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George Pagel

@gdwallasign.bsky.social
108 followers 881 following 126 posts

Internet-dweller. Cybersecurity Consultant. Security engineer. Dad. Husband. Views are my own.

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Reposted by George Pagel
Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
You know, @theonion.com, I actually would like to see the Pentagon’s (and CBP’s) declassified aerostat files.
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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 25/06/2026
When a license plate is captured by an automated license plate reader (ALPR), it’s instantly compared against a list of vehicles that the police are actively looking for, known as a “hotlist.” EFF has learned that one of these hotlists targets immigrants on behalf of ICE. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
eff.org
Are Your Local Police Using Flock Safety ALPRs to Scan for Immigrants?
When a car passes an automated license plate reader (ALPR), its plate is captured and instantly compared against a list of vehicles that police are actively looking for or that police have identified
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padstone.io @padstone.io · 24/04/2026
Most risk registers aren't risk management. They're audit theater. High/medium/low tells you nothing about actual exposure — it just tells you someone filled out the form. padstone.io/insights/risk-register-…
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Alexandra Phelan 余雪莲 @alexandraphelan.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
In contrast: when Claudia Goldin became the first woman to win a solo Nobel in economics in 2023, she received hundreds of invitations and requests. She accepted just 3. One was advising the WNBA players union as they negotiated a new labor deal with the league. www.wsj.com/economy/wnba...
wsj.com
WNBA Players Had an Ace Up Their Sleeve in Pay Negotiations: A Nobel Laureate
Harvard economist Claudia Goldin helped WNBA players win a nearly 400% raise. Starting this season, players’ average salary will top $580,000.
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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 09/03/2026
People think "‘I buy a Ring doorbell to put on my house, I control the footage’…But there is [an] entire secondary use of this device, which is by police that you don’t really get a lot of say in," EFF’s @mguariglia.bsky.social tells @Malwarebytes.com. www.malwarebytes.com/blog/podcas...
malwarebytes.com
Ring doorbells: Won't you see my neighbor? (Lock and Code S07E05)
This week on the Lock and Code podcast, we speak with Matthew Guariglia about Ring smart doorbells and the surveillance network they create.
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bryson @brysonm.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
holy shit
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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 07/03/2026
This International Women’s Day, five women at EFF talk about the women who have inspired them. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
eff.org
Admiring Our Heroes for International Women’s Day: Five Women In Tech
In honor of International Women’s Day, we asked five women at EFF about women in digital rights, freedom of expression, technology, and tech activism who have inspired us. Anna Politkovskaya Jillian
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Bradley P. Moss @bradmossesq.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Coffee, straight out of my nose.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
> @benstiller.redhour.com
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daviss @daviss.org · 07/03/2026
Dropkick Murphys finish up their set at a benefit show across from Alex Pretti Memorial: “We’ll never forget what we saw with our own eyes, we’ll never forget what we’ve seen here today. thank we’ve seen here today. Thank you all for allowing us to come bear witness with you, thank you Minnesota!”.
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 28/10/2025
Symbolically, the destruction of the East Wing is the end of an era, and it has been seen as a slight to the traditional respect for the Office of the First Lady.
washingtonpost.com
The East Wing is gone. Here’s why it’s been called ‘the heart’ of the nation.
The East Wing played second banana to the West Wing, but the home of the first lady’s office was the source of quiet power and influence.
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Zach Harper @talkhoops.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Holy shit this ad
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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 29/09/2025
I need to be very explicit: there is not enough money in the world to fund OpenAI's $1 Trillion in commitments, and that's across the top 10 private equity firms, all US venture capital, and both Goldman and JPMorgan's direct lending funds. This is very bad. www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
The World’s Private Credit and Venture Capital Cannot Afford OpenAI
Here’s some alarmism for you: the longer it takes for OpenAI to die, the more damage it will cause to the tech industry. 

On Friday, when I put out my piece on OpenAI needing a trillion dollars, I asked analyst Gil Luria if the capital was there to build the 17 Gigawatts that OpenAI had allegedly planned to build.

He said the following:

No of course there isn't enough capital for all of this. Having said that, there is enough capital to do this for at least a little while longer.
That doesn’t sound good!

Anyway, as I discussed earlier, venture capital could run out in six quarters, with investor and researcher Jon Sakoda estimating that there will only be around $164 billion of dry powder (available capital) in US VC firms by the end of 2025.

In July, The French Tech Journal reported (using Pitchbook data) that global venture capital deal activity reached its lowest first-half total since 2018, with $139.4 billion in deal value in the first half of 2025, down from $183.4 billion in the first half of 2024, meaning that any further expansion or demands for venture capital from OpenAI will likely sap the dwindling funds available from other startups.

Things get worse when you narrow things to US venture capital. In a piece from April, EY reported that VC-backed investment in US companies hit $80 billion in Q1 2025, but “one $40 billion deal” accounted for half of the investment — OpenAI’s $40 billion deal of which only $10 billion has actually closed, and that didn’t happen until fucking June. Without the imaginary money from OpenAI, US venture would have declined by 36%.

The longer that OpenAI survives, the longer it will sap the remaining billions from the tech ecosystem, and I expect it to extend its tendrils to private credit too. The $325 billion it needs just to fulfil its NVIDIA contract, albeit over 4 years, is an egregious sum that I believe exceeds the available private capital in the …Let’s get specific, and check out the top 10 private equity firms’ available capital! 

Blackstone, as of writing this sentence, has about $39 billion available to invest. An article from the Wall Street Journal from April said it had $177 billion available, which means it’s approaching the point where they just don’t have the cash to issue.
KKR has, as of writing this sentence, has $55 billion available to invest.
Carlyle Group has, as of August 2025, has $89 billion available to invest.
Swedish PE firm EQT had around €50 billion as of July available to invest, or around $59 billion.
It’s not clear how much Thoma Bravo has, but this release suggests it’s recently raised $34.4 billion.
As of August, TPG had $63 billion available to invest.
As of March 2025, CVC Capital partners had around 40 billion euro ($47 billion) in available capital to invest.
It’s unclear how much HG Capital has available, but reports suggest it’s been trying to raise €24 billion (or $28.35 billion).
It’s unclear how much Hellman & Friedman have available to invest, but it raised a $24.4 billion fund last year.
It’s unclear how much Clayton, Dubilier & Rice have available to invest, but it raised a $26 billion fund in August 2023.
Insight Partners closed a $12.5 billion fund in January 2025. It is otherwise unclear how much they have to invest.
Assuming that all of this capital is currently available, the top 10 private equity firms in the world have around $477 billion of available capital.

We can, of course, include investment banks — Goldman Sachs had around $520 billion cash in hand available at the end of its last quarter, and JPMorgan over $1.7 trillion, but JP Morgan has only dedicated $50 billion in direct lending commitments as of February 2025, and while Goldman Sachs expanded its direct private credit lending by $15 billion back in June, that appears to be an extension of its “more than $20 billion” direct lending close from mid-2024.

Include both of those, and that brings us up …
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Jimmy Pardo @jimmypardo.com · 25/09/2025
I WTF it up on @marcmaron.bsky.social show tomorrow!!
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George Pearkes @peark.es · 24/09/2025
Lol AFT, AFL-CIO, and a journalism nonprofit (all DIS shareholders) are demanding the company to reveal docs related to Jimmy Kimmel's suspension. Fun one.
semafor.com
Disney shareholders demand reasons for Kimmel suspension
A group of shareholders including the AFL-CIO are asking for records related to the decision.
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DoomMate @doommate.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
"That shit must've been laced with Tylenol, because I'm struggling to understand the social cue of giving a single fuck."
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Ryan O'Horo @ryanohoro.com · 27/08/2025
VXUG dropped the news that a DEFCON talk was AI generated nonsense and so was the code put on github for it. Some attendees noticed it was off, but this talk was presented, passed review. The github issues are rolling in.
vx-underground
@vxunderground

Lots of frustration in the malware analysis
and reverse engineering community.

It's been discovered a DEFCON talk,
presentation, and the
code which coincided
withit, was AI slop. The talk itself had
hallucinated terminology which (apparently)
noone at DEFCON noticed.

Bad.

De-Virtualizing the Dragon

Automated Unpacking and Deobfuscation of
Nested
VM-Based Protectors

DEFCON 33 - August 9, 2025

Dr. Agostino 'van1sh' Panico
Security Researcher

van1sh@securitybsides.it|
@van1sh_bsidesit
"Democratizing Malware Analysis"
Github issue

poppopjmp /VMDragonSlayer
Public
<> Code
.
Issues
6
...
Add OSHA compliance #8
New issue
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Reposted by George Pagel
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 12/08/2025
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro: "I'm not going to bore you with the facts."
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 12/08/2025
REPORTER: What about crime prevention? Do you or the president plan to do anything to address the root causes of crime in DC, such as truancy? PIRRO: I honestly am not concerned about why they commit crimes. My concern is if they commit crimes.
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George Pagel @gdwallasign.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
An Old Grudge, A New Team, A Swole Caitlin: The 2025 WNBA Season Preview - defector.com/2025-wnba-se...
defector.com
An Old Grudge, A New Team, A Swole Caitlin: The 2025 WNBA Season Preview | Defector
When the 2025 WNBA season tips off tonight, so much will be new: a new team, eight new head coaches, veterans in new places, and legions of new fans who saw the stupid fights we had online last year a...
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Chris Hine @christopherhine.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
I told Nickeil Alexander-Walker earlier this season that I’m pretty sure this was going to make its way into the book and be immortalized forever and ever. He laughed. www.harpercollins.com/products/ant...
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 25/04/2025
even the rock radio announcer here in Southern California was like “I don’t wanna get political but I’m so saddened and horrified by the awful stuff some in the mainstream media are saying about autistic people like one of my best friends” this is probably a good thing
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
From February. But really much earlier because I started working on this more than a year ago. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
theatlantic.com
The Great Resegregation
The Trump administration’s attacks on DEI are aimed at reversing the civil-rights movement.
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Trump has announced that his adminstration will no longer be enforcing the civil rights act because "merit" is when you can discriminate on against non-whites and get away with it www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
whitehouse.gov
Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose.  A
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Dr. Vickie Lynn Ph.D, MPH, MSW @lovinglife.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
NIH guts its first and largest study centered on women | Science | AAAS 🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
NIH guts its first and largest study centered on women
The Women’s Health Initiative has produced numerous influential findings
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Matthew Green @matthewdgreen.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Messaging apps are increasingly deploying AI features like summarization. Apple Intelligence offers this for all newer devices. Others are considering or have already deployed similar features. WhatsApp has even deployed an “advanced privacy mode” to except chats from AI.
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æva black @aeva.online · 24/04/2025
Combine with now-widely-reported abductions by plain-clothes agents (and their impersonators) ... and it should be clear to anyone that America has already become an unrecognizably authoritarian and unsafe country. Yet I still can't convince many folks of this. :'(
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Lesley Carhart @hacks4pancakes.com · 24/04/2025
Just to make it abundantly clear, they're using modern data analytic tools to track Americans by political affiliation and even autism diagnosis to first take away those people's rights (including autonomy and self-defense) and then take -them- away when it's cost and politically efficient.
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George Pagel @gdwallasign.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
Did any of you dumbasses vote for the heritage foundations project 2025 for president? wapo.st/3Y3I0sf
wapo.st
Secret Pentagon memo on China, homeland has Heritage fingerprints
An secret memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth focuses on deterring China’s seizure of Taiwan and shoring up homeland defense. The guidance mimics language of a report from the conservative think ...
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Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak @alikodjak.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Tune in tonight to see the latest from @propublica.org and @frontlinepbs.bsky.social www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontli...
pbs.org
Tracing Violent White Supremacists & Online Radicalization from Charlottesville to Now | FRONTLINE
In connection with "The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram," explore a selection of FRONTLINE and ProPublica’s past documentaries and podcasts tracing the evolution of violent white supremacists and online r...
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sarah jeong @sarahjeong.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
this administration is chasing multiple concurrent constitutional crises like there's some playstation achievement the rest of us don't know about
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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
pretty good representation of the mask off era here
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George Pagel @gdwallasign.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
My message to my congressman this evening, 'Do you think the president will stop extra judicial deportation when you raise concerns of your constituents getting deported without any process?...
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George Pagel @gdwallasign.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
32x33.institute/cord-cutting... Meanwhile, in Stockholm… Did you know Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has made more money than any musician who has ever lived? After his cash out, Ek has made more money than Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, and Rihanna combined.
32x33.institute
Cord cutting Spotify
Let’s fix the problem of Spotify making too much money while still keeping access to our music.
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 14/02/2025
underrated how much the DOGE groyper dipshits are exposing everyone to regular-ass criminals all over the world. the potential for theft is practically limitless
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Tanya Janca | SheHacksPurple @shehackspurple.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
I was on the Cyber Pulse Podcast with James Walsh to talk 'Alice and Bob', Secure Coding, and the cost of Cyber Crime! Want to listen? You know you do. 😉 Watch out, it may make you giggle. cryptologicfoundatio...
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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
“‘It was so fucking stupid,’ says…federal official, who was on the receiving end of the “Karen”-style DOGE threats about calling the police — in this case, Elon Musk. “I can’t believe this is how they’re blowing up the Constitution, with this little nerd army … God help us. What else can I say?””
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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
The death of shame is an underexplored component of our modern body politic
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Taggart @taggart-tech.com · 07/02/2025
They don't want you to know who they are. Make sure everyone knows. projects.propublica....
projects.propublica.org
Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has been unleashed on federal agencies. ProPublica is attempting to document who is working with him and what they are doing.
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404 Media @404media.co · 05/02/2025
You can’t post your way out of fascism Authoritarians and tech CEOs now share the same goal: to keep us locked in an eternal doomscroll instead of organizing against them 🔗 www.404media.co/you-cant-pos...
404media.co
You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism
Authoritarians and tech CEOs now share the same goal: to keep us locked in an eternal doomscroll instead of organizing against them, Janus Rose writes.
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George Pagel @gdwallasign.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Here's your playbook, you will be got at the pharmacy, 'The White House is deleting information on reproductive health privacy and discrimination at pharmacies ' jessica.substack.com/p/hipaa-hss-...
jessica.substack.com
Breaking: Trump is Scrubbing HIPAA Info off HHS Website
The White House is deleting information on reproductive health privacy and discrimination at pharmacies
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George Pagel @gdwallasign.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01... literally painting over the core values (in prison grey no less)
nytimes.com
Update from Adam Goldman
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Geoff Brumfiel @gbrumfiel.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
OK, y'all, I finally have time to do my super nuke-nerd thread on this trip! ☢️🤓💥 Strap in #nukesky for my observations from going underground at the Principal Underground Laboratory for Subcritical Experimentation (PULSE). 🌶️☢️🌶️I'm going to start with my HOT TAKES 🌶️☢️🌶️
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