Peter Thiel Insider Picked to Oversee Donald Trump’s Defense Department TransitionLee FangNovember 28 20161:27 p.m.Trae Stephens, a principal at billionaire Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm Founders Fund, was appointed last week by Donald Trump to help lead the transition effort at the Defense Department.Thiel, who made a $1,000,000 donation to a pro-Trump Super PAC, is Trump’s highest-profile supporter in Silicon Valley.At Thiel’s Founder Fund, Stephens “focuses on startups operating in the government space,” according to his official biography. Before that, he worked at another Thiel-backed firm: Palantir, a highly controversial data analysis firm that is currently competing for Defense Department contracts.“Trae was an early employee at Palantir Technologies, where he led teams focused on growth in intelligence and defense as well as international expansion,” says the biography.Palantir gained notoriety in 2011 after the hacking collective LulzSec dumped thousands of hacked emails from HBGary Federal, a firm collaborating with Palantir to pitch clients, revealing plans to use Palantir’s data analysis tools on a project to spy on labor unions, journalists, and activist groups on behalf of business interests. The proposal detailed a variety of surveillance techniques, including a PowerPoint presentation calling for the use of malware to steal data from target computers.Palantir and HBGary Federal denied that the plans were acted upon and said they were merely part of an ongoing discussion, though the hacked emails revealed that the chief executive and board of Palantir signed off on the proposal.The controversy did not stem the growth of Palantir, which is now reportedly valued at over $20 billion, a valuation that would make Thiel’s stake in the company worth potentially $2 billion.Last year, another leaked document from Palantir revealed that as of 2013, the firm counted over a dozen federal agencies as clients, including the FBI, NSA, CIA, Special Operations Command, and the Air Force.Palantir has been engaged in a pitched lobbying battle to win over a $3 billion contract to develop battlefield intelligence systems. In October, Palantir secured a victory in court, allowing them to move forward with the bid. The firm has hired a number of political insiders to influence military contracting decisions, including retired Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Terry Paul.But no amount of outside lobbying can compare to having a Palantir insider now shaping the entire future of the Defense Department.
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Is there anything he is so far sticking to which he said he was going to do? So far he's coming off exactly like Microsoft before and after the Xbone launched.
Quote from: ASpookyGhostWithFunnyHat on December 06, 2016, 03:41:47 AMIs there anything he is so far sticking to which he said he was going to do? So far he's coming off exactly like Microsoft before and after the Xbone launched.Nine days until his news conference about "leaving his business entirely" even though he apparently won't put his assets in a blind trust. Meanwhile he met with three business partners after winning the election.
Quote from: Kupo & the Two G-strings on December 06, 2016, 01:37:21 PMQuote from: ASpookyGhostWithFunnyHat on December 06, 2016, 03:41:47 AMIs there anything he is so far sticking to which he said he was going to do? So far he's coming off exactly like Microsoft before and after the Xbone launched.Nine days until his news conference about "leaving his business entirely" even though he apparently won't put his assets in a blind trust. Meanwhile he met with three business partners after winning the election.Yawn, the guy could cure cancer and end world hunger and you'd still have a problem with him. No one cares.
Quote from: Kupo & the Two G-strings on December 06, 2016, 04:46:44 PMQuote from: PSU on December 06, 2016, 04:01:08 PMQuote from: Kupo & the Two G-strings on December 06, 2016, 01:37:21 PMQuote from: ASpookyGhostWithFunnyHat on December 06, 2016, 03:41:47 AMIs there anything he is so far sticking to which he said he was going to do? So far he's coming off exactly like Microsoft before and after the Xbone launched.Nine days until his news conference about "leaving his business entirely" even though he apparently won't put his assets in a blind trust. Meanwhile he met with three business partners after winning the election.Yawn, the guy could cure cancer and end world hunger and you'd still have a problem with him. No one cares.I'm sure you think very fondly of Fidel Castro, considering their literacy rates and national health care. Police state regimes are great!Real talk though, Castro did some good things for Cuba and writing them off because he was a ebil gommie dictator is bullshit. Cuba has a stronger chance of remaining Cuban and independent thanks to him. As a US puppet it would be a degenerate shithole. Now its just a poor shithole.I'm not a fan, but the man was complicated.
Quote from: PSU on December 06, 2016, 04:01:08 PMQuote from: Kupo & the Two G-strings on December 06, 2016, 01:37:21 PMQuote from: ASpookyGhostWithFunnyHat on December 06, 2016, 03:41:47 AMIs there anything he is so far sticking to which he said he was going to do? So far he's coming off exactly like Microsoft before and after the Xbone launched.Nine days until his news conference about "leaving his business entirely" even though he apparently won't put his assets in a blind trust. Meanwhile he met with three business partners after winning the election.Yawn, the guy could cure cancer and end world hunger and you'd still have a problem with him. No one cares.I'm sure you think very fondly of Fidel Castro, considering their literacy rates and national health care. Police state regimes are great!
Kinda offtopic but why were those sweeping surveillance bills passed in both the US and UK in the first place? And why were they passed at roughly the exact same time? Haven't they already been getting away with spying and hacking into our personal devices since 2001? What more could they possibly need.
So much for draining the swamp
