Archive
Op-Ed: “Legal But Not Right — How Washington Sold Your Privacy to Wall Street”
By Akashma News
In 1999, Congress passed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), hailed as a milestone in modernizing the American financial system. What it truly did was dismantle the last protections separating your private financial life from corporate surveillance — and it did so with bipartisan ease.
Behind the bill were not just lawmakers, but law firms, lobbyists, and banking giants like Citigroup and JPMorgan, who lobbied relentlessly to strip away decades-old barriers. Once the law passed, many of its political architects — like Senator Phil Gramm — stepped through the revolving door straight into the arms of the very institutions they deregulated.
The GLBA normalized something unthinkable: the legal sharing and monetization of your personal financial data. Buried in its language is an “opt-out” clause that lets banks legally profit from your information unless you explicitly say no — and most people don’t even know it’s happening.
We’ve been told it’s about “efficiency” and “job creation,” but that’s the illusion. What it really created was a digital gold rush — a financial surveillance state where your every transaction feeds into a system designed for control, not convenience.
It’s time we name it, trace it, and challenge it.
The Equity Myth: How NEM 3.0 Punishes Solar Homeowners in the Name of Fairness
by Akashma News
California regulators claim that Net Energy Metering 3.0 (NEM 3.0) is a step toward equity in the state’s energy landscape. They argue that paying homeowners less for the solar energy they export to the grid helps protect low-income ratepayers who can’t afford to install panels. But behind this narrative lies a policy crafted under pressure from corporate utility giants, shaped by powerful lobbying, and quietly rubber-stamped by an appointed commission whose political connections run deep.
Under NEM 2.0, solar homeowners received credits of 20 to 30 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for the electricity they sent to the grid—roughly equal to what they paid for energy drawn from it. NEM 3.0 slashed that rate to just 3 to 5 cents per kWh for new customers, claiming the change corrects an unfair “cost shift.”
The cost shift argument suggests that solar users were underpaying for grid maintenance and public programs, offloading those expenses onto non-solar customers. While that sounds fair in theory, the reality tells a different story.
Utilities now buy surplus solar power for pennies, only to resell it to neighbors at 30 to 40 cents per kWh. The difference goes straight into corporate profits. Meanwhile, the homeowners who invested thousands in solar technology—often encouraged by state and federal subsidies—get shortchanged.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) was empowered to reform net metering under Assembly Bill 327 (AB 327), passed in 2013. That legislation gave regulators broad authority to reshape solar compensation structures—authority that utilities lobbied hard to influence, ultimately leading to the adoption of NEM 3.0.
Follow the Money: Lobbying and Political Influence
Behind NEM 3.0 are California’s energy titans: Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E). These companies have long lobbied to weaken net metering policies, claiming financial harm while reporting increasing profits. Their strategy paid off
According to data compiled by the Solar Rights Alliance and Food & Water Watch, California’s utility industry has spent over $202 million on political campaigns since 2000. Of that, $11.3 million went to sitting legislators, and $2.5 million to Governor Gavin Newsom’s campaigns alone. Newsom, in turn, appointed every member of the current CPUC.
These same companies invested another $147 million in lobbying efforts, targeting legislation and regulatory decisions. Sempra Energy (parent company of SDG&E) donated $31,200 to Newsom, while PG&E and Edison International (SCE’s parent company) contributed hundreds of thousands more. These financial ties have raised serious questions about impartiality within the CPUC.
The Vote That Changed California’s Energy Landscape
On December 15, 2022, the CPUC unanimously approved NEM 3.0 under Decision D.22-12-056. The five commissioners—Alice Reynolds (President), Genevieve Shiroma, Clifford Rechtschaffen, John Reynolds, and Darcie L. Houck—voted in favor of reducing solar compensation rates for new customers.
Though commissioners themselves are not elected and do not receive direct campaign contributions, their appointments are inherently political. Governor Newsom’s financial ties to utilities cast a shadow over the commission’s decisions, especially when those decisions disproportionately benefit corporate interests at the expense of California homeowners.
Troubling Patterns and Whistleblower Warnings
The CPUC has a troubling history of close ties with the utility industry. In 2014, leaked emails revealed that PG&E executives had engaged in inappropriate communications with CPUC officials to sway regulatory outcomes (NBC Bay Area).
In 2020, former CPUC Executive Director Alice Stebbins alleged she was fired after exposing $200 million in uncollected fees from utilities. Stebbins claimed her dismissal was politically motivated and retaliatory, reinforcing the perception that CPUC oversight is compromised (ProPublica).
The False Promise of Equity
Proponents of NEM 3.0 say it promotes equity by eliminating cost burdens on non-solar customers. But what equity is achieved when public subsidies fund private solar systems, only for utilities to seize the value of that energy at below-market rates? What fairness is there when utilities export our surplus electricity to neighboring states at wholesale prices, while Californians pay premium rates at home?
If regulators truly cared about equity, they would have expanded access to solar for renters, low-income families, and community cooperatives. Instead, NEM 3.0 slams the door on future adopters, particularly those without the means to afford expensive battery storage systems.
Conclusion: A System Rigged Against the People
This isn’t about equity. It’s about control and profit. NEM 3.0 ensures utilities remain the central power brokers in California’s energy future. It undercuts local energy independence, disincentivizes clean energy adoption, and breaks trust with the very public that paid for the green transition.
Until California dismantles the cozy relationships between regulators and utility giants, and restores fair value for solar energy, we will continue to pay a premium for our own sunshine—while the real dividends go straight to corporate shareholders.
CALIFORNIA’S SOLAR SCANDAL: THE SUN IS FREE, BUT MONOPOLY UTILITIES MAKE US PAY
By Akashma News
SACRAMENTO — California has become a national leader in solar power, boasting the largest number of rooftop solar installations in the United States. With endless sunlight and billions in taxpayer subsidies, one might expect the state’s energy costs to be low and accessible. Instead, Californians are facing skyrocketing electric bills, while utility giants reap profits from policies shaped by powerful lobbyists and a complicit state legislature.
Despite producing more electricity than the state can consume during peak solar hours, consumers are still paying among the highest rates in the nation. At the core of this contradiction lies a tale of broken promises, policy manipulation, and a green energy revolution hijacked by corporate interests.
Sunlight Subsidized by Taxpayers, Monetized by Utilities
Over the past two decades, both federal and state governments have invested heavily in making solar energy viable. Programs like the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and California’s Solar Initiative (CSI) funneled billions into the development and installation of solar technology. The Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) even paid residents to install battery systems.
But while taxpayers funded the transition, they were never guaranteed access to the benefits. Instead, the electricity generated by the sun — a limitless and free resource — became a product bought and sold by utility monopolies.
Net Energy Metering 3.0: A Gift to Utilities
In April 2023, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) implemented Net Energy Metering 3.0 (NEM 3), slashing the compensation new solar customers receive for selling excess solar energy back to the grid. Under previous versions, customers earned between 20 and 30 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Under NEM 3, new adopters now receive just 3 to 5 cents.
However, existing customers who installed solar panels under earlier NEM agreements remain “grandfathered in” and continue receiving the higher compensation rates, at least for the duration of their original contract period.
Consumer advocates and independent energy experts argue that NEM 3 is a calculated move by the utilities to undercut solar adopters and preserve profits. “This is nothing short of legalized theft,” said a renewable energy consultant who requested anonymity. “Taxpayers built the system, but utilities own the profits.”
The utility companies claim that reduced net metering rates help protect low-income ratepayers and maintain grid reliability. But the reality paints a different picture. Investor-owned utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric have reported rising revenues while residential electricity rates have soared.
The Lobbyists Behind the Curtain
Documents obtained through the California Secretary of State’s lobbying disclosure system show that utility companies spent millions lobbying legislators in the years leading up to NEM 3’s approval. These corporations funneled money into campaign donations, PR campaigns, and pressure groups to promote their version of a “fair” energy market.
State lawmakers, many of whom received significant contributions from energy sector PACs, largely fell in line. The result: legislation that gutted one of the most successful solar adoption programs in the country.
“The politicians in Sacramento sold us out,” said Sarah Ramirez, a homeowner in Riverside who installed solar panels in 2020. “We were promised energy independence and lower bills. Now I’m locked into a system where I sell my energy for pennies and buy it back at a premium.”
The Green Mirage: EV Costs and Energy Exports
The push for electric vehicles (EVs) has only added insult to injury. In 2019, it cost around $7 to charge an EV for 270 miles. Today, thanks to rising electricity prices, that same charge can cost upwards of $20 at public charging stations.
Meanwhile, surplus electricity produced during peak hours is sold to neighboring states at discounted wholesale rates. California residents, who helped fund the solar infrastructure, are essentially subsidizing cheap energy for other states while paying some of the highest rates in the U.S.
Who Owns the Sun?
California’s energy paradox begs a fundamental question: Who owns the sun? If the public funded solar infrastructure and the sun shines freely, why are residents paying monopoly prices for power?
The answer lies in policy manipulation and a regulatory framework that prioritizes investor returns over public benefit. Until lawmakers confront the influence of utility lobbyists and restore fair compensation to solar producers, Californians will continue to bear the burden of a broken system.
As sunlight continues to flood the Golden State, the question remains: How long will we let corporate monopolies bottle and sell our sunshine back to us at a premium?
Crowdfunding; Charities turn out to be a booming business
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet. (photo/www.blackenterprise.com)
Crowdfunding is by definition, “the practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet.” Forbes.com
Some of these sites, like Fundraise.com,CauseVox, DoJiggy’s Pledge software andFundly were set up specifically to help non-profits raise money to support their causes. Others, like Kickstarter and indiegogo, aren’t non-profit specific but have been used by charities to raise money to support their mission. Today, let’s talk about crowd-funding websites for non-profits: what they are, and how your organization can use them to raise more money quickly and efficiently.
I have been following many charity driven websites that are profiting from the necessity of people. These domain sites turn-out online business make very easy for anybody that wants to tap into the business to get on board betraying their own people when they use them to support this unethical enterprise. (Fundraising Authority)
Currently there are hundreds wordwide of domains used to collect donations.
Indiegogo and Kickstarter are two of the most successful online companies engaged in the donation business or attracting capital for new ventures, these two companies were create with the idea to help new enterpruniers out in their feet but soon it had evolved to more diverse capital attracting business.
Indiegogo, “When your campaign raises funds, Indiegogo charges a 9.0% fee on the funds you raise. If you reach your goal, you get 5.0% back, for an overall fee of 4.0%” indiegogo website.
youcaring, “How Does YouCaring Make Money If It’s Always Free for Everyone?
We are supported by thousands of contributors from all over the world who have a heart to help people in the middle of challenging life situations. We are incredibly thankful to our donors for allowing us to continue to help thousands of people everyday.”
GoFundme created October 2010, owner, Andrew Ballester, organization, California Product Shop Inc. whose President is Brad Damphousse a millionaire in the donation business.
The website that you are using is profiting from Gaza, Africa, South America, Syria, Iraq and any other country that suffer war.
The truth is that you do not know who is on the other side of the campaign.
The photo below is an example of a campaign for Gaza, the organizer of the campaign shows to be somebody profile name Jilu, if you click on the link, the the real name shows on a facebook profile as Mohammed Abdulmajeed, which seems to be the same person I interviewed via email, the same person that created IgiveOnline.com, if he is successful on the campaigns he organize he could be making a money out of the misery of Gaza, and if the campaigns that he hosts in his website are successful, he is making double the money.
We could call him entrepreneur, a visionary, a philanthropist, or simply a person taking advantage of a disadvantageous situation. You be the judge!
Rebuild Gaza
The campaigner is Mohammed with various projects, his goal 8,000 pounds.
OUR PROJECTS:
- Water Plantation (Water Supply)
Click here to find out more : http://bit.ly/GazaWaterSupply
Uninterruptible Power Supply (Switch on Gaza)
Click here to find out more: http://bit.ly/GazaElectricity
- Celox (Stop the bleeding)
Click here to find out more: http://bit.ly/GazaCelox
Jilu Miah shows as the organizer of the campaign Rebuild Gaza, click on it and Mohammed real profile appears. (snapshots from IgiveOnline.com Rebuild Gaza
In a email interview Mohammed Abdumajeed said what made him fund Igiveonline. He is a college graduate from the United Kingdom, he is in his thirties and said to work for the education directorate. He studied creative design and worked in sales after college.
“Igiveonline.com was started as a way for me to collect donations for a cause I believed in. After seeing other websites and the charges associated with them, I sought to make my own online page for my fundraising so I could lessen the charges.” Said Abdulmajeed
Igiveonline like dozens other domains had turned out to be a huge revenue for their founders. Abdulmajeed said to have currently 15 to 20 campaigns going on.
These websites work as a gateway for campaigners that find it easy to just open an account and create a campaign, all they have to do is find a cause, register the cause and distribute the links with their friends in facebook or in any other social platform.
At first this look as a really good cause after all these websites work channeling money to people in need, but there is no accountability for the people that create these campaigns, all you need to do is post photos and a credible story and you have a business running.
According to Abdulmajeed he charges 4 percent fee to individuals, 3 percent to Non-Profits and 2 percent to registered non-profit, but who is he to decide who is non profit, or register non profit, is he some government agent with the power to decide who is is who?
I had noticed that few individuals were already collecting money long before the summer war in Gaza, some may be rightly given the money to needed people, some may have been defrauding their friends and followers, we never will know. But, something very very sure, crowd-funding is a booming business and multi-billion dollar business. Some websites collect from 7 to 20 percent depending on the level of advertisement; example of them Indiegogo , youcaring, GoFundme , Igiveonline.com, these websties allow the user to create campaigns where all they have to do is register and write a story about the campaign, these are just few of them, but after the summer assault to Gaza few more pop out.
We can not deny that there is great need in Gaza, and lots of families do not like the idea to go to make line to pick up bags of food, so they are using online campaigns to collect money, besides I heard from many friends that they are ‘proud to beg’, also many young people in Gaza is taking advantage and creating campaigns to buy camera equipment, to build their homes, buy school supplies.
Good or bad the online campaigns are making the CEO of crowd-funding billionaires.
We always have send money to Gaza without the use of NGOs, they have bad reputation specially the managers of the NGOs, they end up keeping lots of aid or favoring their families, that is a all well known situation in Palestine, non only Gaza, but West Bank as well.
Anyway we know better, if we know our friends we help them, if we feel they are cheating then is on us. In the mean time Gaza infrastructure needs to be reconstructed, but it seems that Palestinian Authority started using their leverage on the situation, and their position as “the ones in charge of reconstruction” to crack down on Hamas and take the political power from them.
The real situation in Gaza is not going to be fix by handouts, online campaigns, AID, NGOs, the situation in Gaza first will change when Israel remove the illegal blockade of their borders, and economy, and second, when the Israel occupation get dismantle once and for all.
Google Truth Predictor 5 years later
Posted on March 12, 2013 by Akashma Online News
by Marivel Guzman
Image credit AFP/Getty Images via @daylife
On October 2006 the words “truth predictors” were all over the internet, after Google said that they will have truth predictor software, according to Eric Schmidt, Google’s Executive Chairman of Google.
He forecast that, within five years, “truth predictor” software would “hold politicians to account”. Voters would be able to check the probability that apparently factual statements by politicians were actually correct, using programmes that automatically compared claims with historic data, he said.
Politicians “don’t in general understand the implications” of the internet, Mr Schmidt argued. “One of my messages to them is to think about having every one of your voters online all the time, then inputting ‘is this true or false?’. We [at Google] are not in charge of truth but we might be able to give a probability.”
That was back then, the same Eric Schmidt that sold 2.5 Billion of stock or 42 percent of his Google shares on February, the 8-k filed on Friday. Last year Eric Schmidt sold another bulk of his shares; 153,193 shares with value of $103.5 million. Last year Google Inc shares were trading at $688.01, now after the sell of 3.2 million shares the share-market-price is $785.37, roughly 120 dollars higher than last year. Very ODD, GOOG price went up to 834.82 after the notice of the sale was published.
This sale comes after Google Inc. had split its shares, meaning that people can buy 1 share for half the price. This maneuvers on high value shares are done with the purpose to attract naive buyers, that will become temporally-imaginary-part-business-owners.
Public companies CEO’s use this trick to cash out the real money(capital money), cheap out the company’s shares to lure buyers into the market, but they’ll keep the Class B shares, which are the ones with more voter power(10 to 1).
In the past companies had done exactly this maneuver only to unload the super-fake-valued shares, then sell to the public the cheaper ones, to later on, the same executives would buy more shares at cheaper prices, then super-fake- value-inflate the shares and sell it again. A cycle of deceit to the outsiders that think in owing a piece of the pie of the richer companies in the planet. (CEOs control millions of shares, valued in billions of dollars, they have an army of “brokers” -anonymously working for them-doing the buying -selling game-inflating the price of the shares), only a blind can not see.
When money of this magnitude is shuffle around something is cooking. Google Inc. worth net is approximately $200 billion, but that net worth is fluctuating all the time, because Google’s price depends on its direct advertisement, addsense google Adds and public shares. I call this sucking-up dry the public’s money. The only people that makes the big money are the executives that keep taking up the real money out of the company’s capital, while the little people delusion to “own” big company’s shares keeps buying faked-valued-shares, the CEOs keep the good shares until they render them worthless. No company is king forever!.
Going back to the original story, where is the truth predictor software Eric Schmidt predicted will be ready in 5 years? Cheap Talk!, or Bullish Talk? what ever it was, the software was not developed, and politicians still running campaigns with lies.
Same politicians that are pushing for censoring the internet; just in case that Google remember their 5 years old prediction and make the truth predictor come to life. Then we do not have to worry for Aaron Swuartzs committing suicide, Bradley Mannings stealing “truths” to be shared with the public, and Julian Assange wouldn’t need to be hiding in an Ecuadorian Embassy because is sharing the truth.
The American could then be able to trust the politicians again, because we will be resting assured that everything promised will be for real, and not a stunt propaganda to win “the chair”.
I see that some people needs to work in his/her super-inflated-patriotism feed by lies and excused secrecy. There is no reason any government should work under secrecy. There is no reason, the governments will punish a real patriot, a hero that risking his life, to unmask criminals embedded inside our Defense Forces. There is no reason the government should be protecting criminals instead is persecuting truth seekers.
When there is no transparency in the government, there is shadow government, and a shadow government does not work for the regular American, which is to close to 300 million. The Generals in our Defense Forces, current and formers(and their families) live like kings. They reserve for themselves the most expensive gourmet dishes, they travel in chartered private planes, they play in the super luxury golf courses built specially for them, all this extravagance paid by American Tax Dollars. These are the real criminals, the ones Bradley Manning is exposing.
While the real heroes, the brave men and women are killed in the ground, all brainwashed by well structured lies, that only serve the Corporations that our Defense Forces are protecting, corporations that are amazing billions of dollars, while we Americans are struggling to survive.
While all this game is taking place, the U.S. unemployment rate, currently at 8.1 percent. That’s more than 1.5 million jobs. Reading these numbers means nothing, but there are more than 2 million families struggling to live another day. That 1.5 million number published by the Unemployment Department is the steady number of current unemployed people, but does not reflect the reality. The people that runs out of employment benefits are taken out of the current statistic sheets.
The health of the Nation is not with the numbers published every day by the financial markets. The health of the nation is reflected by the low debt acquired by credit cards holders every month.
The Google, Yahoo, Wall mart, British Petroleoum and others CEOs are riding the American debt by the horns on the American’s back.
Akashma Online News 