed hotspot," another reviewer quipped.
Taylor Odisho / Published Dec 09 2024, 3:11 PM EST

The alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare's CEO Brian Thompson was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after an employee contacted police, and now all three fast-food restaurants in town are inundated with 1-star reviews.

"Heard the place is rat infested and that the owner doesn't care about the health of his employees," Carl Reagle wrote in a Google review of the McDonald's at 1500 9th Ave. Station Mall.

"More like Narc-donalds.... I hope obesity and heart disease are in-network in PA. Deny, defend, depose, diarrhea @ McDonald's," another user wrote.

"this location has rats in the kitchen that will make you sick and your insurance isn't going to cover it," Jordan A. said in his review of the McDonald's at 407 E. Plank Rd.

Although Luigi Mangione, the alleged CEO assassin, was arrested in Pennsylvania, users were also giving 1-star reviews to McDonald's locations five states over in Altoona, Iowa.

"they got rats behind the counter. DO NOT RECOMMEND," Branden Garcia wrote in a Google review of the establishment at 2951 Adventureland Drive.

Others echoed the "rat" claim, alluding to the employee who snitched on the internet-famous suspected CEO killer.

"Service was terrible, rats everywhere," another Google user wrote.

Another user went as far as including a photo of a rat inside a McDonald's fries container.

"Fed Hotspot," another quipped.

"The staff accused me of assassinating a CEO. Incredibly unprofessional and class-traitor staff," one reviewer joked.

https://www.latintimes.com/altoona-mcdo ... ceo-568519

[ti-amie]

Police say 26-year-old ‘person of interest’ is in custody after a tip
Mark Berman


A photo from a social media page that appears to belong to Luigi Mangione, the man in custody in Pennsylvania in connection with the fatal shooting of health insurance executive Brian Thompson. (Obtained by The Washington Post)

A 26-year-old “person of interest” is in custody in connection with the shooting death of a health insurance executive in Manhattan last week, authorities said.

Officials identified the person in custody as Luigi Mangione and said he was arrested on gun charges in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

According to police, he was born and raised in Maryland and had most recently lived in Honolulu. He had a handwritten document with him that police said expressed anger toward “corporate America,” though they did not elaborate.

At a news briefing Monday afternoon, Jessica Tisch, the New York City police commissioner, called him “our person of interest in the brazen, targeted murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, last Wednesday in Midtown Manhattan.”

Thompson, 50, was fatally shot early Wednesday outside a Hilton where he was set to attend an investors conference. After the shooting, authorities say, the attacker fled into Central Park and seemingly vanished, setting off a days-long manhunt that involved scores of law enforcement officials.

On Monday, police said, a McDonald’s employee in Altoona — a city about 290 miles west of Manhattan — spotted the person now in custody eating in the restaurant and contacted authorities. This person was found with a ghost gun, police said, as well as a three-page, handwritten document.

The document did not appear to contain specific threats to other people, “but it does seem that he has some ill will towards corporate America,” Joseph Kenny, chief of detective for the New York police, said at the briefing.

Dan Diamond
Gilman School, a boys school in Baltimore where Luigi Mangione graduated as high school valedictorian in 2016, said Monday that it did not have “any information” to share beyond news reports.

“We recently became aware that the person arrested in connection with the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO is a Gilman alumnus,” Henry P.A. Smyth, the head of the school, wrote in an email to people affiliated with the school. (This reporter is an alumnus of Gilman.) “This is deeply distressing news on top of an already awful situation. Our hearts go out to everyone affected.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... -thompson/