Let's Talk About the Absolute Insanity Out of Haiti 🇭🇹

So, early Wednesday morning, July 7, 2021, the president of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse (53), was assassinated at his residence right on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.

The attack also resulted in his wife, Martine, being shot, but she survived and is being treated at a hospital in Miami.

Shortly after this happened, interim Prime Minister, Claude Joseph, had this to say:

But, in recordings obtained from the neighborhood, people can be heard approaching the house and most importantly, this:

Unsurprisingly, both American and Haitian officials have been quick to dismiss the idea that either the DEA or US agencies had anything to do with the attack.

Furthermore, Haitian officials have largely come to the consensus that the operation was concretely carried out by mercenaries.

The Haitian chief of police also announced that four suspects had been killed in a tense gun battle with police and that two others were arrested.

Hopefully, they might get answers about who ordered the hit, because the potential compilation (of suspects) isn't a small one.

The now former president was widely hated in Haiti—and abroad as well—and faced over a year of massive protests.

Amongst other things, he refused to step down as president after his term officially ended. Arguing that since he took office late, he was entitled to another full year.

Consequently, that led to him just ruling by decree as there haven't been any elections for a new legislature.

Adding to the long list of fucked up issues that Haitians have had to endure during his horribly rigid regime, he and his government are thought to have stolen billions of dollars in aid given to Haiti by various governments in the region.

But, even with him being broadly disliked and dreadfully despised, his death has sparked fears that the country may descend into political chaos.

Now, it is important to note that this country was already facing widespread poverty and gang-related violence. Fast-forward to the shit show at hand, multiple people are now claiming to be in charge.

The interim Prime Minister, Claude Joseph, appears to be in the driver's seat already, but someone else has entered the f̶r̶a̶y̶ vehicle and he's clearly not interested in the passenger side.

That's right, we've got two people claiming the same position. Or more correctly speaking, two fellas fighting for control over the creaky old squeaky steering wheel of a very dilapidated car that can barely move.

For the sake of clarity, Joseph was Prime Minister up until the day before the president's death—and he was replaced by a particular Ariel Henry.

Still and all, you have Joseph claiming that under constitutional rules, Henry was only appointed Prime Minister, but never actually took office. He also added this:

Henry, on the other end, specifically stated that:

So, now it is pretty much unclear how this situation is going to play out exactly. In all actuality, I haven't the foggiest idea if either are going to back down from claiming to be in charge. Really don't see that happening anytime soon, you know.

Although (as I'm typing this), it does seem like Joseph has more actual power right now. Plus, he's been super speedy to declare that the country's in a state of siege and that things are being locked down.

And with all the BS, as far as international response, US president, Joe Biden, denounced what he called a 'shocking assassination'.

Also, in pure American fashion, American officials stated that they were ready to help “investigate” the claims if asked by Haitian officials. Pretty typical, don't you think? Don't mind me, though. I just happen to find my mind wandering with wanton rapidity at any given chance.

Nevertheless, there's been some really loud concerns over possible US intervention in Haiti.

In case it's unclear, the United States gives Haiti a ton of aid for humanitarian concerns and to help with development. But, it also has a long history of occupying Haiti for various (seemingly selfish) reasons with extremely controversial results.

That history, comes with an expectation by some, in both Haiti and the US, that America will respond with a shitload of troops if the situation in Haiti devolves into violence.

But, even if that were not to happen, there are also calls for the Biden administration to appoint a special representative to Haiti ASAP, to reexamine how the US sends aid there.

Because, as aforementioned, it is basically beyond possible that billions of dollars sent to help the country have mostly—if not completely—been stolen by corrupt officials (Nigeria has left the chat).

So, there you have it: A calm, simple situation involving billions of dollars, high-octane corruption, an assassinated president and a power vacuum with contested power.

What's the worst that could happen?

Kim Kardashian and the World's Wealthiest

These days, we're seeing lots of female celebrities with very established audiences going to places like OnlyFans, but on the other end, you have Kim Kardashian who (granted), became the big name that she was largely because of THAT sextape with Brandy's little brother, Ray J.

Regardless, you could argue more impressively, she was able to launch a career from that to the point where she's making very current headlines for becoming an official billionaire.

Forbes recently reported that her stake in KKW Beauty is around $500 million.

Not to mention her ownership in Skims being valued at $225 million.

You know, you're more than free to say whatever you want about her, but I truly think it is genuinely impressive that she has had not only the staying power, but the ability to grow and thrive.

I figured I'd share this story because I know so many of you—as a cultishly collective group—have been religiously rooting for her.

According to Forbes, while it is still rare for a person to be a billionaire, she is far from the only one.

Forbes reported on their 35th annual list of the world's wealthiest, that there are now 2,755 billionaires—which is a crazy jump of 660 billionaires in just a year!

They also found that this list—together—is worth $13.1 trillion, an increase of $5.1 trillion from last year's list.

Collectively (and currently), 86% of all billionaires are richer than they were a year ago.

The biggest earner turned out to be none other than Elon Musk, who went from a (seemingly) embarrassing $24.6 billion to his now $151 billion fortune!

That puts Mr. Musk at number 2, right behind Jeff Bezos, who is reportedly worth an astronomical $177 billion—which (I think) is super impressive, because this is how much he's worth after he got divorced!

His ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, is the 22nd richest person in the world, by the way.

Depending on who you are, you might find this interesting, aspirational, infuriating, all of the above? I'm just most inclined to know your thoughts.

Facebook's Drastic Data Leak… Again!

News just broke (out) that the information for over half a billion Facebook users has been leaked online.

As far as what the information includes, it's things like phone numbers, Facebook IDs, full names, locations, birthdates, bios, email addresses.

As far as how widespread this thing is, users in 106 countries are reportedly affected—including the United States with 32 million users, the UK with 11 million and India with 6 million.

The leaked data set is reportedly from 2019, but it's still very much a problem despite being a couple of years old now.

Personally, my major concern is that cyber criminals can actually access these information to impersonate other people, or even scam them into handing over their login credentials.

In fact, the leaked data was first discovered back in January when a user in a low-level hacking forum offered to sell the info as part of an automated bot.

Although, what ended up happening, is that someone else leaked the information for free.

So, if you'd like to see if you've been affected by this leak, there are a couple of ways to do so.

For example, there's this web security consultant, Troy Hunt, uploading affected email addresses to haveibeenpwned.com.

Here's a link to the site.

It also sends uploaded affected phone numbers.

And while there are other sites that are offering these kinds of services, they're less well-known. So, for that reason, I'm not going to be linking to those.

The Highest-Paid Actors of 2020!

Forbes recently released the highest paid actors of 2020 list.

From ten to the top, you've got:

Jackie Chan…

…Adam Sandler…

…Will Smith…

…Lin-Manuel Miranda…

…Akshay Kumar…

…Vin Diesel…

…Ben Affleck…

…Mark Wahlberg…

…Ryan Reynolds…

…and at the top (you know it's him): Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson!

Personally, one of the things that I find incredibly interesting with this list, is the sheer number of people—on the list—that have Netflix deals.

The most prominent, of course, being Adam Sandler who signed a 4-movie deal with Netflix back in 2014, for a quarter of a billion dollars! In case it's unclear, that's a whacking two hundred and seventy-five million dollars ($275,000,000)!

Can't forget to mention The Rock reportedly getting paid $23.5 million to star in 'Red Notice', an upcoming film from the stables of Netflix as well.

The Highest-Paid Actors of 2019

In quickie entertainment news, Forbes gave us the highest-paid actors of 2019. And some, you'd expect. Some, maybe not.

Going through the list, you have:

Will Smith,

Paul Rudd,

Chris Evans,

Adam Sandler.

Followed by Bradley Cooper,

Jackie Chan,

Akshay Kumar,

Robert Downey Jr.

At the top of the list, you have Chris Hemsworth…

…and to nobody’s surprise:

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

It's nowhere near surprising, really. The Rock is like literally everywhere. He's in high-grossing stuff on the regular. You're looking at stacks on stacks on stacks.

Check this out, according to reports for the new Jumanji, the baldheaded bastard bagged $23.5 million upfront!

As if that ain't enough, he'll also be getting a percentage of the pool for the movie in question. Which as Forbes explained, is the money left over after some—but not all—of the bills are paid.

Still on the pool, I'm pretty certain that's also a part of the reason RDJ's on this list. Yes, he got money upfront for playing Iron Man, but he also reportedly got nearly eight percent of the pool for Avengers: Endgame alone! In case it's unclear, that movie made a nerve-racking $2.8 billion at the box office.

So, depending on who you are, you may find this topic interesting, depressing, infuriating, or inspiring. Regardless, what are your thoughts when you see numbers like these, for what is being, kind of, given? Or maybe we should spread the question around a little bit, whether it be actors, professional athletes and the likes, what are your thoughts there?