Patrick M. Byrne
Patrick Michael Byrne (born November 29, 1962) is an American businessman, promoter of conspiracy theories, and libertarian noted for his views on public education and blockchain. In 1999, Byrne launched Overstock.com (currently Beyond, Inc.) after leading two smaller companies. Byrne led Overstock as chief executive officer for two decades, from 1999 to 2019. In 2002, Byrne took Overstock public using the Dutch auction method, which was then novel. Early in his Overstock tenure, Byrne attracted public attention for a long-running legal battle against naked short selling. Later, he resigned as CEO in August 2019, following revelations that he had been in an intimate relationship with Russian agent (and later politician) Maria Butina. Since then Byrne has emerged as a leading figure in promoting conspiracy theories, including the "Deep State" conspiracy theory. In 2020 and 2021, he repeatedly promoted unevidenced claims that Donald Trump had lost the 2020 U.S. presidential ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Indiana after Indianapolis, and the 83rd-most populous city in the U.S. The Fort Wayne metropolitan area, consisting of Allen and Whitley counties, has an estimated population of 463,000. Fort Wayne is the cultural and economic center of northeastern Indiana. Fort Wayne was built in 1794 by the United States Army under the direction of American Revolutionary War general Anthony Wayne, the last in a series of forts built near the Miami village of Kekionga. Named in Wayne's honor, the European-American settlement developed at the confluence of the St. Joseph, St. Marys, and Maumee rivers, known originally as Fort Miami, a trading post constructed by Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Naked Short Selling
Naked short selling, or naked shorting, is the practice of short-selling a tradable asset of any kind without first borrowing the asset from someone else or ensuring that it can be borrowed. When the seller does not obtain the asset and deliver it to the buyer within the required time frame, the result is known as a " failure to deliver" (FTD). The transaction generally remains open until the asset is acquired and delivered by the seller, or the seller's broker settles the trade on their behalf. Short selling is used to take advantage of perceived arbitrage opportunities or to anticipate a price fall, but exposes the seller to the risk of a price rise. Critics have advocated for stricter regulations against naked short selling. In 2005 in the United States, " Regulation SHO" was enacted, requiring that broker-dealers have grounds to believe that shares will be available for a given stock transaction, and requiring that delivery take place within a limited time period. In 200 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Western Philosophy
Western philosophy refers to the Philosophy, philosophical thought, traditions and works of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratics. The word ''philosophy'' itself originated from the Ancient Greek (φιλοσοφία), literally, "the love of wisdom" , "to love" and σοφία ''Sophia (wisdom), sophía'', "wisdom". History Ancient The scope of ancient Western philosophy included the problems of philosophy as they are understood today; but it also included many other disciplines, such as pure mathematics and natural sciences such as physics, astronomy, and biology (Aristotle, for example, wrote on all of these topics). Pre-Socratics The pre-Socratic philosophers were interested in cosmology (the nature and origin of the universe), while rejecting unargued fables in place for argued theory, i.e., dogma superseded reason, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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White Mountains Insurance Group
White Mountains Insurance Group is a diversified insurance and related financial services holding company based in Hamilton, Bermuda. Redomiciled from Delaware, United States, on October 25, 1999, the company conducts most of its business through its insurance subsidiaries and other affiliates. The company owned the automobile insurer Esurance before selling it to Allstate The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Glenview, Illinois (with a Northbrook, Illinois address) since 2022. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993, but was still pa ... for $1 billion. Heritage White Mountain Insurance Group began in the early 1980s by John J. Byrne, the man recruited by American Express to turn around troubled property and casualty insurer Fireman's Fund. When Byrne took Fireman's Fund public in 1985, it was the largest IPO in American history, and the insurer was sold to Allianz six years later. Upon comp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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GEICO
The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO ) is an American vehicle insurance company headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland. In addition to auto insurance, GEICO provides motorcycle, ATV, RV, boat, snowmobile, travel, pet, event, homeowner, renter, and jewelry insurance options. It is the second largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm. GEICO is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which provides coverage for more than 24 million motor vehicles owned by more than 15 million policy holders as of 2017. GEICO writes private passenger automobile insurance in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The insurance agency sells policies through local agents, called GEICO Field Representatives, over the phone directly to the consumer via licensed insurance agents, and through their website. Its mascot is a gold dust day gecko with a Cockney accent, voiced by the English actor Jake Wood. GEICO is well known in popular culture for its ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger (from 1978 to 2023). Greg Abel now oversees most of the company's investments and has been named as Buffett's successor. Buffett personally owns 38.4% of the Class A voting shares of Berkshire Hathaway, representing a 15.1% overall economic interest in the company. The company is often compared to an investment fund; between 1965, when Buffett gained control of the company, and 2023, the company's shareholder returns amounted to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.8% compared to a 10.2% CAGR for the S&P 500. However, in the 10 years ending in 2023, Berkshire Hathaway produced a CAGR of 11.8% for shareholders, compared to a 12.0% CAGR for the S&P 500. From 1965 to 20 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover is a New England town, town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, and Hanover High School (New Hampshire), Hanover High School. The Appalachian Trail crosses the town, connecting with a number of trails and nature preserves. Most of the population resides in the Hanover (CDP), New Hampshire, Hanover census-designated place (CDP)—the main village of the town. Located at the junctions of New Hampshire routes New Hampshire Route 10, 10, New Hampshire Route 10A, 10A, and New Hampshire Route 120, 120, the Hanover CDP recorded a population of 9,078 people at the 2020 census. The town is part of the Lebanon–Claremont micropolitan area and also contains the smaller villages of Etna, New Hampshire, Etna and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Woodstock, Vermont
Woodstock is the shire town (county seat) of Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,005. It includes the villages of Woodstock, South Woodstock, Taftsville, and West Woodstock. History Chartered by New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth on July 10, 1761, the town was a New Hampshire grant to David Page and 61 others. It was named after Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England, as a homage to both Blenheim Palace and its owner, George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough. The town was first settled in 1768 by James Sanderson and his family. In 1776, Joab Hoisington built a gristmill, followed by a sawmill, on the south branch of the Ottauquechee River. The town was incorporated in 1837. Although the Revolution slowed settlement, Woodstock developed rapidly once the war ended in 1783. The Vermont General Assembly met here in 1807 before moving the next year to the new capital at Montpelier. Waterfalls in the Ottauquechee River ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York Times''. Together with entrepreneur Raoul H. Fleischmann, they established the F-R Publishing Company and set up the magazine's first office in Manhattan. Ross remained the editor until his death in 1951, shaping the magazine's editorial tone and standards. ''The New Yorker''s fact-checking operation is widely recognized among journalists as one of its strengths. Although its reviews and events listings often focused on the Culture of New York City, cultural life of New York City, ''The New Yorker'' gained a reputation for publishing serious essays, long-form journalism, well-regarded fiction, and humor for a national and international audience, including work by writers such as Truman Capote, Vladimir Nabokov, and Alice Munro. In the late ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Misinformation
Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information is ''deliberately'' deceptive and propagated. Misinformation can include inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, or false information as well as selective or half-truths. In January 2024, the World Economic Forum identified misinformation and disinformation, propagated by both internal and external interests, to "widen societal and political divides" as the most severe global risks in the short term. The reason is that misinformation can influence people's beliefs about communities, politics, medicine, and more. Research shows that susceptibility to misinformation can be influenced by several factors, including cognitive biases, emotional responses, social dynamics, and media literacy levels. Accusations of misinformation have been used to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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COVID-19 Misinformation
False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messaging, and mass media. False information has been propagated by celebrities, politicians, and other prominent public figures. Many countries have passed laws against "fake news", and thousands of people have been arrested for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. The spread of COVID-19 misinformation by governments has also been significant. Commercial scams have claimed to offer at-home tests, supposed preventives, and "miracle" cures. Several religious groups have claimed their faith will protect them from the virus. Without evidence, some people have claimed the virus is a bioweapon accidentally or deliberately leaked from a laboratory, a population control scheme, the result of a spy operation, or the side effect of 5G upgrades to cell ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2020 United States Presidential Election
United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and California junior senator Kamala Harris defeated the incumbent Republican Party (United States), Republican president Donald Trump and vice president Mike Pence. The election saw the highest Voter turnout in United States presidential elections, voter turnout by percentage 1900 United States presidential election, since 1900. Biden received more than 81 million votes, the List of United States presidential candidates by number of votes received, most votes ever cast for a presidential candidate in U.S. history. In a competitive primary that featured the most candidates for any political party in the Sixth Party System, modern era of American politics, Biden secured the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Democratic presidential nomination. Biden's running ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |