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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   29341 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 12, 2022

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Ah, thanks for the clarification.That would explain why he had his remarks for today already made (and now leaked).

The House committee was on Tuesday, livestream of proceedings here. Since Bankman-Fried was not available, the nearly four hours all went with Mr. Ray, and it got very repetitive towards the end. But the first hour or two are worth watching, because clearly if Bankman-Fried had been there, what Ray said would have sunk him.

I'm hoping to be able to catch the Senate committee hearing later (I have an appointment when it's live) because I imagine they are ready to burn him at the stake, given his refusal to appear and subsequent arrest 😁

I actually did listen to some of it while doing some light work. I couldn't see her face, but the tone of voice when one rep asked "Quickbooks?!" came through clear enough. That's gonna be a scene in the inevitable miniseries lol.

Also Ray's understated way of basically calling FTX amateur hour compared to Enron was funny. There's a lot of talk that Ellison might have flipped but, tbh, Ray was damning enough. He came across as not just as a credible expert witness but just...as a fucking adult, in stark contrast to everything he described about FTX. He just seemed taken aback that even basic precautions didn't exist. Really sells the impression that FTX might as well have been a kid's lemonade stand in terms of how much effective oversight there was over SBF as he was handling people's money.

I'd say he's lucky but he's in a Bahamian jail now so...

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