#App Advisor View

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

When you’re accidentally added to the Empire group chat

* * * *

The Signal-Gate scandal exploded to grotesque proportions on Tuesday as Trump and his minions refused to accept responsibility or acknowledge the serious threat to national security. Instead, they “circled the wagons” and parroted a false narrative that relied on lies, disinformation, and slander of an innocent journalist.

Tuesday was a head-spinning day in which Republican gaslighting exceeded the cinematic heights of Hollywood’s golden era of psychological thrillers. But instead of targeting an innocent and trusting female heroine, Trump gaslit the American people with lies so bold and audacious that I found myself shouting at the car radio as we drove to babysit a granddaughter. That is not a good frame of mind for playing Candyland and Charades for Kids.

I have since calmed down enough to reflect on the lessons Democrats should take from the sordid Signal-Gate episode. After discussing the lessons, I will rebut the flimsy lies and pathetic wordplay used by Trump and his senior officers to rationalize their intelligence malpractice and amateurish approach to the deadly serious issue of national security.

First Lesson: The willingness of Republicans to look straight into a camera and lie with casual aplomb--tinged with feigned offense--explains why it is so difficult for Democrats to mount effective counter-messaging against Republicans. When one party knows no shame and is unmoored from the truth, any adversary who still respects the truth is at a decided disadvantage.

The constant unhappiness over Democratic messaging is due, in part, to the asymmetrical devotion to the truth by Republicans and Democrats, respectively. For Republicans, truth is a pesky annoyance to be circumvented. For Democrats, speaking the truth is a sign of respect for their constituents and for the rule of law, which can exist only when a polity shares a common view of facts rooted in reality.

Second Lesson. The lesson we should take from the Republican response to Signal-Gate is not to emulate the GOP’s abandonment of the truth. But we should emulate their fierce and formidable ability to stay “on message” across all platforms. We must speak in plain terms using short words that eschew jargon. (“Eschew jargon.” Get it?) Republicans latched on to a laughable lie—that the war-planning texts contained no “classified information”—and repeated the phrase until anchors and reporters dutifully reported the lie in their stories.

Somebody in the GOP sent a set of talking points to every Republican in the administration and Congress and said, “Say this. Use these words, in this order. Repeat.” Such an approach recognizes that the condensed nature of news reporting relies on sound bites. That isn’t a good thing, but it is where we are.

Democrats must follow the rule of primacy: Say the most important thing first, then repeat. True, details matter, analysis matters, nuance matters, but if we lead with a nuanced analysis of complicated details, reporters looking for someone to tell them what to write will move on to another interviewee.

Although Democrats were less disciplined than Republicans in their messaging on Tuesday, they made up for the lack of focus with skilled and aggressive cross-examination of CIA Director John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and DNI Director Tulsi Gabbard. Democrats “scored a lot of points” that were repeated across the media landscape.

Signal-Gate is more than a game of “political baseball,” but if we want Americans to understand the gravity of what happened, we must provide a framework for them to understand why the use of a commercial app by our nation’s most senior leaders endangers our troops and every American.

The lies, disinformation, and slander employed by Trump and the GOP to deflect from the scandal of Signal-Gate

At various points in Tuesday’s news cycle, Trump and his supporters resorted to the following falsehoods (bolded and italicized) to distract from the grievous lapse of security in the Signal text chain forwarded to The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg:

The text chain did not contain “classified information.”

Demonstrably false and semantic gamesmanship. The texts contained non-public, sensitive information that was undeniably “national defense information”—which is the information protected from unauthorized disclosure by statute.

This claim is especially dangerous and short-sighted because it suggests that the information in the texts can and should be disclosed. When the US military is given a chance to weigh in, they will vigorously assert that operational details of a missile strike is highly sensitive national defense information that must be protected at all costs.

Use of the Signal app was approved or appropriate.

That claim is demonstrably false. DoD policy specifically prohibits use of the Signal app. Indeed, the DoD issued an updated alert on March 18, 2025—only a week ago—warning that users of Signal were “common targets of surveillance and espionage activity [that] has made the [Signal] application a high-value target to intercept sensitive information."

The Signal app is widely used throughout the administration, including the CIA.

While it may be true that Signal is used throughout the administration, if it is used for government communications, such use is illegal on many levels. It is no defense to the nation’s most senior officers using it to plan a missile strike against the Houthis. It is critically important to make a distinction between using a Signal on a government phone to communicate about information that does not qualify as national defense information (“I’ll meet you at the Capitol Grill at 6 PM) vs. national defense information (“We will bomb the Houthis tomorrow at 10 AM.) While the former may be permissible, the latter IS NOT. CIA Director John Ratcliffe tried to play fast and loose with that distinction during his testimony, but had to finally admit that classified systems must be used for national defense information.

The Atlantic’s Editor in Chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, is “bottom scum” and a “sleazy character.”

False. The personal attacks on Jeffrey Goldberg are heinous. Jeffrey Goldberg acted more professionally and ethically than the other participants in the text chain. Goldberg voluntarily withheld information he believed would compromise operational security and the identity of a CIA agent. Trump and other senior officials who claimed such information is not classified effectively granted authority to Jeffrey Goldberg to publish the texts in full in The Atlantic.

The White House Counsel told the participants in the text chain that it was okay to use Signal.

Wait, what? Federal statutes and regulations require the use of classified communications systems to transmit national defense secrets. No lawyer in the White House has the authority to override those statutes and regulations. Indeed, Trump does not have the authority to override the statutes and regulations. (Do not get confused over Trump's power to “declassify” material, which is discussed below.) Trump cannot override federal statutes requiring that national defense information be held confidential.

And again, there is a difference between using Signal for personal communications on a government device versus communicating about national defense information.

The distinction between “classified” information and “national defense information” is critical.

The administration spent a lot of time saying that “no classified information” was included in the text chat. That is beside the point and an attempt to mislead.

The relevant statutes prohibit the unauthorized sharing of “national defense information.” See, e.g., 18 USC § 793 (f), imposing up to ten years in prison for anyone who

being entrusted with . . . information relating to the national defense, (1) through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed. . . .

The words “classified information” does not appear in the statute that criminalizes the unauthorized disclosure of “national defense information.”

What is “national defense” information? 18 USC § 793(a) defines it as information that the person possessing the information has

reason to believe that the information is to be used to the injury of the United States, or to the advantage of any foreign nation . . . .

Obviously, anyone with advance information about plans to attack Houthi rebels has reason to believe the information—if leaked—could be “used to the injury of the United States” or “to the advantage of any foreign nation.”

Okay, I have gone on too long about this subject. The point is that you now know that the denials by Trump and others are false, misleading, and slanderous. Tell a friend. Lots of them!

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

+

[misfitwashere]

March 26, 2025 

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAR 27 READ IN APP

Monday’s astounding story that the most senior members of President Donald Trump’s administration planned military strikes on Yemen over an unsecure commercial messaging app, on which they had included national security reporter and editor in chief of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg, has escalated over the past two days.

On Monday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth looked directly at a reporter’s camera and said: “Nobody was texting war plans.” Throughout the day Tuesday, the administration doubled down on this assertion, apparently convinced that Goldberg would not release the information they knew he had. They tried to spin the story by attacking Goldberg, suggesting he had somehow hacked into the conversation, although the app itself tracked that National Security Advisor Michael Waltz had added him.

Various administration figures, including Trump, insisted that the chat contained nothing classified. At a scheduled hearing yesterday before the Senate Intelligence Committee on worldwide threats, during which senators took the opportunity to dig into the Signal scandal, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said: “There was no classified material that was shared in that Signal group.” Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe agreed: “My communications, to be clear, in the Signal message group were entirely permissible and lawful and did not include classified information.” In the afternoon, Trump told reporters: “The attack was totally successful. It was, I guess, from what I understand, took place during. And it wasn’t classified information. So this was not classified.”

After Gabbard said she would defer to the secretary of defense and the National Security Council about what information should have been classified, Senator Angus King (I-ME) seemed taken aback. “You’re the head of the intelligence community. You’re supposed to know about classifications,” he pointed out. He continued, “So your testimony very clearly today is that nothing was in that set of texts that were classified.... If that’s the case, please release that whole text stream so that the public can have a view of what actually transpired on this discussion. It’s hard for me to believe that targets and timing and weapons would not have been classified.”

Meanwhile, reporters were also digging into the story. James LaPorta of CBS News reported that an internal bulletin from the National Security Agency warned staff in February 2025 not to use Signal for sensitive information, citing concerns that the app was vulnerable to Russian hackers. A former White House official told Maggie Miller and Dana Nickel of Politico, “Their personal phones are all hackable, and it’s highly likely that foreign intelligence services are sitting on their phones watching them type the sh*t out."

Tuesday night, American Oversight, a nonprofit organization focusing on government transparency, filed a lawsuit against Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio—all of whom were also on the Signal chain—and the National Archives for violating the Federal Records Act, and suggested the administration has made other attempts to get around the law. It notes that the law requires the preservation of federal records.

Today it all got worse.

It turned out that administration officials’ conviction that Goldberg wouldn’t publicly release receipts was wrong. This morning, Goldberg and Shane Harris, who had worked together on the initial story, wrote: “The statements by Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trump—combined with the assertions made by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of the Signal texts—have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions. There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared.”

The Atlantic published screenshots of the message chat.

The screenshots make clear that administration officials insisting that there was nothing classified on the chat were lying. Hegseth uploaded the precise details of the attack before it happened, leaving American military personnel vulnerable. The evidence is damning.

The fury of Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), an Army pilot who was nearly killed in Iraq, was palpable. “Pete Hegseth is a f*cking liar,” she wrote. “This is so clearly classified info he recklessly leaked that could’ve gotten our pilots killed. He needs to resign in disgrace immediately.” Legal analyst Barb McQuade pointed out that it didn't even matter if the information was classified: it is “a crime to remove national defense information from its proper place through gross negligence…. Signal chat is not a proper place.”

The screenshots also raise a number of other issues. They made it clear that administration officials have been using Signal for other conversations: Waltz at one point typed: “As we stated in the first PC….” Using a nongovernment system is likely an attempt to get around the laws that require the preservation of public records. The screenshots also show that Signal was set to erase the messages on the chat after 4 weeks.

The messages reveal that President Trump was not part of the discussion of whether to make the airstrikes, a deeply troubling revelation that raises the question of who is in charge at the White House. As the conversation about whether to attack took place, Vice President J.D. Vance wrote about Trump’s reasoning that attacking the Houthis in Yemen would “send a message”: “I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now.” Later, he texted to Hegseth: “if you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again. Let’s just make sure our messaging is tight here. And if there are things we can do upfront to minimize risk to Saudi oil facilities we should do it.”

Hegseth responded: “VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC. But Mike is correct, we are the only ones on the planet (on our side of the ledger) who can do this. Nobody else even close. Question is timing. I feel like now is as good a time as any, given POTUS directive to reopen shipping lanes. I think we should go; but POTUS still retains 24 hours of decision space.”

The decision to make the strikes then appears to have been made by deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who ended the discussion simply by invoking the president: “As I heard it,” he wrote, “the president was clear: green light, but we soon make it clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return. We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement.” If Europe doesn’t cover the cost of the attack, “then what? If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return.”

“Agree,” Hegseth messaged, and the attack was on.

Also missing from the group message was the person who is currently acting as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Christopher Grady. In February, Trump fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Air Force General Charles Q. Brown Jr., who took on the position in 2023 having served more than 3,000 hours as a fighter pilot, including 130 hours in combat, and commanded the Pacific Air Forces, which provides air power for U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region; the U.S. Air Forces Central Command, responsible for protecting U.S. security interests in Africa through the Persian Gulf; the 31st Fighter Wing, covering the southern region of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); the 8th Fighter Wing, covering southeast Asia; U.S. Air Force Weapons School for advanced training in weapons and tactics for officers; and 78th Fighter Squadron.

Hegseth publicly suggested that Brown had been appointed because he is Black. “Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill? We’ll never know, but always doubt,” Hegseth wrote. With Trump’s controversial replacement for Brown still unconfirmed, Admiral Grady, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, is fulfilling the role of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But he was not in the chat. The Pentagon's highest-ranking officer would normally be included in planning a military operation.

Also in the chat, participants made embarrassing attacks on our allies and celebrated civilian deaths in Yemen in the quest to kill a targeted combatant.

Attempts to defend themselves from the scandal only dug administration officials in deeper. On Monday night, independent journalist Olga Lautman, who studies Russia, noted that Trump’s Russia and Ukraine specialist Steve Witkoff had actually been in Russia when Waltz added him to the chat, underscoring the chat’s vulnerability to hackers. By Tuesday, multiple outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, picked up Lautman’s story.

Witkoff fought back against the Wall Street Journal story with a long social media post about how he had traveled to Moscow with a secure government phone and now it was not until he got home that he had “access to my personal devices” to participate in the Signal conversation, thus apparently confirming that he was discussing classified information with the nation’s top officials on an unsecure personal device.

Tonight, news of other ways in which the administration is compromised surfaced. The German newspaper Der Spiegel revealed that the contact information for a number of the same officials who were on the Signal chat is available online, as well as email addresses and some passwords for their private accounts, making it easy for hackers to get into their personal devices. Those compromised included National Security Advisor Waltz, Director of National Intelligence Gabbard, and Secretary of Defense Hegseth. Wired reported that Waltz, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and Walker Barrett of the National Security Council, who was also on the Signal messaging chain, had left their Venmo accounts public, demonstrating what national security experts described as reckless behavior.

In the New York Times tonight, foreign affairs journalist Noah Shachtman looked not just at the Signal scandal but also at the administration’s lowering of U.S. guard against foreign influence operations, installation of billionaire Elon Musk’s satellite internet terminals at the White House, and diversion of personnel from national security to Trump’s pet projects, and advised hostile nations to “savor this moment. It’s never been easier to steal secrets from the United States government. Can you even call it stealing when it’s this simple? The Trump administration has unlocked the vault doors, fired half of the security guards and asked the rest to roll pennies. Walk right in. Take what you want. This is the golden age.”

Trump today did not seem on top of the story when he told reporters: “I think it’s a witch hunt. I wasn’t involved with it, I wasn’t there, but I can tell you the result is unbelievable.” When asked if he still believed there was no classified information shared, he answered: “Well, that’s what I’ve heard. I don’t know, I’m not sure. You’ll have to ask the various people involved. I really don’t know.” He said the breach was Waltz’s fault—“it had nothing to do with anyone else”—and when reporters asked about the future of Defense Secretary Hegseth, who uploaded the attack plans into the unsecure system, he answered: “Hegseth is doing a great job, he had nothing to do with this…. How do you bring Hegseth into it? He had nothing to do with it. Look, look, it’s all a witch hunt. I don’t know that Signal works. I think Signal could be defective, to be honest with you….”

The administration appears to be trying to create a distraction from the damning story. Yesterday evening, Trump signed an executive order that would, if it could be enforced, dramatically change U.S. elections and take the vote away from tens of millions of Americans. But, as Marc Elias of Democracy Docket put it, the order is “confused, rhetorical and—in places—nonsensical. It asserts facts that are not true and claims authority he does not possess. It is not meant to be taken seriously or literally. Rather, it is the empty threat of a weak man desperate to appear strong.”

After today’s revelations, Trump announced new 25% tariffs on imported cars and car parts including those from Canada and Mexico, despite a deal worked out earlier this month that items covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement Trump signed in his first term would not face a new tariff levy. The 25% tariff is a major change that will raise prices across the board and hit the automotive sector in which more than a million Americans work. Upon the news, the stock market fell again.

And yet, despite the attempts to bury the Signal story, the scandal seems, if anything, to be growing. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) wrote a public letter to Trump yesterday calling for him to fire Hegseth, accurately referring to him as “the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in American history.” Jeffries wrote: “His behavior shocks the conscience, risked American lives and likely violated the law.” “[H]ey Sen[ator Joni] Ernst and Sen[ator Thom] Tillis,” Jen Rubin of The Contrarian wrote tonight, “proud of your votes for Hegseth? This is on [you] too as much as Hegseth. You knew he was not remotely qualified.”

—

[flame-of-tar-valon]

End-of-Year Special 9: Snakemolt

The Tree-Blessed kept the wrath of the forest at bay with their spells. A parade of Moogles flitted in and out of the treeline, keeping things as calm as they could. The Wood Wailers and Gods’ Quiver marched on the outer edges of the group, but their numbers were thin and the civilian populace too large for them to keep a neat perimeter.

Sylphie stood near Beatin, who was shepherding the youngfolk. Normally, Nia’a would have been standing alongside her.

This was not any normal time.

The entire population of Gridania, barring those few who balked at the notion and opted to take their chances, was beginning a long and uncertain trek to the labyrinthine tunnels that had, once, centuries ago, been their home away from the persecution of the Elementals, and which today served as little more than a cellar for the ubiquitous Mun-Tuy beans. It was a long walk, in no small part because the Mun-Tuy Cellars were the only Gelmorran settlements still maintained by the people of Gridania, and were thus located at quite the distance from the city.

E-Sumi-Yan assured him that Nia’a was not responsible for the Greenwrath. Nia’a had acted according to sound priorities with the resources available at hand. It wasn’t his fault, the man assured him in the frustratingly kindhearted tones of someone who spent far too many hours coddling children and tending the ill.

Nia’a knew that, in the end, the Greenwrath was his fault. He had warned them that he wasn’t good for anything, that his presence would be a blight on the city and its entire operation, and still they had put the fate of the Twelveswood in his incapable hands. They assured him it was a routine task, a pilgrimage for children, and had overruled him when he conjectured that there was something more at play. So what if they had overruled his warnings as the inexperienced excuses of a coward?

It was in the middle of this emotional spiral that Nia’a saw the high walls of Quarrymill come into view. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to look. It was O-App-Pesi. The man beckoned Nia’a to follow, detaching from the group and walking south, toward a twisted rift of stone that, if Nia’a knew his geography, would feed into the Rootslake. O-App-Pesi stopped at a set of imposing stone gates marking the entrance to some Gelmorran ruin — no, this was older. This had to be Amdapori.

But Papalymo had issued the same counsel, and had been categorically overruled too, as a fellow outsider. So if the stain of woodsin was enough to render even an experienced advisor's words worthless, then maybe Gridania had messed up by telling its Hearers not to hear him. Maybe Nia'a could be angry at someone other than himself.

“Nia’a Tsara,” O-App-Pesi said. “I must thank you for your time at the Conjurers’ Guild. I am pleased that we have been able to teach you more about the extent of your powers — we had hoped to cultivate them into something strong, but you should know that your failings at Spirithold are not a reflection of your value. We are all placed here to grow and learn, to try and try again, and you mustn’t give in to despair or hopelessness.”

Finally, something inside Nia’a welled up. Something that had been a long time coming. “I’m grateful to you and E-Sumi-Yan for the experience as well. Just as I remain grateful to Pawah Mujuuk. And to Hearer Marmaduke. And to the cultists in Spirithold, who initiated this entire disaster. It is only through those experiences that I realized that you are the same.”

O-App-Pesi opened his mouth to speak, looking suddenly confused about the turn in the conversation, but Nia’a needed to say his piece — he needed to speak now or he would lose the nerve.

“I spent the past six to eight years wandering the woods in search of my father. I have served your city and your connection to the Elementals for that long. I have learned your history and I know of your bargain. I know what you are, Tree-Blessed. You are the fruit of a union between Gelmorran and Elemental. You are the conduit that ensures Gridania’s presence is tolerated.” Nia tried to stand taller, to give himself more willpower. “You. Not me. And you failed at this. Not me.”

O-App-Pesi’s face had never looked more childlike to Nia’a than it did now. Eyes wide, not in fear, exactly, but in some inscrutable emotion that made Nia’a almost lose his resolve again. But some words needed to be said. And something dark came over Nia’a, and the words that needed to be said used him as their conduit:

“Your people have your rituals. My people have mine. You’ve been lurking around to find out how my people do things. Your city has treated my people like we are all Pawah Mujuuk, and Pawah Mujuuk has treated me the same way, because when I met you and told you I was a Seeker of the Sun, I was telling half the truth. I have since learned of what Hearer Marmaduke did to my father all those years ago. You may denounce Marmaduke as a heretic just like I may denounce Pawah as a poacher, but Gridania paints Marmaduke as an exception and Pawah as the norm. But why should I care? In the end, I have a home to return to, and we have kept to our ways and our rituals.” 

“Have you wondered why there are no Padjal—” Nia’a spat the foreign word as if it were a curse— “among the miqo’te? It is not because we are less divine than you. It is because we never caused a calamity that required divine intervention.”

The words spilling out of Nia’a’s mouth felt like a stranger’s. Nia’a didn’t believe anything he was saying, not one bit, and he would never dare speak this way to anyone, let alone one of the Tree-Blessed! But his body moved as if in a dream, and the beating drum of the Greenwrath was silent to his ears again — the murmuring of the Elementals had been silent since the ritual in Spirithold — and Nia’a had spent too many hours fussing over ritual and learning the ins and outs of everything that Tabit Tsalahn did every day to ensure that the clan never lost Menphina’s favor. It wasn’t different from the Tree-Blessed, and there were plenty of Dream Dancers that Nia’a now knew were just Hearers by another name. After Marmaduke's betrayal, Nia’a had scoured book after book to learn of the plight of the Wildlings, even with most books on the subject having been purged, and now an ancient divine judgment was back because of some Tree-Blessed ritual?

So all the thoughts that Nia’a had left to stew in his mind had turned rancid with the inaction on his part, and they had mingled with all the emotion he had buried away in favor of the terror that he fostered and groomed into a beast on a leash that kept him alive — and tonight, on the eve of a catastrophe that would be remembered for centuries, Nia’a had lost the restraint that made him himself. And instead, he stood here and listened to an ugly, bitter, hateful person wearing his name and skin and mind hurl cutting truths at the man who had lied to him in service of the greater good. And to Nia’a’s shame, it felt satisfying.

But then O-App-Pesi said something in response that Nia’a would never have expected.

“Divine intervention, indeed. You see, the Lambs of Dalamud — the cultists who broke the covenant — are ardent followers of Menphina themselves.”

* * *

This is probably the single largest departure from the spirit of the MSQ of all of the HtGHA storylines. Limsa's story was already solid, and Ul'dah's just needed a bit of rearranging to accommodate my characters, but Gridania just felt like it was missing something. So, voilà. Greenwrath.

We're close to the end, folks! Tomorrow we'll see another blasphemous encounter with the divine, and then we'll wrap it up for the year 2024. See you soon!

[metaconnector]

The Future of MT4 and MT5: What Traders Should Know

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) have been around for a long time, almost unbeatable as platforms for retail traders and algo traders. But with the financial markets moving so quickly, there are many traders and developers asking, —What's next for MT4 and MT5?

Let's take a look at MT4 and MT5 and their situation and future relevance in trading.

MT4 v. MT5: A Quick History

MT4 has been around since 2005 and is very commonly used for forex and CFDs. It is renowned for its straightforward user experience and for the vast ecosystem of indicators and Expert Advisors (EAs) available.

MT5 was released in 2010 and has better specifications, supports more assets, processes trades faster, has multi-threaded backtesting, and allows an economic calendar.

There is no question that MT5 is technically superior—so why does MT4 continue to command the market, with brokers placing more importance on it than MT5, if they even offer MT5?

Why MT4 Will Continue to Thrive in 2025 Extensive Community Support: Thousands of traders and developers are still using the MT4 codebase and ecosystem.

Lightweight Environment: MT4 has a smaller memory footprint in terms of running resources and can be easily implemented on older PCs or in stable environments.

Supported Orders in MetaConnector | TradingView to MT4/MT5

Broker Supported: There are still many brokers working with MT4 as their most preferred version due to so much interest in the platform. But can this last? Reasons Why MT4 and MT5 Will Remain Relevant 1. Extensive International User Base Millions of traders continue to use MT4 and MT5, especially for forex and CFD trading, and brokers globally still continue to reveal both platforms. 2. Sophisticated Automation Options The growth of copy trading and algorithmic trading means that with MT4 and MT5 there are different solutions available for integrating several options: MetaConnector and TradingView to MT5 Copier allow people to automate, even those new to the industry. 3. Broker and 3rd Party Connectivity Currently, although new platforms continue to arrive on the market, MT4 and MT5 remain intimately embedded in systems amongst brokers and will not be replaced overnight. The Challenges Ahead 1. MetaQuotes Licensing Approach MetaQuotes ceased providing MT4 to new brokers in 2022 and will only be providing MT5 in the future. Over time, this will inevitably diminish the availability of MT4, but not at a rapid rate. 2. Regulatory Pressure Regulators in some areas have recently become more stringent around MetaTrader platforms after many prominent scam brokers have exploited the platforms. This has required it to now be temporarily removed from app stores in those areas. Competing Platforms New web-based platforms are arriving, such as cTrader, TradingView, and broker-specific terminals, offering non-proprietary, intuitive design and social options that dynamically update in real time, which is attracting younger traders. Copy Trading / MT5 Future The growth in copy trading continues and is making the MT5 platform alive again, with the integral tools that firms such as Combiz Services Pvt are offering. Copy Trading & the MT5 Platform: An Exciting Future The thrilling rise of copy trading is reinvigorating the MT5 platform. With incredible capabilities existing between companies like Combiz Services Pvt. Ltd., traders can copy trades across MT4, MT5, and from other platforms like TradingView, all without programming. This is a tremendous value added to the MT5 ecosystem since it allows new and experienced traders a great deal of flexibility with available integrations for tools like Master-Child Auto Copy System Broker API Integrations Real-time Trade Copier Techniques The Outlook Here are a few different views on what we may see in the future: Declining MT4: As MetaQuotes continues to withdraw the license for MT4, we may see it decline slowly, but relevant support is foreseen for years. Dominating MT5: With more features and constant updates, MT5 will undoubtedly become the universal MetaTrader platform, maintained by strict regulations. Leading Custom Integrations: With automation products like MetaConnector and amazing companies like Combiz Services Pvt. Ltd., MT5 will futuristically become the nucleus for all of your next-generation algo and copy trading thinking plans. Conclusion While MT4 has had a historical run, the predominance of the future is MT5. Obviously, traders and brokers are slowly transitioning over to MT5. Everyone is seeing the benefits of having more functionality and compliance. That said, both platforms are extremely valuable—especially when used with smart automation tools. So if you are a trader, simply stay ahead of the game and make sure you are using the best tools (including those offered by Combiz Services Pvt Ltd)!

[mightyflamethrower]

Some time back the United States and its allies began to contemplate allowing the Ukrainians to use ballistic missiles supplied by the West to hit targets inside Russia. Putin reacted viscerally. He announced that an attack on Russia by Ukraine using these weapons would be treated as an attack by NATO itself. He also announced that he would reserve the right to respond to such an attack with conventional weapons by using Russian nuclear weapons.

Just to make sure that everyone got the point, Russian state television then ran a video of a simulated nuclear weapons attack on London.

So, of course, in the waning days of his Presidency, Joe Biden is now poised to give Ukraine the green light to begin attacks using the weapons in question. To hell with the consequences. It will be somebody else’s problem in a couple of months anyway.

If missiles provided by the U.S. are fired deep into Russia, Moscow will view the attack as not from Ukraine, but from the U.S. itself, a statement from the Kremlin this morning says. It adds that Russia and Putin have made their positions very clear and that the decision by the U.S. indicates a new level of involvement of Washington in the conflict. The statement further said it was "obvious" that the outgoing Biden administration intends to take steps to add "oil to the fire" and provoke further escalation of tension around this conflict.

Additional statements in the Russian press echoed the same theme and reminded the West of the revised Russian nuclear doctrine. The point was clear – Putin reserves the right to respond to the impending Ukrainian attacks by using nuclear weapons.

“The West has decided on such a level of escalation that it could end with the Ukrainian statehood in complete ruins by morning,” Andrei Klishas, a senior member of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, said on the Telegram messaging app. Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Russian upper house’s international affairs committee, was quoted by Tass news agency as saying: “This is a very big step towards the start of World War Three.”

We have been warned.

Russia assumes that the decision to launch ballistic missiles deep into Russia means the conflict in Ukraine is now entering a fundamentally different period. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "If such a decision has indeed been formulated and communicated to the Kiev regime, then, of course, this is a qualitatively new round of escalation of tensions and a qualitatively new situation in terms of the involvement of the United States in this conflict. We are proceeding from this.”

Moscow's position should be absolutely clear to everyone, Pekov noted. "These signals have been received by the collective West. And they were voiced by the president in St. Petersburg.”

Critics of the apparent decision by Biden to permit long-range strikes into Russia have branded the action as ill-considered and dangerous. They have characterized this action as reckless and dangerous. They have branded Biden and his advisors as feckless and incompetent.

This is too kind.

"Those who warned that the forces that don’t want the war in Ukraine to end may stage provocations before Trump returns to the White House on January 20 were correct. London, Paris, and a part of the Washington establishment, including Republicans, were at the forefront of the instigators," remarked Edward Lozansky, President of the American University in Moscow.

Incumbent US President Joe Biden wants to place Trump in a no-win situation, American historian and former Harvard University professor Vladimir Brovkin said. "America may be dragged into a war, and Trump will have to deal with the trouble that Biden started. Approving such strikes means escalation between Russia and the U.S. and a deliberate one," the analyst added.

“On his way out of office, Joe Biden is dangerously trying to start WWIII by authorizing Ukraine the use of U.S. long-range missiles into Russia,” Marjorie Taylor Greene posted on Sunday. “The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives,” Donald Trump Jr. said. “Gotta lock in those $Trillions. Life be damned!!! Imbeciles!”

Biden and his national security team know exactly what they are doing. They are trying to guarantee that the conflict in Ukraine has escalated out of control before Trump sits down in the Oval Office. They have been trying to provoke a war with Russia since this conflict began, and this is their last chance to do it.

Biden is lighting the fuse on World War Three and walking out the door.

[buycommercialpropertiesindubai]

Marketing Your Home: Innovative Techniques to Sell Your Property

Marketing your home effectively is crucial to attracting potential buyers and selling your property quickly. This blog explores innovative marketing techniques to help you sell your property.

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High-Quality Photography and Videography

Professional Photos: High-quality photos can attract more buyers. Consider hiring a professional photographer to capture your home's best angles. Ensure the photos are taken during the day when natural light is abundant.

Virtual Tours: Offer virtual tours to provide an immersive experience for potential buyers. Use a 360-degree camera to create a virtual tour that showcases your home's layout and features.

Drone Footage: Use drone footage to capture aerial views of your property and its surroundings. This can provide a unique perspective and highlight features like large yards or scenic views.

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Social Media Marketing

Facebook: Create a dedicated Facebook page for your property and share regular updates, photos, and virtual tours. Use Facebook ads to target potential buyers in your area.

Instagram: Share high-quality photos and videos of your property on Instagram. Use relevant hashtags and engage with users who show interest in your posts.

YouTube: Create a YouTube channel to showcase virtual tours and highlight features of your property. Share the videos on other social media platforms to reach a wider audience.

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Online Listings and Real Estate Websites

Detailed Descriptions: Create detailed and attractive online listings with high-quality photos and descriptions. Highlight key features, recent upgrades, and unique selling points.

Real Estate Websites: List your property on popular real estate websites like Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com. These platforms can help you reach a larger audience and generate more leads.

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Hosting Open Houses

Virtual Open Houses: Host virtual open houses using platforms like Zoom or Facebook Live. This allows potential buyers to view your property from the comfort of their homes.

In-Person Open Houses: Ensure your home is clean and welcoming, and provide refreshments to create a positive experience. Make sure all lights are on, curtains are open, and the temperature is comfortable.

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Innovative Marketing Techniques

3D Floor Plans: Create 3D floor plans to give potential buyers a better understanding of your property's layout and dimensions.

Augmented Reality (AR): Use AR technology to allow potential buyers to visualize how their furniture and decor would look in your home.

Home Staging Apps: Use home staging apps to virtually stage your property and showcase different design options.

Real-Life Success Story

Consider the case of Emily, who successfully sold her home in Dubai by using innovative marketing techniques. Emily hired a professional photographer, created a virtual tour, and used drone footage to capture unique angles of her property. She also leveraged social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to reach a wider audience. As a result, she received multiple offers and sold her home quickly and at a great price.

Future Trends in Home Marketing

Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI can be used to analyze buyer preferences and tailor marketing strategies accordingly.

Chatbots: Chatbots can provide instant responses to potential buyers' inquiries, improving customer service and engagement.

Virtual Reality (VR): VR technology can create immersive experiences for potential buyers, allowing them to explore properties in detail without physically visiting them.

Conclusion

By using innovative marketing techniques, you can attract more potential buyers and sell your property quickly. High-quality photography, social media marketing, online listings, and virtual open houses are effective strategies to reach a wider audience. For more resources and expert advice, visit home loan dubai.

[denimbex1986]

'Just saw the Oppenheimer film and hungry for more?...

American Prometheus, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. “The film is about Oppenheimer, not the project and afterwards. If you want to go deeper, I recommend you read the book the movie was based on and think more broadly about the impact of the Manhattan Project.”

“The Oppenheimer Issue” of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s National Security Science magazine has lots of great stories about Oppenheimer and the laboratory.

Plutonium 1943–1945, by Los Alamos Historical Society....

The Day After Trinity, “an Academy Award-winning documentary, which can be viewed for free on the Criterion app, is an excellent first-hand account with interviews of key scientists involved in the Manhattan Project, who knew Oppenheimer closely. This 1981 documentary is a very good complement to the movie, Oppenheimer. Some of the interesting figures interviewed extensively are Robert Oppenheimer’s brother, Frank; the Nobel laureate Hans Bethe; and Freeman Dyson, who were all part of the Manhattan Project. Their recollections of that important period and the underlying debates are invaluable oral histories for researchers and the general public.”...

Hiroshima “This short book, by John Hersey, is based on what was initially a lengthy article in the New Yorker and was published a couple of years after the atomic bombing. It gave Americans their first description of the actual effects of dropping the bomb. This helps make up for what many critics have felt was an omission in the movie.”

The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes, “is the definitive book account of the Manhattan Project and the science and engineering behind the bomb.”

The Winning Weapon, by Gregg Herken, “is a historian’s review of how the U.S. approached the questions of arms control and a possible arms race in the years right after World War II.”

The Advisors: Oppenheimer, Teller, and the Superbomb, by Herbert York, “is a good account of the dispute between Oppenheimer and Teller over whether to build the H-bomb, which became a key factor in the hearing that led to Oppenheimer losing his security clearance.”...

Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World, by Lesley M.M. Blume, “is a good companion book of John Hersey’s Hiroshima and was published on the 75th anniversary of the bombing.”

“If you want to add some perspectives from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I would definitely recommend the Hiroshima Memorial Museum Online and the recently developed online No More Hiroshima and Nagasaki Museum.”

“The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Oppenheimer Collection has many good articles with various perspectives.”...'

[scrumptiousalpacatrash]

Get Expert Liability Planning with 1 Finance App

Need help with liability planning? 1 Finance App helps Indian users manage loans, credit, and EMIs with expert-backed strategies. Get a clear view of your financial obligations and personalised advice to reduce interest, prioritise repayments, and improve financial stability. Plan smarter with structured insights. Download now on Play Store.

[techit-rp]

The Growing Role of AI in Personal Finance: How Intelligent Tools Are Changing the Way We Save, Invest, and Spend

In an age where data is the new oil, artificial intelligence (AI) is the refinery that helps individuals turn data into decisions. While AI is revolutionizing industries like healthcare and manufacturing, its impact on personal finance is perhaps the most personal—and profound. Today, intelligent financial tools are not just assisting, but actively guiding how people budget, invest, borrow, and save.

To truly leverage the power of AI in finance, professionals and aspiring analysts need to understand both the technology and the data behind it. That’s where Certification Courses for Financial Analytics in Chennai come in—equipping learners with the skills to build, analyze, and improve AI-powered financial solutions.

AI and the Rise of Smart Personal Finance

From robo-advisors managing your investments to budgeting apps that track your expenses in real-time, AI has become the silent partner in millions of people's financial lives. Some of the most common AI-driven personal finance tools include:

Robo-Advisors like Zerodha’s “Navi” or Groww that use AI to build personalized investment portfolios

Budgeting & Expense Trackers such as Walnut or Money View that use machine learning to categorize and analyze spending patterns

Credit Scoring Algorithms that consider alternative data—like bill payments and mobile usage—to offer micro-loans to those without traditional credit histories

Voice-Activated Financial Assistants like HDFC’s “Eva” that provide instant answers to financial queries

How AI Is Changing the Financial Habits of Individuals

✅ Smarter Budgeting

AI-powered apps can now track your expenses, identify overspending categories, and even suggest customized monthly budgets. They learn from your behavior and adjust recommendations in real-time.

✅ Personalized Investment Plans

AI tools take into account your income, risk appetite, age, and even goals (like buying a house or saving for college) to recommend mutual funds, SIPs, or ETFs—automatically rebalancing portfolios for maximum returns.

✅ Credit Accessibility

Thanks to AI and big data, lenders can now assess creditworthiness beyond traditional scores—enabling faster and more inclusive lending, especially for gig workers and first-time borrowers.

✅ Spending Predictions

Using behavioral analytics, AI can forecast when you're likely to make big purchases and offer timely suggestions on how to save or borrow responsibly.

The Analytics Behind AI in Personal Finance

All of these smart tools are powered by data analytics—an area where demand for skilled professionals is skyrocketing. AI alone doesn’t make financial decisions; it’s the algorithms, models, and analysis behind the scenes that power intelligent systems.

That’s why Certification Courses for Financial Analytics in Chennai are so relevant. These programs teach students how to:

Work with tools like Python, SQL, and Power BI

Analyze financial data streams from personal banking apps

Build predictive models for savings, credit risk, and investment planning

Interpret behavioral data to enhance UX in personal finance tools

Why Chennai Is Emerging as a Financial Analytics Hub

Chennai is home to a growing fintech ecosystem, global financial service firms, and several analytics startups. With companies like Zoho, PayNearby, Fiserv, and World Bank’s South Asia finance team expanding operations in the city, it’s becoming a hotspot for finance and analytics talent.

Certification Courses for Financial Analytics in Chennai give learners:

Exposure to real-world projects in fintech and AI-driven financial platforms

Mentorship from industry veterans in finance and data science

Access to internships and placements with local and global firms

Skills that align with both traditional BFSI and emerging fintech sectors

Career Roles in AI-Driven Personal Finance

Role

Key Responsibilities

Financial Data Analyst

Analyze personal finance app usage and trends

Product Analyst (Fintech)

Design and optimize features in AI-powered apps

Credit Risk Analyst

Develop models using alternative data sources

AI/ML Engineer – Finance

Build recommendation engines for investment platforms

Personal Finance Consultant

Use analytics tools to provide smarter client solutions

Conclusion: From Smart Tools to Smarter Decisions

AI is not just automating personal finance—it’s empowering individuals with tools to take control of their financial futures. But behind every automated insight is a complex web of analytics, modeling, and smart design.

If you’re looking to be a part of this fast-growing space, mastering financial analytics is your entry point. Enroll in Certification Courses for Financial Analytics in Chennai and equip yourself to build or analyze the very tools that are reshaping the way the world saves, invests, and spends.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 26, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Mar 27, 2025

Monday’s astounding story that the most senior members of President Donald Trump’s administration planned military strikes on Yemen over an unsecure commercial messaging app, on which they had included national security reporter and editor in chief of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg, has escalated over the past two days.

On Monday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth looked directly at a reporter’s camera and said: “Nobody was texting war plans.” Throughout the day Tuesday, the administration doubled down on this assertion, apparently convinced that Goldberg would not release the information they knew he had. They tried to spin the story by attacking Goldberg, suggesting he had somehow hacked into the conversation, although the app itself tracked that National Security Advisor Michael Waltz had added him.

Various administration figures, including Trump, insisted that the chat contained nothing classified. At a scheduled hearing yesterday before the Senate Intelligence Committee on worldwide threats, during which senators took the opportunity to dig into the Signal scandal, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said: “There was no classified material that was shared in that Signal group.” Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe agreed: “My communications, to be clear, in the Signal message group were entirely permissible and lawful and did not include classified information.” In the afternoon, Trump told reporters: “The attack was totally successful. It was, I guess, from what I understand, took place during. And it wasn’t classified information. So this was not classified.”

After Gabbard said she would defer to the secretary of defense and the National Security Council about what information should have been classified, Senator Angus King (I-ME) seemed taken aback. “You’re the head of the intelligence community. You’re supposed to know about classifications,” he pointed out. He continued, “So your testimony very clearly today is that nothing was in that set of texts that were classified.... If that’s the case, please release that whole text stream so that the public can have a view of what actually transpired on this discussion. It’s hard for me to believe that targets and timing and weapons would not have been classified.”

Meanwhile, reporters were also digging into the story. James LaPorta of CBS News reported that an internal bulletin from the National Security Agency warned staff in February 2025 not to use Signal for sensitive information, citing concerns that the app was vulnerable to Russian hackers. A former White House official told Maggie Miller and Dana Nickel of Politico, “Their personal phones are all hackable, and it’s highly likely that foreign intelligence services are sitting on their phones watching them type the sh*t out."

Tuesday night, American Oversight, a nonprofit organization focusing on government transparency, filed a lawsuit against Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio—all of whom were also on the Signal chain—and the National Archives for violating the Federal Records Act, and suggested the administration has made other attempts to get around the law. It notes that the law requires the preservation of federal records.

Today it all got worse.

It turned out that administration officials’ conviction that Goldberg wouldn’t publicly release receipts was wrong. This morning, Goldberg and Shane Harris, who had worked together on the initial story, wrote: “The statements by Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trump—combined with the assertions made by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of the Signal texts—have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions. There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared.”

The Atlantic published screenshots of the message chat.

The screenshots make clear that administration officials insisting that there was nothing classified on the chat were lying. Hegseth uploaded the precise details of the attack before it happened, leaving American military personnel vulnerable. The evidence is damning.

The fury of Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), an Army pilot who was nearly killed in Iraq, was palpable. “Pete Hegseth is a f*cking liar,” she wrote. “This is so clearly classified info he recklessly leaked that could’ve gotten our pilots killed. He needs to resign in disgrace immediately.” Legal analyst Barb McQuade pointed out that it didn't even matter if the information was classified: it is “a crime to remove national defense information from its proper place through gross negligence…. Signal chat is not a proper place.”

The screenshots also raise a number of other issues. They made it clear that administration officials have been using Signal for other conversations: Waltz at one point typed: “As we stated in the first PC….” Using a nongovernment system is likely an attempt to get around the laws that require the preservation of public records. The screenshots also show that Signal was set to erase the messages on the chat after 4 weeks.

The messages reveal that President Trump was not part of the discussion of whether to make the airstrikes, a deeply troubling revelation that raises the question of who is in charge at the White House. As the conversation about whether to attack took place, Vice President J.D. Vance wrote about Trump’s reasoning that attacking the Houthis in Yemen would “send a message”: “I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now.” Later, he texted to Hegseth: “if you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again. Let’s just make sure our messaging is tight here. And if there are things we can do upfront to minimize risk to Saudi oil facilities we should do it.”

Hegseth responded: “VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC. But Mike is correct, we are the only ones on the planet (on our side of the ledger) who can do this. Nobody else even close. Question is timing. I feel like now is as good a time as any, given POTUS directive to reopen shipping lanes. I think we should go; but POTUS still retains 24 hours of decision space.”

The decision to make the strikes then appears to have been made by deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who ended the discussion simply by invoking the president: “As I heard it,” he wrote, “the president was clear: green light, but we soon make it clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return. We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement.” If Europe doesn’t cover the cost of the attack, “then what? If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return.”

“Agree,” Hegseth messaged, and the attack was on.

Also missing from the group message was the person who is currently acting as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Christopher Grady. In February, Trump fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Air Force General Charles Q. Brown Jr., who took on the position in 2023 having served more than 3,000 hours as a fighter pilot, including 130 hours in combat, and commanded the Pacific Air Forces, which provides air power for U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region; the U.S. Air Forces Central Command, responsible for protecting U.S. security interests in Africa through the Persian Gulf; the 31st Fighter Wing, covering the southern region of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); the 8th Fighter Wing, covering southeast Asia; U.S. Air Force Weapons School for advanced training in weapons and tactics for officers; and 78th Fighter Squadron.

Hegseth publicly suggested that Brown had been appointed because he is Black. “Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill? We’ll never know, but always doubt,” Hegseth wrote. With Trump’s controversial replacement for Brown still unconfirmed, Admiral Grady, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, is fulfilling the role of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But he was not in the chat. The Pentagon's highest-ranking officer would normally be included in planning a military operation.

Also in the chat, participants made embarrassing attacks on our allies and celebrated civilian deaths in Yemen in the quest to kill a targeted combatant.

Attempts to defend themselves from the scandal only dug administration officials in deeper. On Monday night, independent journalist Olga Lautman, who studies Russia, noted that Trump’s Russia and Ukraine specialist Steve Witkoff had actually been in Russia when Waltz added him to the chat, underscoring the chat’s vulnerability to hackers. By Tuesday, multiple outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, picked up Lautman’s story.

Witkoff fought back against the Wall Street Journal story with a long social media post about how he had traveled to Moscow with a secure government phone and now it was not until he got home that he had “access to my personal devices” to participate in the Signal conversation, thus apparently confirming that he was discussing classified information with the nation’s top officials on an unsecure personal device.

Tonight, news of other ways in which the administration is compromised surfaced. The German newspaper Der Spiegel revealed that the contact information for a number of the same officials who were on the Signal chat is available online, as well as email addresses and some passwords for their private accounts, making it easy for hackers to get into their personal devices. Those compromised included National Security Advisor Waltz, Director of National Intelligence Gabbard, and Secretary of Defense Hegseth. Wired reported that Waltz, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and Walker Barrett of the National Security Council, who was also on the Signal messaging chain, had left their Venmo accounts public, demonstrating what national security experts described as reckless behavior.

In the New York Times tonight, foreign affairs journalist Noah Shachtman looked not just at the Signal scandal but also at the administration’s lowering of U.S. guard against foreign influence operations, installation of billionaire Elon Musk’s satellite internet terminals at the White House, and diversion of personnel from national security to Trump’s pet projects, and advised hostile nations to “savor this moment. It’s never been easier to steal secrets from the United States government. Can you even call it stealing when it’s this simple? The Trump administration has unlocked the vault doors, fired half of the security guards and asked the rest to roll pennies. Walk right in. Take what you want. This is the golden age.”

Trump today did not seem on top of the story when he told reporters: “I think it’s a witch hunt. I wasn’t involved with it, I wasn’t there, but I can tell you the result is unbelievable.” When asked if he still believed there was no classified information shared, he answered: “Well, that’s what I’ve heard. I don’t know, I’m not sure. You’ll have to ask the various people involved. I really don’t know.” He said the breach was Waltz’s fault—“it had nothing to do with anyone else”—and when reporters asked about the future of Defense Secretary Hegseth, who uploaded the attack plans into the unsecure system, he answered: “Hegseth is doing a great job, he had nothing to do with this…. How do you bring Hegseth into it? He had nothing to do with it. Look, look, it’s all a witch hunt. I don’t know that Signal works. I think Signal could be defective, to be honest with you….”

The administration appears to be trying to create a distraction from the damning story. Yesterday evening, Trump signed an executive order that would, if it could be enforced, dramatically change U.S. elections and take the vote away from tens of millions of Americans. But, as Marc Elias of Democracy Docket put it, the order is “confused, rhetorical and—in places—nonsensical. It asserts facts that are not true and claims authority he does not possess. It is not meant to be taken seriously or literally. Rather, it is the empty threat of a weak man desperate to appear strong.”

After today’s revelations, Trump announced new 25% tariffs on imported cars and car parts including those from Canada and Mexico, despite a deal worked out earlier this month that items covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement Trump signed in his first term would not face a new tariff levy. The 25% tariff is a major change that will raise prices across the board and hit the automotive sector in which more than a million Americans work. Upon the news, the stock market fell again.

And yet, despite the attempts to bury the Signal story, the scandal seems, if anything, to be growing. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) wrote a public letter to Trump yesterday calling for him to fire Hegseth, accurately referring to him as “the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in American history.” Jeffries wrote: “His behavior shocks the conscience, risked American lives and likely violated the law.” “[H]ey Sen[ator Joni] Ernst and Sen[ator Thom] Tillis,” Jen Rubin of The Contrarian wrote tonight, “proud of your votes for Hegseth? This is on [you] too as much as Hegseth. You knew he was not remotely qualified.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[misfitwashere]

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

MAR 26 READ IN APP LISTEN TO POST · 20:42

The Signal-Gate scandal exploded to grotesque proportions on Tuesday as Trump and his minions refused to accept responsibility or acknowledge the serious threat to national security. Instead, they “circled the wagons” and parroted a false narrative that relied on lies, disinformation, and slander of an innocent journalist.

Tuesday was a head-spinning day in which Republican gaslighting exceeded the cinematic heights of Hollywood’s golden era of psychological thrillers. But instead of targeting an innocent and trusting female heroine, Trump gaslit the American people with lies so bold and audacious that I found myself shouting at the car radio as we drove to babysit a granddaughter. That is not a good frame of mind for playing Candyland and Charades for Kids.

I have since calmed down enough to reflect on the lessons Democrats should take from the sordid Signal-Gate episode. After discussing the lessons, I will rebut the flimsy lies and pathetic wordplay used by Trump and his senior officers to rationalize their intelligence malpractice and amateurish approach to the deadly serious issue of national security.

First Lesson: The willingness of Republicans to look straight into a camera and lie with casual aplomb--tinged with feigned offense--explains why it is so difficult for Democrats to mount effective counter-messaging against Republicans. When one party knows no shame and is unmoored from the truth, any adversary who still respects the truth is at a decided disadvantage.

The constant unhappiness over Democratic messaging is due, in part, to the asymmetrical devotion to the truth by Republicans and Democrats, respectively. For Republicans, truth is a pesky annoyance to be circumvented. For Democrats, speaking the truth is a sign of respect for their constituents and for the rule of law, which can exist only when a polity shares a common view of facts rooted in reality.

Second Lesson. The lesson we should take from the Republican response to Signal-Gate is not to emulate the GOP’s abandonment of the truth. But we should emulate their fierce and formidable ability to stay “on message” across all platforms. We must speak in plain terms using short words that eschew jargon. (“Eschew jargon.” Get it?) Republicans latched on to a laughable lie—that the war-planning texts contained no “classified information”—and repeated the phrase until anchors and reporters dutifully reported the lie in their stories.

Somebody in the GOP sent a set of talking points to every Republican in the administration and Congress and said, “Say this. Use these words, in this order. Repeat.” Such an approach recognizes that the condensed nature of news reporting relies on sound bites. That isn’t a good thing, but it is where we are.

Democrats must follow the rule of primacy: Say the most important thing first, then repeat. True, details matter, analysis matters, nuance matters, but if we lead with a nuanced analysis of complicated details, reporters looking for someone to tell them what to write will move on to another interviewee.

Although Democrats were less disciplined than Republicans in their messaging on Tuesday, they made up for the lack of focus with skilled and aggressive cross-examination of CIA Director John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and DNI Director Tulsi Gabbard. Democrats “scored a lot of points” that were repeated across the media landscape.

Signal-Gate is more than a game of “political baseball,” but if we want Americans to understand the gravity of what happened, we must provide a framework for them to understand why the use of a commercial app by our nation’s most senior leaders endangers our troops and every American.

The lies, disinformation, and slander employed by Trump and the GOP to deflect from the scandal of Signal-Gate

At various points in Tuesday’s news cycle, Trump and his supporters resorted to the following falsehoods (bolded and italicized) to distract from the grievous lapse of security in the Signal text chain forwarded to The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg:

The text chain did not contain “classified information.”

Demonstrably false and semantic gamesmanship. The texts contained non-public, sensitive information that was undeniably “national defense information”—which is the information protected from unauthorized disclosure by statute. This claim is especially dangerous and short-sighted because it suggests that the information in the texts can and should be disclosed. When the US military is given a chance to weigh in, they will vigorously assert that operational details of a missile strike is highly sensitive national defense information that must be protected at all costs.

Use of the Signal app was approved or appropriate.

That claim is demonstrably false. DoD policy specifically prohibits use of the Signal app. Indeed, the DoD issued an updated alert on March 18, 2025—only a week ago—warning that users of Signal were “common targets of surveillance and espionage activity [that] has made the [Signal] application a high-value target to intercept sensitive information."

The Signal app is widely used throughout the administration, including the CIA.

While it may be true that Signal is used throughout the administration, if it is used for government communications, such use is illegal on many levels. It is no defense to the nation’s most senior officers using it to plan a missile strike against the Houthis. It is critically important to make a distinction between using a Signal on a government phone to communicate about information that does not qualify as national defense information (“I’ll meet you at the Capitol Grill at 6 PM) vs. national defense information (“We will bomb the Houthis tomorrow at 10 AM.) While the former may be permissible, the latter IS NOT. CIA Director John Ratcliffe tried to play fast and loose with that distinction during his testimony, but had to finally admit that classified systems must be used for national defense information.

The Atlantic’s Editor in Chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, is “bottom scum” and a “sleazy character.”

False. The personal attacks on Jeffrey Goldberg are heinous. Jeffrey Goldberg acted more professionally and ethically than the other participants in the text chain. Goldberg voluntarily withheld information he believed would compromise operational security and the identity of a CIA agent. Trump and other senior officials who claimed such information is not classified effectively granted authority to Jeffrey Goldberg to publish the texts in full in The Atlantic.

The White House Counsel told the participants in the text chain that it was okay to use Signal.

Wait, what? Federal statutes and regulations require the use of classified communications systems to transmit national defense secrets. No lawyer in the White House has the authority to override those statutes and regulations. Indeed, Trump does not have the authority to override the statutes and regulations. (Do not get confused over Trump's power to “declassify” material, which is discussed below.) Trump cannot override federal statutes requiring that national defense information be held confidential. And again, there is a difference between using Signal for personal communications on a government device versus communicating about national defense information.

The distinction between “classified” information and “national defense information” is critical.

The administration spent a lot of time saying that “no classified information” was included in the text chat. That is beside the point and an attempt to mislead.

The relevant statutes prohibit the unauthorized sharing of “national defense information.” See, e.g., 18 USC § 793 (f), imposing up to ten years in prison for anyone who

being entrusted with . . . information relating to the national defense, (1) through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed. . . .

The words “classified information” does not appear in the statute that criminalizes the unauthorized disclosure of “national defense information.”

What is “national defense” information? 18 USC § 793(a) defines it as information that the person possessing the information has

reason to believe that the information is to be used to the injury of the United States, or to the advantage of any foreign nation . . . .

Obviously, anyone with advance information about plans to attack Houthi rebels has reason to believe the information—if leaked—could be “used to the injury of the United States” or “to the advantage of any foreign nation.”

Okay, I have gone on too long about this subject. The point is that you now know that the denials by Trump and others are false, misleading, and slanderous. Tell a friend. Lots of them!

Trump signs executive order targeting another Big Law firm

Thanks to the moral collapse of Paul Weiss, Trump signed an executive order targeting the law firm of Jenner & Block. What offense did Jenner & Block commit? It was the former employer of Andrew Weissmann, who served on Robert Mueller’s team investigating Trump's campaign’s ties with Russia. See Reuters, Trump targets Jenner & Block in latest executive order aimed at law firms.

Unlike the cowardly Paul Weiss, the firm of Jenner & Block appears willing to fight Trump's order. Per Reuters:

Jenner & Block said in a statement that the executive order resembled one that "has already been declared unconstitutional" by a federal judge. "We remain focused on serving and safeguarding our clients’ interests with the dedication, integrity, and expertise that has defined our firm for more than one hundred years and will pursue all appropriate remedies,” Jenner & Block said.

Good for Jenner & Block.

But let’s pause for a moment to absorb Trump's order's pure vindictiveness and lawlessness. He explicitly admits that he is using a government power that exists to benefit the American people—granting security clearances—to punish firms that employed lawyers who worked on duly authorized investigations of Trump.

Trump's use of executive orders to exact revenge is shocking and beyond the pale in a civilized society. No story about Trump's war on the legal profession is complete unless it notes that Trump's actions are wholly illegitimate, entirely personal, and profoundly inappropriate.

Robert Kennedy appoints vaccine skeptic to study non-existent link between vaccines and autism

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has selected an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist to lead the government’s unnecessary re-evaluation of the non-existent link between vaccines and autism. See The Spokesman-Review, Vaccine skeptic hired to head federal study of immunizations and autism.

Per the Spokesman-Review,

A vaccine skeptic who has long promoted false claims about the connection between immunizations and autism has been tapped by the federal government to conduct a critical study of possible links between the two, according to current and former federal health officials. . . . [The researcher] David Geier was disciplined by Maryland regulators more than a decade ago for practicing medicine without a license. [¶] Geier and his father, Mark Geier, have published papers claiming vaccines increase the risk of autism, a theory that has been studied for decades and scientifically debunked.

Appointing a biased researcher who has been disciplined for practicing medicine without a license strongly suggests that Kennedy is focused on getting a report that misleadingly hints that there is the possibility of a connection between vaccines and autism. As a result, parents will not get their children vaccinated—and thousands of children will suffer and die because of childhood diseases.

[investoptionwin]

📱 The Role of Mobile Apps in Managing Your Insurance

In a world where everything is just a tap away — food, travel, banking — insurance is no exception. The rise of insurance mobile apps in India has transformed how people buy, manage, and claim insurance policies.

Gone are the days of storing bulky paper documents, visiting branches for queries, or calling customer care for every update. Now, your entire insurance experience is available in your pocket.

In this blog, we explore how mobile apps are reshaping insurance management, and why companies like Ginteja are building seamless app-based solutions for a faster, smarter customer experience.

📲 Why Mobile Apps Are Essential for Modern Insurance Users

✅ 1. Instant Access to All Policies

With an app, users can view all active insurance policies in one dashboard — from health and life insurance to motor and travel policies. This reduces the need for physical files or scattered emails.

✅ 2. Quick Claim Filing

Need to file a claim? Mobile apps allow users to upload documents, submit claim requests, and track status in real-time. It’s the simplest way to manage your insurance online without waiting in queues or paperwork delays.

✅ 3. Renewals and Reminders

Automated push notifications ensure you never miss a renewal date. Renew your health insurance, vehicle insurance, or term plan with just a few taps — saving time and avoiding policy lapses.

✅ 4. 24/7 Customer Support

Today’s best insurance apps come with live chat, ticket systems, or chatbot support — making it easier to get help instantly. The Ginteja app, for example, ensures round-the-clock customer service to address any query.

✅ 5. Premium Calculators and Policy Comparisons

Many apps offer premium calculators and allow you to compare plans based on your needs — making them excellent tools for both research and purchase.

📈 How India is Adopting Digital Insurance Services

With over 600 million smartphone users and growing comfort in digital transactions, India’s insurance sector is undergoing a mobile revolution. People now prefer to:

Buy insurance via apps

Raise claims digitally

Get instant policy documents on their phones

Speak to advisors through in-app chat

At Ginteja, we are proud to be part of this shift — offering one of the best insurance apps in India designed for ease, transparency, and speed.

🔒 Security and Privacy: What You Should Know

Modern insurance apps come with:

End-to-end encryption

Secure login via biometrics or OTP

Document protection using cloud backups

You can confidently manage your insurance online knowing your sensitive information is protected.

🌟 What Makes a Great Insurance App?

When choosing an app, look for features like:

✅ Multi-policy support (health, life, vehicle)

✅ Easy claim upload and tracking

✅ Real-time premium payment and receipts

✅ 24/7 insurance customer support app access

✅ Document storage and sharing

✅ Personalized offers and reminders

The Ginteja app is designed to deliver all these features and more — backed by expert advisors and a smooth digital interface.

🚀 Conclusion: Insurance in Your Pocket

Mobile apps have made insurance smarter, faster, and more personal. Whether it’s buying a new policy, tracking a claim, or talking to a support team, mobile platforms have become essential for anyone looking to simplify their insurance experience.

👉 Ready to manage your insurance on-the-go? Explore the Ginteja app and discover how we’re making digital insurance services simple, secure, and stress-free. Visit: www.gintejainsurance.com

[braanchio]

Boosting Revenue and Efficiency in Healthcare Through Mobile Apps

Mobile apps have fundamentally transformed the way healthcare enterprises interact with customers. Thanks to apps, healthcare services are more accessible than ever. Forward-thinking healthcare organizations are leveraging Branch’s mobile linking and measurement solutions to unlock new opportunities for improved customer experiences and operational efficiencies while driving compliance.

Driving revenue growth

Apps are pivotal in connecting healthcare platforms and their users, ensuring effortless access to revenue-generating services like appointment scheduling and telehealth consultations. Apps not only enhance user engagement but also drive higher conversion and retention rates, as well as increased usage of ancillary services, thereby boosting users’ overall lifetime value (LTV).

Incorporating deep linking strategies across various digital touchpoints enables healthcare enterprises to guide users directly to specific features within the app. This amplifies the effectiveness of reengagement efforts and drives enhanced monetization opportunities.

With features ranging from virtual consultations to real-time patient monitoring and claims processing, a well-crafted mobile strategy not only enhances user satisfaction but also catalyzes additional revenue generation.

Enhancing user experience

It’s one thing to understand the impact of mobile apps and another to execute and deliver seamless mobile experiences. Apps enable organizations to own real estate on their users’ phones, and deep links maximize the value of apps for healthcare enterprises by taking users directly to in-app features that can simplify their experience or enable self-service.

Branch empowers healthcare enterprises to direct users to specific app content from campaigns like an email or QR code, allowing users to easily book appointments, check in online, and manage their health information with a single tap. By automatically logging in users with saved credentials, match-guaranteed deep links streamline the booking process, making meaningful engagement with the app easy and seamless.

Branch offers the industry’s most reliable and scalable linking as well as solutions to drive in-app actions and engagement from every digital touchpoint. From quick links, email links, and QR codes to Journeys web-to-app banners, Branch plugs into every marketing channel to fix broken mobile experiences and foster user loyalty.

Minimizing cost to serve

One of the most significant advantages of optimized mobile app strategies in healthcare is their ability to minimize cost to serve. By continuously optimizing app feature adoption, healthcare organizations can reduce reliance on traditional communication channels like costly customer service call centers and direct mail. This not only alleviates operational expenses but also enhances efficiency within the organization.

With attribution for all owned, earned, and organic channels, Branch offers holistic data views of acquisition, engagement, and performance to optimize all aspects of marketing and operations. By identifying high-cost service pathways and driving feature adoption through the app, healthcare enterprises can optimize resource allocation and decrease long-term costs.

Navigating compliance challenges

As the preferred partner for enterprise brands, Branch consistently emphasizes security, privacy, compliance, and serving as a trusted advisor for our customers.

Branch safeguards sensitive data like PHI, enabling healthcare companies to benefit from linking and attribution solutions as part of their broader HIPAA compliance strategies.

With elevated data and privacy measures for effective linking and secure attribution, healthcare enterprises can leverage Branch to get data-driven insights for continuous optimization.

If your healthcare organization is looking to harness the value of your mobile app while maintaining compliance obligations, reach out to your Branch account team or contact us.

[joyfulmentalityking]

Complete Financial Planning Guide | 1 Finance App

 Take charge of your future with goal-based financial planning using 1 Finance App. From budgeting to investment tracking, this app simplifies your entire money journey. Get data-driven insights, clear recommendations, and a full view of your financial life—all tailored to Indian users. Ideal for anyone looking to build long-term wealth.

Download now on App Store.

[future-value]

Direct Plans Surge: How Young Investors Are Shaping India’s Mutual Fund Landscape

Summary:

A new crop of Indian investors is rewriting the mutual fund playbook. Younger, technology-fluent investors are adopting direct mutual fund plans — bypassing middlemen, avoiding commissions, and employing apps to invest intelligently. This blog touches on how direct investing is picking up steam and transforming the future of India’s wealth creation. 

Direct Plans Surge: How Young Investors Are Shaping India’s Mutual Fund Landscape

There was a day when investing in mutual funds required going into a financial advisor’s office and signing reams of paper. But today? It’s a matter of ordering food online — courtesy of the growth of mutual fund apps and direct plans that give investors more control.

Today’s youth investors aren’t chasing returns alone — they’re also chasing control, transparency, and low costs. And direct plans tick all these boxes.

What Are Direct Mutual Fund Plans, Anyway?

Here are the fundamentals. A direct mutual fund plan is when you put your money directly into the fund house — no distributor, no intermediary, no commission. The lack of commission translates to lower expense ratios and, long term, improved returns.

Sites such as Future Value enable easy discovery and comparison of the top mutual funds in India for both beginners and veteran investors, and invest with confidence.

Why Young Investors Are Skipping the Middleman

Gen Z and millennials desire freedom — not merely in life, but also in money. Rather than investing through a “financial advisor near me,” they’re opting to learn, research, and invest on their own through mobile-first platforms.

With free tools at their disposal, blogs, tutorials, and easy-to-understand dashboards, investing in a mutual fund no longer seems like rocket science. Direct plans are liberating an entire new generation of investors to take control of their wealth journey.

Saving on Commissions, Growing Their Wealth

One of the largest attractions of direct plans is that there’s no agent commission paid. In 10–15 years, that saved 1% every year adds up to lakhs.

Future Value, a mutual fund app that’s intelligent, identifies these differences easily for investors. It leads them to low-cost direct plans with high growth — ideal for young wage earners who are creating their financial foundation.

Tech Meets Trust: The Role of Mutual Fund Apps

Why is this transition possible? Technology. With a smartphone, anyone can discover mutual fund investment opportunities, monitor NAVs, initiate SIPs, and rebalance portfolios.

A well-crafted app like Future Value doesn’t just make investing easier — it makes it fun. No paperwork, no calling, no nudging. Just insight, notifications, and savvy suggestions, all in your pocket.

Young, Curious, and Financially Smarter

Today’s investors aren’t merely purchasing mutual funds — they’re perusing fact sheets, evaluating fund performance, and viewing YouTube explainers. They need to know what they’re purchasing and why.

Direct investing satisfies this desire. It promotes research, financial knowledge, and personal development. And though conventional mutual fund houses are still around, youngsters in India demand this value to be accessible and technology-driven.

But Do You Still Need a Financial Advisor?

Here’s the thing — direct plans don’t make financial advisors obsolete. There are moments in life when marriage, inheritance, or tax planning necessitate professional assistance. And when it arrives, it’s wonderful to have a “financial advisor near me” at hand.

But for ordinary SIPs, goal-based investing, and wealth creation in the long run, young investors are demonstrating they are more than equal to the task — provided they have a guide like Future Value. 

Conclusion:

The surge in direct investment in mutual funds is not a trend — it’s a change of mindset. Young Indians desire control, lower costs, and intelligent tools. By adopting mutual fund apps and bypassing intermediaries, they’re revolutionizing wealth creation in India. With Future Value at the forefront of this movement, the future of investing is good — and it fits in your pocket.