Latest news with #TPM
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
DeSantis under fire for using disaster funds to build migrant detention jail
Officials in Florida diverted crucial disaster preparedness and response resources to support the hasty construction of the so-called Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention jail by the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, a newly published report has claimed. Some of the $20m in contracts analyzed by Talking Points Memo (TPM) before they inexplicably disappeared from the Florida department of financial services website went to donors or political allies of DeSantis, the report said. Most of the money went to companies providing construction services, communications equipment to be used by jail staff, and security enhancements, according to TPM. In a separate development on Thursday, it was disclosed that a 15-year-old boy was detained and held at the controversial remote Everglades jail for several days earlier this month, despite the insistence of state and federal authorities that only adults were housed there. Related: Hundreds of detainees with no criminal charges sent to Trump's 'Alligator Alcatraz' DeSantis's alleged raid on resources intended for disaster response has prompted fury from Florida Democrats, who say creating a deficit as the Atlantic hurricane season approaches its peak is the height of irresponsibility. 'DeSantis already operates under a cloud of corruption when it comes to stealing taxpayer dollars,' said Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who toured the remote Everglades detention center on Saturday with other Democratic lawmakers, and declared conditions there 'inhumane'. 'It's no surprise he'd siphon off and create shortfalls in our hurricane preparedness funds for this boondoggle, then hide it from the public, or that he'd hand out sweetheart contracts to donors to build this monument to cruelty and denied due process.' DeSantis has said the jail was set up, and will be operated, using $450m in taxpayers' money he expects to be refunded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema). Yet in the government's response to a lawsuit filed by environmental groups seeking to close the controversial camp, Trump administration officials have attempted to distance themselves from the project. TPM identified $19,983,785.03 in more than a dozen contracts that the state was invoiced for, or paid, from nine separate vendors. Some charged additional 'rush fees' for supplying their products, reflecting the DeSantis administration's urgency to get the camp up and running in time for Donald Trump's visit on 1 July. At least one of the documents confirmed that resources allocated for Florida's 'disaster preparedness' apparatus were diverted to the jail, TPM said, and that all had come from the executive office of the governor and were marked 'procurement per executive order'. The largest contract was for $11,903,977.18 to a company called Meridian Rapid Defense Group LLC, a provider of vehicle barriers that were used at DeSantis's 2023 inauguration. The company's chief executive, Peter Whitford, told TPM he did not know if the 100 barrier sets ordered were destined for Alligator Alcatraz. 'What they do with that product is not part of our purview,' he said. Previous reporting by the Miami Herald revealed that at least three vendors who won Alligator Alcatraz contracts had made financial donations to DeSantis or the Florida Republican party. TPM identified a fourth, a company called WeatherSTEM Inc, whose founder Ed Mansouri gave $3,000 to DeSantis in 2021. Mansouri, whose company received a $24,740 contract for two lightning detectors, charged a $750 rush fee on each unit, the documents show. Mansouri told TPM: 'My admiration for Governor DeSantis has nothing to do with my business.' According to the report, copies of all of the contracts were originally posted to the Florida accountability contract tracking system on the website of the state's department of financial services, but mysteriously disappeared during the course of TPM's reporting. None of the state entities contacted by the Guardian for comment responded. Thursday's revelation that an undocumented minor was sent to the jail, meanwhile, angered immigration advocates, who said it showed the chaotic nature of the state's haste to populate it with detainees with no criminal record or active proceedings. The Tampa Bay Times identified the child as a 15-year-old Mexican national named Alexis, who was riding with friends in a vehicle stopped in Tampa by the Florida highway patrol. Troopers handed over the group to the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, who sent them to the Everglades facility on the day it opened. Alexis's father told the newspaper he did not know where his son was for several days until he received a call from the camp. The Times said Alexis was now at a federal shelter for migrant children. In an email to the newspaper, Stephanie Hartman, spokesperson for the Florida emergency management division that operates the jail, said Alexis had lied about his age. An alliance of environmental groups, immigration advocates, Native American tribes and Democratic politicians has formed in opposition to the jail. A Move On petition calling for its closure had recorded almost 45,000 signatures by Thursday. 'This place needs to be shut the hell down,' Wasserman Schultz said. 'This internment camp is an outrageously wasteful publicity stunt, designed to hurt immigrants and distract from reckless Republican policies.'
NZ Herald
17-07-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Labour's chance to distance itself from Te Pāti Māori
Massey University's GDPLive is also trending back towards zero. The brain drain is worse than ever. As highlighted by Herald Business Editor at Large Liam Dann, this matches BusinessNZ's latest data suggesting both manufacturing and services went backwards in May and June, with services continuing its decline since February. The overall economy doing so poorly is especially alarming given the agricultural boom. Westpac observes that households' after-tax disposable incomes increased just 0.9% over the past year despite the tax cuts, while consumer prices increased 2.5%. Stats NZ reported yesterday that food prices were up 4.6% over the last year, and ASB thinks overall inflation is already back above 3%. Local and international inflation fears suggest just one more cut to the Official Cash Rate this cycle, although households moving off fixed mortgages before the election will benefit from earlier cuts. Bond markets remain worried about New Zealand's creditworthiness, with yields on 10-year bonds still stuck around 4.6%, nearly 7% higher than the 4.3% Nicola Willis' debt-servicing estimates assume. Westpac thinks yields will increase to nearly 5% over the next two years, suggesting Willis must find around another $1.5 billion a year for debt servicing alone. Assuming health, education, law and order and defence aren't cut, there's no prospect of a balanced budget this decade. While even the most pessimistic forecasts indicate that 2026 will feel better for voters than 2025, that'll be off the back of two recessions in two years, not quite what National promised in 2023. Nor would two recessions be evidence, to use Christopher Luxon's words, of his Government 'turning the joint around', however much 'blimmin' hard work' he says he's doing. New Zealand's results certainly compare unfavourably with Argentina, where President Javier Milei and Finance Minister Luis Caputo inherited a complete basket case from their left-wing predecessors at the same time as Luxon and Willis. After the kind of urgent and robust fiscal and regulatory reforms Luxon and Willis say aren't viable in New Zealand, Argentina's economy is booming at nearly 6% a year. Its books are in surplus, inflation has been subdued, exports are growing, private-sector wages are rising faster than prices, Milei's favourability rating is touching 50%, well ahead of poor Luxon on around 30%, and his Libertad Avanza Party is set to win this October's parliamentary elections. National, Act and NZ First supporters will never know what might have been had Luxon and Willis rejected the politics-first incrementalism recommended by their mentors Sir John Key and Sir Bill English and quickly implemented Milei-style reforms instead. That's all speculation. The relevance to the byelection is that, without an economic boom, National relies even more heavily on its scare campaign against TPM. Sadly for Labour, TPM seems to be doing everything it can to help National, with its co-leader Rawiri Waititi now revealing his political hero is Burkina Faso's Marxist military dictator Ibrahim Traore, who opposes democracy, seized power in a coup, butchered civilians, criminalised homosexuality, cracked down on public dissent and freedom of the press, and removed civil liberties generally. Labour must win the byelection decisively to demonstrate electoral power over TPM. At least as important, it must campaign hard in doing so, belying Luxon's suggestion the byelection could be a mere 'pillow-fight' between two allies and differentiating itself not just temperamentally but ideologically from its radical opponent. Among major party activists, there's sometimes a tendency to concede the moral high ground to smaller allies. Labour or National activists can be caught saying that, of course, they really agree with the Greens or Act, but – unlike them – they must sound more moderate to not scare off median voters. That's exactly the wrong way for Labour and National activists to think of their parties. They should instead define themselves positively for what they stand for, not just position themselves as paler and more cynical versions of the real thing. It doesn't help Labour when Willie Jackson – its fifth-ranked MP – declares that he 'loves' TPM but that 'a little bit of compromise could help the situation'. To win back the 60,000 swing voters from National it needs, Labour must demonstrate that it's not just TPM's tactics it opposes but its objectives. That shouldn't be too difficult even for Jackson. He sent his kids to Te Kōhanga Reo for primary school and then King's College for secondary school so they would be deeply immersed in both sides of the Treaty partnership. You won't hear any Labour MP express admiration for a butcher like Traore. Labour strategists say the issues concerning Tāmaki Makaurau voters are the same as those worrying everyone else: jobs, health, homes and the cost of living – the very things at risk from Luxon's failure to get the economy booming as promised. They point to their candidate, Peeni Henare, being very much a traditional Labour man, with a strong whakapapa to the Māori Battalion and even the National Party and its Reform Party parent, as well as to a number of Ngāpuhi iwi plus Whakatōhea, Ngāti Kahungunu and Rongowhakaata. The strategists say Henare speaks better te reo than anyone in TPM but thinks a roof over the head, food on the kids' plates and a decent local primary school are more important than academics' latest theories about the 1840 translations of kawanatanga and tino rangatiratanga. While Henare supported TPM's parliamentary haka against the Treaty Principles Bill, he also saw that it breached Parliament's tikanga and had the mana to apologise. Insiders say the former Minister of Defence, ACC, Tourism and Forestry would be a senior minister in a new Labour Cabinet, to which Hipkins prefers to appoint only Labour ministers rather than add-ons from the Greens and TPM. Strategists point out that a Henare win would also bring Labour's 39-year-old Georgie Dansey into Parliament, whose whakapapa includes not just Ngāti Tūwharetoa but also the Māori Battalion and Māori All Blacks. With the economy in trouble, a fierce battle between Labour and TPM rather than Luxon's pillow-fight would undermine the second of National's re-election pillars. Henare has a major opportunity to prove his worth to his leader and party.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CloudCover Receives Growth Investment from Argentum to Accelerate Global Expansion and Technology Innovation
IRVING, Calif., July 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CloudCover, a leading provider of third-party maintenance (TPM) and IT lifecycle management solutions powered by its cloud-based CoverIT™ platform, announced yesterday a growth investment from Argentum, a New York-based growth equity firm that partners with founder-led B2B software and technology-enabled services companies. The investment will support CloudCover's continued expansion into global markets and accelerate the development of its platform, CoverIT™—a purpose-built service operations platform that enables more efficient and scalable TPM delivery across the IT ecosystem. "CloudCover has reached a pivotal point in its growth journey," said Jeff Huggins, founder and CEO of CloudCover. "The opportunity to lead the TPM and IT lifecycle management markets through technology innovation is massive—and accelerating. Argentum is the right partner to help us scale, without compromising the culture, vision, or execution that got us here. We're incredibly proud of the team we've built and energized by the road ahead," Mr. Huggins will continue to lead the Company as Chairman and CEO and remain the majority shareholder after the investment. CloudCover's platform and services are used by major IT channel partners to deliver flexible, cost-effective infrastructure support and field services around the globe. The company's differentiated platform model and partner-first approach have fueled rapid growth in both North America and international markets. "We've earned the trust of some of the biggest names in the channel by delivering reliability, responsiveness, and the flexibility they need to win," said Robert Kenney, Chief Revenue Officer at CloudCover. "This partnership with Argentum allows us to invest further in our partner ecosystem, continue our international expansion, and deliver an even higher standard of support." "CloudCover's purpose-built platform coupled with its global service capabilities offers its channel partners the opportunity to participate in the lucrative TPM market in a frictionless way with limited investment and under their own brand. We believe this "channel-first" strategy represents a highly differentiated approach to the TPM market that positions CloudCover to continue its rapid growth, said Daniel Raynor, Managing Partner at Argentum. "We're excited to support CloudCover's experienced leadership team during the Company's next phase of growth and innovation." CloudCover joins a portfolio of founder-led companies backed by Argentum that are transforming their industries through innovation, customer focus, and operational excellence. About CloudCoverCloudCover is a leading provider of third-party maintenance (TPM) and IT lifecycle management solutions for the global IT channel. Powered by its purpose-built CoverIT™ platform, CloudCover enables partners to deliver efficient, flexible infrastructure support at scale. With a global footprint and a partner-first mindset, CloudCover is transforming how IT services are delivered and managed worldwide, from desktop to data center. Learn more at About ArgentumArgentum is a New York-based growth equity firm that helps scale bootstrapped, capital efficient B2B software, technology-enabled, and business services companies. The firm provides capital to accelerate growth, fund acquisitions, and generate shareholder liquidity. Over its 30+ year history, Argentum has invested in over 100 companies, supported more than 200 add-on acquisitions, and been named to Inc's list of Top Founder Friendly Investors for five consecutive years. Argentum fills the growing gap between venture capital funds and later stage PE firms by targeting capital-efficient companies that are not seeking a change in control. Learn more at View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE CloudCover IoT, Inc. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Mint
15-07-2025
- Mint
Missing Windows XP? Here's how you can still run it on modern PCs in 2025
Windows XP holds a special place in many users' hearts. Even after more than two decades, some still want to run this classic operating system on modern hardware. While most people use XP inside virtual machines, a small but passionate community is going further, making XP work directly on the latest computers. Yes, you can, though it is not as simple as it used to be. Hardware made after 2018 was not designed with XP in mind, so getting it to work takes patience and some old-school troubleshooting. The main challenges are modern PC settings and driver compatibility. Most new computers use something called UEFI firmware which is basically the computer's main settings menu. This is where the hardware gets ready for Windows to start. To open this menu, restart your computer and press a key like F2, Del, F10, or Esc during startup. The exact key usually shows briefly on the screen or can be found online for your model. Here are the settings you need to look for and why: Secure Boot prevents your computer from running operating systems it does not recognise. Since XP is very old, you will need to switch this off. You can usually find this under the Security or Boot sections. UEFI or Legacy Boot Mode controls how your computer starts. You need to set it to Legacy or CSM mode, so it behaves like older machines that XP understands. TPM is a security chip. XP does not support TPM 2.0, so if your PC has it, you should turn it off. SATA Mode controls how your storage drive communicates with the system. Change it to IDE or Legacy instead of AHCI or RAID, so XP can detect the drive during installation. Be sure to save your changes before exiting by pressing F10 on most computers. These steps make your modern PC act like an older one temporarily, giving XP a chance to install. If you are unsure of your current settings, write them down or take photos before making changes so you can restore them if needed. Once the settings are adjusted, the biggest problem is drivers. XP doesn't support most modern Wi-Fi cards, graphics, or USB devices. You will need special drivers from online forums or older compatible versions. Some hardware might not work at all. Many enthusiasts create custom XP installation disks with the required drivers already included. Tools like NTLite and Rufus help merge drivers and service packs into your installation files. Since modern PCs often lack DVD drives, installing from USB is usually necessary. Always download your XP installer from a trusted source and check for malware. If you have a valid old product key, it usually still activates XP. Microsoft ended official support in 2014, so updates and licensing are unofficial now. Using XP online is risky because of unpatched security gaps. Experts advise keeping XP systems offline or using them only for specific older programs. Some fans use an unofficial Service Pack 4, which bundles previous fixes, but it does not solve all issues. For most users, running XP in a virtual machine is safer and easier. Running it on real hardware is a niche hobby for those who enjoy a technical challenge. If you enjoy experimenting and learning how computers work, bringing XP back to life on modern hardware can be rewarding. Helpful guides and communities exist online for anyone willing to try. With some time and effort, Windows XP can still run on today's newest PCs. But this is only for those who want a taste of computing from the early 2000s, not productivity.
Business Wire
14-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Blackstone Multi-Asset Investing (BXMA) Hires Monica Issar as Senior Managing Director
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blackstone (NYSE: BX) today announced that Monica Issar will join Blackstone Multi-Asset Investing ('BXMA') as a Senior Managing Director based in New York where she will be the Head of Total Portfolio Management ('TPM'). Monica will join the TPM leadership team partnering closely with Co-Chief Investment Officers, Joe Dowling and David Ben-Ur. She will report directly to Joe Dowling, Global Head of Blackstone Multi-Asset Investing. "Monica is a proven leader with a remarkable track record of driving innovation in investment solutions and scaling multi-asset platforms," says Joe Dowling. "Her expertise will be pivotal in advancing BXMA's portfolio management capabilities and delivering value to our clients worldwide. We are thrilled to welcome her to the team." Monica brings over 25 years of experience in multi-asset investing, portfolio solutions, and leadership within the financial services industry, including building and scaling investment platforms for institutional and private clients globally. Monica joins Blackstone from J.P. Morgan Global Private Bank, where she served as the Global Head of Multi-Asset & Portfolio Solutions. In this role, she managed a $55 billion Outsourced Chief Investment Office and a team of over 300 professionals managing $600 billion in single- and multi-asset portfolios. Monica Issar adds: 'I am honored to join Blackstone, a firm renowned for its scale, innovation, and client-first approach. I look forward to working with Joe and the BXMA team to deliver cutting-edge portfolio solutions and drive meaningful outcomes for our clients across asset classes.' BXMA's Total Portfolio Management platform manages large-scale total portfolios across asset classes in both public and private markets. The TPM platform is a natural extension of BXMA's business as clients increasingly look for strategic investment partners who can deliver tailored solutions across a wide variety of opportunities. TPM leverages Blackstone's strength and position as the world's largest alternative asset manager. Blackstone Multi-Asset Investing (BXMA) manages $88 billion across a diversified set of businesses. We strive to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for our clients across market cycles. Our strategies include Absolute Return, Multi-Strategy, Total Portfolio Management, and Public Real Assets.
