Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

Berhampur, This southern Odisha town in Ganjam district which is also known as the silk city of Odisha will witness a battle between two <keyword id="20781354" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="turncoats" source="keywords">turncoats</keyword> in the Lok Sabha elections. The ruling <keyword id="19967865" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Biju-Janata-Dal" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Biju Janata Dal" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Biju Janata Dal">Biju Janata Dal</keyword> headed by <keyword id="20330417" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chief-Minister-Naveen-Patnaik" source="keywords">Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik</keyword> has fielded <keyword id="21246653" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bhrugu-Baxipatra" source="keywords">Bhrugu Baxipatra</keyword>, who till last week was vice president of the BJP Odisha unit while the BJP has put up <keyword id="21149943" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pradeep-Panigrahy" source="keywords">Pradeep Panigrahy</keyword>, who was expelled from the BJD, as its nominee for the <keyword id="21246654" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="berhampur-lok-sabha" source="keywords">Berhampur Lok Sabha</keyword> constituency. Panigrahpy, a three-time MLA from Gopalpur Assembly constituency was once a close aide of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and even looked after the Ganjam district affairs of the regional party, before being expelled from the BJD. The Congress has fielded Rashmi Ranjan Patnaik for the Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency. The Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency was once a strong citadel of the Congress and even Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had won the Berhampur Lok Seat seat in the 1996 elections. Ganjam district has been a BJD bastion since 2009. The district is also the home district to Naveen Patnaik's Assembly constituency, Hinjili. BJD has won 12 of the 13 Assembly seats in the district in 2019 elections. The fight for the Berhampur Lok Sabha seat will be mainly between two turncoats Bhrugu Baxipatra of BJD and Pradeep Panigrahy of the BJP though the Congress nominee is also in the fray. Panigrahy was expelled from the BJD on charge of "anti-people activities" and was also arrested on alleged corruption cases by the Naveen Patnaik government. The BJP candidate in his public meetings is telling the people 'Etha ra Leka Chhi Da e Deba' (This time will end the chapter). The Gopalpur MLA is asking the electorate the end their inclination towards Naveen Patnaik, who he accused of running the government through outsourcing manner. Panigarhy is also trying to invoke Ganjam sentiment among the people as his rival Baxipatra's activities were mostly confined to the neighbouring Rayagada district before moving to Ganjam in 2019. To defeat Panigrahy, BJD has picked up BJP's former Berhampur nominee Baxipatra with the sole intention of capturing a certain portion of saffron votes. Both parties are fighting hard to win the Berhampur Lok Sabha seat, which is considered the gateway to southern Odisha. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's close aide and BJD leader VK Pandian in a meeting in Bhubaneswar on Sunday appealed to people to vote for the Conch symbol of the regional party. "Please do not see who is a candidate. The chief minister is contesting in all the 147 assembly seats and 21 Lok Sabha constituencies," Pandian said appealing to people to look at Patnaik and Conch symbol alone while going to vote. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections BJD candidate Chandrasekhar Sahu had won the Berhampur Lok Sabha by 94,000 votes defeating his BJP opponent Bhrugu Baxipatra. Apart from voters, the party workers of both the political parties at the grassroots level also seem to be confused. "We have to campaign for the candidate whom we had strongly opposed last time (2019 LS election)," said a BJD worker from Ganjam district. The seven Assembly constituencies under the Berhampur Lok Sabha seat are - Chhatrapur, Gopalpur, Berhampur, Digapandi and Chikita in Ganjam district and Mohana and Parlakhemundi in neighbouring Gajapati district. Of the seven, five seats in Ganjam district are held by the ruling BJD while Mohana and Parlakhemundi are represented by Congress and BJP respectively in the Assembly. Berhampur Lok Sabha seat will go to polls along with three other Lok Sabha constituencies Nabarangpur, Koraput and Kalahandi on May 13.

Odisha's Silk city and its two turncoats to battle it out this Lok Sabha election

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Trump vowed to commute Ross Ulbricht's sentence at the Libertarian National Convention.</li><li>Libertarians view Ulbricht's life sentence as a symbol of government overreach.</li></ul>Donald Trump made an address at the Libertarian National Convention on Saturday, promising to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the jailed founder of the infamous online drug marketplace Silk Road."If you vote for me, on Day One, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht," Trump declared to enthusiastic applause from the crowd in Washington, DC. The move to highlight Ulbricht was strategically catered to Libertarian voters.Ulbricht, now 40, who was imprisoned for life in 2015, is a hero of the US libertarian movement.The Libertarian Party, with its long-standing advocacy for drug legalization and criminal justice reform, has consistently lobbied for Ulbricht's release, viewing his life sentence as a symbol of government overreach.Ulbricht became interested in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wired.com/2015/04/silk-road-1/">libertarian values</a> at university, according to a Wired report, where he discovered the ideas of Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises, an advocate of the moral purpose of free-market capitalism and staunch opponent of interventionism. Ulbricht embraced these ideas of uncompromised freedom, per Wired."When I created Silk Road, I wasn't seeking financial gain,"<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/convicted-silk-road-mastermind-please-leave-me-my-old-age-2015-5"> Ulbricht's </a><a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2086668-gov-uscourts-nysd-422824-251-1.html">wrote in a heartfelt letter</a> to the trial judge in 2015."I created Silk Road because I believed at the time that people should have the right to buy and sell whatever they wanted so long as they weren't hurting anyone else," he wrote.In 2015, he was given<a target="_blank" href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ross-ulbricht-aka-dread-pirate-roberts-sentenced-manhattan-federal-court-life-prison"> life in prison without the possibility of parole</a>. He was also fined $183,961,921.Ulbricht is being held at the United States Penitentiary in Tucson.The majority of goods sold on Silk Road were illegal hardcore drugs, said the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York at his trial."Silk Road was supposed to be about giving people the freedom to make their own choices, to pursue their own happiness," wrote Ulbricht. "While I still don't think people should be denied this right, I never sought to create a site that would provide another avenue for people to feed their addictions."<div type="image" title="Members of the Libertarian Party stand in chairs while chanting and demanding the release of Ross Ulbricht during the party's national convention" height="1333" width="2000" msid="110444542" hostid="261"></div>Trump, who was loudly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-confronted-with-loud-boos-and-heckles-at-libertarian-convention-2024-5?mrfhud=true">booed and heckled</a> during much of his speech at the Libertarian National Convention, did manage to partially win the audience around by committing to free Ulbricht.Katherine Yeniscavich, a Libertarian Party national committee member, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/25/trump-commute-ross-ulbricht-sentence-libertarian-convention-00160025">told Politico</a>, "It's one of the things we wanted from his first term."In addition to the Ulbricht pledge, Trump made further pledges, promising to include a Libertarian in his cabinet and others in senior administrative positions if elected.Correction: May 30, 2024 — Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story called Ross Ulbricht "unjustly imprisoned" without making clear it was characterizing the view of his supporters.

Trump just spotlighted Ross Ulbricht, founder of the online illegal drug marketplace Silk Road. Here's why he's a hero to some.

<ul><li>The US government transferred some of its bitcoin stash to Coinbase this week.</li><li>The government owns about $2 billion worth of bitcoin in a wallet seized from the dark web's Silk Road.</li><li>About 2,000 bitcoin were transferred to Coinbase, worth about $130 million.</li></ul>The US government has moved some of its bitcoin stash to <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/coin-stock?miRedirects=1">Coinbase</a>, according to a closely followed crypto wallet on the blockchain.The crypto wallet is known to be held by the US government and stems from its seizure of bitcoin from the dark web's Silk Road, which was a global e-commerce website for illegal drugs, weapons, and other illicit activities that were facilitated via the transfer of bitcoin and was shut down in 2013.On Tuesday, the US government transferred $65 worth of bitcoin to a wallet address held at Coinbase, according to <a href="https://platform.arkhamintelligence.com/explorer/address/3KrZVU9Jz4UKHpKUtuvkEMX1tY8zeiTvX2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arkham Intelligence.</a> The first transfer was seen as a test to ensure proper connection to the prime account at Coinbase.From there, the US government followed through with a 2,000 bitcoin transfer worth about $131 million to the same Coinbase wallet. Earlier this year, the US government indicated plans to sell about $13 million worth of bitcoin following approval from the US District Court of Maryland. Market participants closely watch the US government's crypto wallet for transactions, as any large sales could impact the price of bitcoin. The US government's crypto wallet stemming from the Silk Road confiscation still holds just over 30,000 bitcoins worth about $2 billion at current prices. This isn't the only bitcoin the US government owns. There is another US government crypto wallet that contains about 94,600 bitcoins worth more than $6 billion that was confiscated from hackers.

The Feds are transferring bitcoin to Coinbase from a $2 billion crypto wallet seized from Silk Road

How 3 Expensive Silks Are Made

Meet the people saving a rare silk tradition that nearly disappeared during Cambodia's communist regime

How mountains of worm cocoons are turned into expensive silk in Vietnam

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Nike recently published a fun and thought-provoking book about the company's next 50 years.</li><li>The company playfully envisions athletic competitions in space and footballs made from stardust. </li></ul>Nike is preparing for the day the Olympics get hosted in outer space. Sort of. In the new book "After all, there is No Finish Line," the sportswear giant takes a step back from the daily business of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sneakerheads-furious-nike-botched-snkrs-air-jordan-1-chicago-drop-2022-11">sneaker drops</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nikes-ceo-highlights-dtc-after-foot-locker-deal-announce-2023-3">talking about the merits of direct sales</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nikes-china-sales-drop-q2-2022-earnings-analysis-2021-12">answering questions about the company's recovery in China</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-sign-its-biggest-bet-in-decades-is-paying-off-2022-12">discussing bloated inventory levels</a> to take a playful look 50 years down the road. The small 192-page book is mostly a fun, futuristic read about what Nike might be doing in 2073. While not a roadmap of the next 50 years of Nike product releases, it's a thought-provoking and revealing take on how the sportswear giant expects consumer behavior to change and how it's getting ready. Nike did not return an email from Insider seeking an interview about the book. The book was edited by several Nike employees and includes contributions from some of Nike's heaviest hitters, like Innovation President Thomas Clarke, Chief Design Officer John Hoke III, and Ron Faris, who previously ran the SNKRS app and who now <a href="https://www.complex.com/sneakers/nike-snkrs-vp-ron-faris-metaverse-virtual-studio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">oversees the company's new Virtual Studio</a>. Sam Grawe, who wrote the 2021 book Nike: Better is Temporary, is an editor and contributed essays. The book has the familiar Nike refrains about the "limitless potential of sport" and a splash of the self-congratulatory, such as a note about the company being "always at the forefront of culture," but it largely doesn't take itself too seriously, conceding the "pages ahead may be laughably inaccurate" in 50 years. Like any good thought exercise, the writers and editors didn't put many guardrails on the brainstorm, veering into the sportswear possibilities of everything from invisibility to self-repairing tissue and underwater breathing. "Given the rate of technological change, certain science fiction could soon become science realities," the company writes. Here are five of the book's conversation-starting concepts.<div type="image" title="The book's contributors include Nike heavyweights, such as Innovation President Thomas Clarke." height="1796" width="2395" msid="99223271" hostid="261" sizebytes="79274"></div><h2>The Offworld Games</h2>The Olympics occupy a lofty place in Nike culture. Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman, the legendary Oregon track coach, also coached the 1972 Olympic track team. In his 2006 biography of Bowerman, Kenny Moore quotes Bowerman, who served in World War II, saying of the Olympics, "This is our answer to war." The reverence for the international athletic competition isn't going away. But in the future, it might no longer take place on earth. In the book, the authors describe in a piece of short fiction an Olympic-like athletic competition called the "Offworld Games" where "planetary superstars" are "unshackled by gravity" and combine "skills from gymnastics, climbing, wrestling, and martial arts."The imagined event is hosted in Nike's "flagship orbital facility." Fittingly, the company also foresees a line of Nike spacewear, "worn by so many travelers embarking for the deep cold of Mars and beyond." <h2>Lunar metals and footballs made from stardust</h2>The galactic predictions don't end there. Nike sees all sorts of cosmic possibilities, especially when it comes to lunar materials, including the possibility of a "football made from stardust, or a bat made from metal harvested from space." On a more terrestrial level, Nike foresees clothing made from spider silk and the emergence of volcanic glass compounds. Coral reefs could grow materials. "Somewhere down the line, it's not too outlandish to consider an entire garment or pair of shoes being grown instead of pieced together," the authors write.In the present, the company's materials innovation is already accelerating. <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aircarbon-x-nike-newlight-and-nike-partner-to-reduce-carbon-footprint-301361052.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nike's business partners include Newlight Technologies</a>, a California company that makes a carbon-negative substitute for plastic and leather. <div type="image" title="Nike's LeBron James Innovation Center features motion-capture cameras and force plates." height="1066" width="1422" msid="99223272" hostid="261" sizebytes="120062"></div><h2>A Shanghai deep-cold facility and an interactive running trail</h2>Nike's always been known for innovation, first at <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2018/06/21/in-exeter-glimpses-of-nikes-industrial-past-photos.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an R&amp;D lab in Exeter, New Hampshire</a>, and today in <a href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/inside-the-nike-sports-research-lab-lebron-james-innovation-center" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the massive LeBron James Innovation Center</a>. The facilities historically have used technology like motion-capture devices and force plates to study how the body moves. Nike doesn't see lab-based innovation slowing down. But it does see it spreading out. The book describes the possibility of satellite research facilities around the world, including a "Shanghai deep-cold facility" used to test "ultrathin insulating fabrics" and a "desert lab near Nairobi" with dozens of running trails that offer "nearly infinite climbing routes," complete with "sensing technologies" wired into the landscape that could measure and adjust to a runner's speed, blood pressure, and heartbeat. <h2>Nike could get into gamification, nudge theory, and MRIs of the brain</h2>Since its earliest days, Nike has mostly paid attention to "below the neck" sports science, focusing on the body, not the mind. The next 50 years will be more holistic. "Nike's business cards of the future may well include titles like perception explorer, insight architect, sports neuroscientist, AI linguist, motivational psychologist, sensor designer, and nutrient coach," the authors write. The company could find itself exploring everything from the psychology of behavior modification to gamification and nudge theory. Nudge theory, or designing an environment to encourage a specific choice, is often associated with more objectionable outcomes like casino designs that keep visitors gambling. Nike sees a future where it can be used to encourage healthier behaviors.The result could be workouts "fine-tuned to our current physiological, metabolic, and hormonal state; a guided meditation or coaching session designed to help us meet short- or long-term goals; (and) a product whose colors change in response to our unique psychic needs."<h2>Democratizing sneaker access</h2>Since cofounder Phil Knight sold his first pair of sneakers, Nike's been a relatively simple business."You buy our product, we take your money," the book's authors write. But that basic "transactional relationship" is dissolving. "Younger audiences expect more from the brands they engage with," Nike writes.What does that mean for Nike's business? The book is spare on details, but digital technologies like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-acquires-rtfkt-as-it-accelerates-metaverse-play-2021-12">NFTs (virtual collectibles)</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-metaverse-lebron-james-wall-street-rtfkt-2022-2">immersive video games</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-annouces-metaverse-platform-swoosh-amid-metaverse-criticism-2022-2">the metaverse</a> could let consumers "participate more deeply" with Nike."Those within Nike view these developments as a means to democratize access, opportunity, and even value-creation and ownership," the company writes. "Picture a marketplace for user-generated designs, avatars, or skins where the royalty doesn't go to the biggest name, but to the unknown kid who had a flash of artistic inspiration."

Nike envisions a wild future with Olympics in outer space, clothing made of spider silk, and footballs make of stardust

Muga silk is known as the 'golden thread.' Here's why a sari made with this silk can cost $6,500.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Diamond from the conservative commentary duo Diamond and Silk died earlier this month. </li><li>At a memorial service on Saturday, her sister suggested it was somehow related to the COVID-19 vaccine. </li></ul>Lynette "Diamond" Hardaway, one-half of the conservative political commentary duo Diamond and Silk, died of heart disease due to chronic high blood pressure, an autopsy reviewed by <a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-donald-trump-covid-heart-disease-02a4169cefd96576e76e49789ea1aa2e">The Associated Press</a> said. The cause of Hardaway's death was not immediately clear after it was announced on January 8, and her sister Rochelle "Silk" Richardson denied rumors that she had died from COVID-19 complications, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/diamond-collapsed-not-sick-death-mike-lindell-says-trump-2023-1">Insider</a> previously reported. "The World just lost a True Angel and Warrior Patriot for Freedom, Love, and Humanity! Diamond blazed a trail, founded on her passion and love for the entire race of humanity. In this time of grief, please respect the privacy of Diamond's family but remember and celebrate the gift that she gave us all! Memorial Ceremony to be announced soon," <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DiamondandSilk/posts/pfbid025ddPdmuR7jwycQ3JRSL3Gd5gTxSNZaqsC4n7WQEqVGNnPLNi27ogX5fLN8o5ESBWl" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">a </a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DiamondandSilk/posts/pfbid025ddPdmuR7jwycQ3JRSL3Gd5gTxSNZaqsC4n7WQEqVGNnPLNi27ogX5fLN8o5ESBWl" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Facebook</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DiamondandSilk/posts/pfbid025ddPdmuR7jwycQ3JRSL3Gd5gTxSNZaqsC4n7WQEqVGNnPLNi27ogX5fLN8o5ESBWl" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> post at the time read. </a>On Saturday, during <a href="https://rumble.com/v26err4-live-lynette-diamond-hardaway-celebration-of-life-with-president-trump-silk.html?mibextid=r5uJeJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a live-streamed memorial service for her sister</a>, Richardson suggested that the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/diamond-collapsed-not-sick-death-mike-lindell-says-trump-2023-1">51-year-old social media personality's</a> death was linked to the COVID-19 vaccine. It's unclear if Hardaway had taken the COVID-19 vaccine but on Saturday Richardson suggested she may have been poisoned by it and floated the false notion that vaccinated people somehow pose a risk to the unvaccinated. "Instead of asking if Americans are vaxxed or unvaxxed, the real question to ask is: Are Americans being poisoned?" Richardson said. Former President Donald Trump, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-says-everybody-wanted-covid-19-vaccines-when-he-was-president-2022-2">who has been vaccinated</a>, also attended the memorial service.

Pro-Trump influencer 'Diamond' died of heart disease, according to her autopsy &mdash; but her sister 'Silk' claimed it was the COVID-19 vaccine

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Diamond and Silk gained viral popularity as two of Trump's most avid supporters.</li><li>Some critics say the sisters became a way for conservative lawmakers to shield themselves from allegations of racism.</li></ul>When the popular conservative influencer Diamond died on Monday, January 9, the Republican party lost one of its most vigorous supporters."Diamond's death was totally unexpected, probably her big and precious heart just plain gave out," former president Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, the social media platform he founded.Diamond and Silk — whose real names are Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson — went viral during the leadup to the 2016 presidential election, becoming two of Trump's most vocal and animated backers. At a December 2015 campaign rally in the sisters' home state of North Carolina, Trump invited the duo on stage and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIXGpScZ0Cg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> them to, "Do your routine."The sisters swiftly became influencers, amassing an avid fan base for their unbridled energy and humor. Their Twitter account, which reads "President Donald J Trump's Most Loyal Supporters" in the bio, has 1.9 million followers, while their Facebook page has 2.4 million.But Diamond and Silk are an anomaly among Trump's supporters, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/11/7/21551364/white-trump-voters-2020">vast majority</a> of whom are white. By contrast, just 8% of Black Americans voted for Trump in 2020, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/03/929478378/understanding-the-2020-electorate-ap-votecast-survey">according to</a> AP VoteCast.Diamond and Silk came to represent the small, yet vocal, cadre of Black Trump supporters. They also sometimes became a way for conservative lawmakers to hide their own racist policies and behaviors, political experts say."A lot of the work that Black Republicans do is to make Republican positions on race bearable and tolerable to white audiences," said Corey Fields, associate professor of sociology at Georgetown University and author of "Black Elephants in the Room: The Unexpected Politics of African-American Republicans."<h2>A Black conservative performance for a white audience</h2>While figures like Diamond and Silk, Candace Owens, and Herschel Walker might sway some Black voters to support conservative policy positions, they are most effective for white audiences — particularly when it comes to divisive issues like abortion and immigration, according to political experts. "Having Black influencers is a way for hesitant white conservatives to say, 'How racist can this be if these Black people support it?'" Fields said.Conservative lawmakers have recognized the usefulness of Black influencers like Diamond and Silk, who can talk about Republican policies in a way that appears race-neutral, while using language and mannerisms that are broadly associated with "Blackness.""The performance they engaged in drew heavily on the aesthetics, attitude, and language of Black communities. But they deployed those things to talk about policies that were consistent with what white conservatives wanted to hear," Fields told Insider."It's a discourse about Blackness where actual Black participants are almost secondary characters," Fields continued. "It's a version of Blackness that has to read as legitimate to a white audience."<div type="image" title="Supporters Diamond and Silk speaks during Donald J. Trump campaign event at the BB&amp;T Center on August 10, 2016 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida." height="2071" width="2761" msid="97011701" hostid="261"></div><h2>Advancing conservative policies</h2>Republican lawmakers have called on Diamond and Silk as a way to advance conservative policies.In 2018, the sisters appeared before Congress to testify about their <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/diamond-and-silk-facebook-censorship-testimony-2018-4">allegations</a> of censorship during the Facebook hearings. They claimed that the social media company had shut down their page because of their support of Trump. Conservative lawmakers were quick to piggyback onto this argument."What is 'unsafe' about two Black women supporting Donald J. Trump?" Republican representative Billy Long <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/diamond-and-silk-question-to-mark-zuckerberg-2018-4">said in a hearing with Mark Zuckerberg</a>.Experts testified there was no evidence of discrimination, but conservative lawmakers used the drama to their advantage, according to scholars Insider spoke with."Part of the role of having people like Diamond and Silk around is to signal, 'Hey, look, this party isn't just white people, and this isn't an issue just about white people,'" Fields said.But the onus also falls on influencers like Diamond and Silk, who "speak about racist double standards, but themselves misrepresent how racism operates," according to James Jones, who teaches Africana studies and sociology at Rutgers University."Rather than tackle the very real issue of how race influences algorithms across the internet, their testimony centered on protecting and elevating their own personal brands," Jones said.<div type="image" title="Lynette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, also known as Diamond and Silk arrive to testify before the House Judiciary Commmittee at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill April 26, 2018 in Washington, DC." height="1503" width="2000" msid="97011703" hostid="261"></div><h2>Sidestepping accusations of racism</h2>The sisters also became the faces of an anti-sanctuary city bill <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-king-introduces-diamond-and-silk-act-press-conference-2019-6">introduced</a> by conservative politician Steve King in 2019.Formally called the "End Sanctuaries and Help Our American Homeless and Veterans Act," the proposed bill aimed to redirect federal funds for sanctuary cities to help homeless military veterans. King referred to the bill as the "Diamond and Silk Act" saying that the sisters helped author the bill.The bill, which ultimately failed, drew criticism from both sides of the aisle: Conservative pundits <a href="https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/conservatives-bashing-rep-steve-king-for-diamond-and-silk-act-gambit">derided the bill</a> as a political stunt at the expense of homeless veterans, while left-leaning media <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/steve-king-diamond-and-silk.html">lambasted</a> King's partnership with Diamond and Silk as <a href="https://www.statesman.com/story/opinion/columns/more-voices/2019/06/14/milbank-steve-kings-proof-hes-not-racist-diamond-and-silk/4911480007/">an attempt to shield himself</a> from allegations of racism.King had been stripped of all of his committee assignments by Republican leaders after <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/us/politics/steve-king-trump-immigration-wall.html">questioning</a> how terms like "white supremacist" have become "offensive." He previously made other statements that have been criticized for racism, including <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2016/07/republican-congressman-steve-king-criticizes-nonwhite-races-for-failing-to-contribute-to-civilization.html">suggesting</a> that people of "western Europe" and "eastern Europe" had contributed more to the world than any other "subgroup.""Republican leaders have openly embraced and elevated these conservative Black voices, however, these figures are only useful to deflect allegations of racism," Jones said. "What we do not see is figures like Diamond and Silk holding Republicans accountable for their dangerous rhetoric and policy positions."

Diamond and Silk became two of the most popular conservative influencers. For Trump and his supporters, they were a way to sidestep accusations of racism.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Justice Department announced a seizure of $3.36 billion in stolen bitcoin. </li><li>Defendant James Zhong pleaded guilty to wire fraud using a dark web market called the Silk Road.</li></ul>The US Department of Justice <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-attorney-announces-historic-336-billion-cryptocurrency-seizure-and-conviction">announced</a> Monday that it had seized $3.36 billion worth of bitcoin from James Zhong, a man who "unlawfully obtained" more than 50,000 bitcoin from a dark web marketplace called the Silk Road. The DOJ's statement said that Zhong pled guilty on Friday to committing wire fraud back in September 2012. The maximum potential sentence for this charge is 20 years in prison. Zhong's plea comes approximately one year after the DOJ seized the currency from his home in Gainesville, Georgia. The DOJ's statement noted that the bitcoin was hidden in an underground safe where it had been placed on a single-board computer that was itself "submerged under blankets" and placed in a popcorn tin in a bathroom closet. At the time, it was the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the DOJ's history, the statement noted. In February 2022, the department <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60310783">seized about $4 billion of bitcoin</a> in the wake of a 2016 theft. The law enforcement officials that searched Zhong's home also uncovered $661,900 in cash, 25 in Casascius coins (physical bitcoin), another 11.116 in bitcoin, several silver and gold colored bars, and one gold colored coin, according to the statement. The Silk Road was an online "darknet" black market for distributing enormous quantities of illegal drugs and illicit goods that operated between 2011 to 2013, according to the statement. Zhong had stolen the bitcoin by executing a scheme to defraud the Silk Road by creating a string of approximately nine fraud accounts on the site, the statement said. Through those fraudulent accounts, Zhong triggered 140 transactions "in rapid succession" to trick the Silk Road's systems into releasing the bitcoin into his accounts, the statement said. He subsequently transferred the currency into a variety of separate addresses in order to avoid detection. "Thanks to state-of-the-art cryptocurrency tracing and good old-fashioned police work, law enforcement located and recovered this impressive cache of crime proceeds," the statement said. "This case shows that we won't stop following the money, no matter how expertly hidden, even to a circuit board in the bottom of a popcorn tin."

You Searched For "Silk" and got 11 results

Odisha's Silk city and its two turncoats to battle it out this Lok Sabha election

PTI

Trump just spotlighted Ross Ulbricht, founder of the online illegal drug marketplace Silk Road. Here's why he's a hero to some.

Rebecca Rommen

The Feds are transferring bitcoin to Coinbase from a $2 billion crypto wallet seized from Silk Road

Matthew Fox

How 3 Expensive Silks Are Made

Insider

Meet the people saving a rare silk tradition that nearly disappeared during Cambodia's communist regime

Insider

How mountains of worm cocoons are turned into expensive silk in Vietnam

Business Insider

Nike envisions a wild future with Olympics in outer space, clothing made of spider silk, and footballs make of stardust

Matthew Kish

Muga silk is known as the 'golden thread.' Here's why a sari made with this silk can cost $6,500.

Business Insider

Pro-Trump influencer 'Diamond' died of heart disease, according to her autopsy but her sister 'Silk' claimed it was the COVID-19 vaccine

Sarah Al-Arshani

Diamond and Silk became two of the most popular conservative influencers. For Trump and his supporters, they were a way to sidestep accusations of racism.

Yoonji Han

The Justice Department said that it seized $3.4 billion in bitcoin stolen a decade ago through the 'Silk Road' dark web

Lakshmi Varanasi

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides