June 2023

The DIY ethic is the DNA of skateboarding and the cornerstone of community. Rick spot-checks New Orleans to see how the locals deal with lost spaces and takes a field trip to the sunken Six Flags.

Crypto.com Arena Keeping Controversial Name Despite Exchange Shut Down

Posted on June 11 by Phil Lam X

The naming rights for Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles will not be impacted by the close of Crypto.com’s institutional exchange service, according to the company—despite speculation the exchange update could have led to a change in the storied arena’s name.

According to a statement provided to Blockworks on Friday, Crypto.com said it would soon be shuttering its institutional exchange service for U.S. customers due to a lack of demand from financial institutions.

The closing of the institutional exchange generated speculation online that it would affect the company’s naming rights for Crypto.com Arena, but Crypto.com confirmed in an email to Forbes that the development would not have any impact on the arena’s name.

Crypto.com entered a $700 million naming rights agreement in 2021 with AEG, the owner and operator of the arena known for years as the Staples Center. Crypto.com’s decision to drop the institutional exchange comes amid government pressure on other cryptocurrency exchanges, with Binance’s U.S. division announcing Thursday that users would no longer be able to trade the U.S. dollar on its platform following a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC also sued crypto exchange Coinbase for an alleged breach of trading rules.

Source: Forbes

My Photo Helped Expose A CIA Coverup

Posted on June 7 by Phil Lam X

In VICE’s latest installment of “I Was There, photojournalist Lou Dematteis recounts photographing the capture of U.S. mercenary Eugene Hasenfus after his cargo plane was shot down in the Nicaraguan countryside. Lou’s photograph, along with reporting from his colleagues on the ground, exposed how the American government, including the CIA, was illegally using funds made from selling arms to Iran to secretly fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. This became known as the Iran-Contra affair and the resulting scandal led to the conviction and resignation of several Reagan Administration officials, most notably Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North.