Linked List: November 25, 2020

Wednesday, 25 November 2020

NRA Admits Its Executives Are Crooks ★

Beth Reinhard and Carol D. Leonnig, reporting for The Washington Post:

After years of denying allegations of lax financial oversight, the National Rifle Association has made a stunning declaration in a new tax filing: Current and former executives used the nonprofit group’s money for personal benefit and enrichment.

The NRA said in the filing that it continues to review the alleged abuse of funds, as the tax-exempt organization curtails services and runs up multimillion-dollar legal bills. The assertion of impropriety comes four months after the attorney general of New York state filed a lawsuit accusing NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre and other top officials of using NRA funds for decades to provide inflated salaries and expense accounts.

The tax return, which The Washington Post obtained from the organization, says the NRA “became aware during 2019 of a significant diversion of its assets.” The 2019 filing states that LaPierre and five former officials received “excess benefits,” a term the IRS uses when officials have enriched themselves at the expense of a nonprofit entity.

The Republican Party no longer stands for conservatives; it stands for corruption and incompetence. The NRA is squarely on the corrupt side. I would recommend LaPierre get in line for one of the many pardons President “I Won Bigly” has started issuing, but alas for LaPierre (and the president and his family), federal pardons are no good against state charges.

‘Slack Shares Soar Following Report of Possible Salesforce Acquisition’ ★

If there’s anyone who knows how to make great apps and artfully-crafted user experiences, it’s Salesforce.

Email a Dumpster Fire ★

Important work from the Hey Email Research Lab. (It’s harder to set fire to incoming emails than you think.) Cheat code for Hey users, which only seems fair.

Apple Security Chief Maintains Innocence After Bribery Charges ★

Timothy B. Lee, reporting for Ars Technica:

A grand jury in California’s Santa Clara County has indicted Thomas Moyer, Apple’s head of global security, for bribery. Moyer is accused of offering 200 iPads to the Santa County Sheriff’s office in exchange for concealed carry permits for four Apple employees.

Moyer’s attorney says that he did nothing wrong, and notably Apple is standing behind its executive. “We expect all of our employees to conduct themselves with integrity,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement. “After learning of the allegations, we conducted a thorough internal investigation and found no wrongdoing.”

Good to know. I look forward to finding out what the scuttled donation of 200 iPads to the sheriff’s office was really about. Perhaps all just a big coincidence.

The Ars piece is worth it just for this clause, one of the most Silicon Valley things I’ve ever heard: “the conspirators then allegedly met at a San Jose Jamba Juice”.