Alt/Indie News

Tractor Hacking: The Farmers Breaking Big Tech’s Repair Monopoly

"When it comes to repair, farmers have always been self reliant. But the modernization of tractors and other farm equipment over the past few decades has left most farmers in the dust thanks to diagnostic software that large manufacturers hold a monopoly over. In this episode of State of Repair, Motherboard goes to Nebraska to talk to the farmers and mechanics who are fighting large manufacturers like John Deere for the right to access the diagnostic software they need to repair their tractors."

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First ‘Jackpotting’ Attacks Hit U.S. ATMs

"ATM 'jackpotting' — a sophisticated crime in which thieves install malicious software and/or hardware at ATMs that forces the machines to spit out huge volumes of cash on demand — has long been a threat for banks in Europe and Asia, yet these attacks somehow have eluded U.S. ATM operators. But all that changed this week after the U.S. Secret Service quietly began warning financial institutions that jackpotting attacks have now been spotted targeting cash machines here in the United States."

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Chinese Stocks Tumble As H.K. Officials Monitor Surge In ATM Withdrawals

"Anxiety is only increased by the latest report from Reuters that cash withdrawals at Hong Kong ATMs have surged, prompting scrutiny from monetary authorities, the banking industry, and police amid media reports that mainland Chinese are withdrawing hundreds of thousands of dollars using up to 50 cards at a time. China has battled to curb capital outflows for years. A move that took effect on Jan. 1 caps overseas withdrawals using domestic Chinese bank cards."

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As Chinese Stocks Sink, Bankers Begging Friends For Deposits On WeChat

"The annual deposit war is particularly fierce this year. The last day of January in the [WeChat] friend groups, bankers 'beg' for deposits one after another. 'There are more than 20 banks looking, every one is asking for deposits.' a listed company's small partner told reporters that he had been too busy to reply, however. The banker's nickname is 'Guixie.' [a combination of beg and thanks] 'Perhaps because the New Year approached, company payments are more numerous, bank account capital is less, bank competition for deposits is even more intense.' A banking source told reporters bluntly, these days are quite difficult."

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China’s Largest Conglomerate Is On The Verge Of Bankruptcy

"Despite being one of China’s largest conglomerates, HNA has been shut out of stock and bond markets as lenders worry about its outsized debt load, forcing the company to pledge some of its core holdings as collateral for short-term loans, as the Wall Street Journal reported last month. And yet, even as the company resorted to loaning out shares and entering into arcane derivative financing agreements to finance its debt-service payments, it quickly found out that traditional avenues of financing are disappearing or becoming too costly."

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Yellen Says Prices `High’ for Stocks, Commercial Real Estate

"Outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said U.S. stocks and commercial real estate prices are elevated but stopped short of saying those markets are in a bubble. 'What we look at is, if stock prices or asset prices more generally were to fall, what would that mean for the economy as a whole?' Yellen said. 'And I think our overall judgment is that, if there were to be a decline in asset valuations, it would not damage unduly the core of our financial system.'"

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Bank of Japan Panics At Surging Rates, Offers To Buy Unlimited Debt

"As global bond yields break ever higher, it appears The Bank of Japan is realizing it is losing control of its yield curve and today unleashed a double-whammy to stifle the bond bears... Whammy 1 - BoJ offers to buy unlimited 10Y notes at 11bps. Result - a 0.5bps drop in the JGB yield!!"

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Vegas Coroner Would Rather Pay $32,000 Than Release Shooter Autopsy

"Clark County Nevada Coroner John Fudenberg is defying a court order to release the full autopsy report of Stephen Paddock, the shooter who caused the deadliest mass murder in the nation, killing 58 and wounding close to 700 people at a concert in Las Vegas. A judge ordered the coroner Jan. 11 to pay about $32,000 in legal costs to the Review-Journal for refusing to release public records to the newspaper."

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Blowback: How ISIS Was Created by the U.S. Invasion of Iraq

"In Iraq, the U.S. morphed from heroic liberators into brutal occupiers within a matter of weeks. In Fallujah, which would later become an ISIS stronghold, U.S. troops opened fire on a crowd of peaceful protesters in April 2003, killing and wounding dozens of Iraqis. The shootings, the torture, the general chaos, all helped drive thousands of Iraqis from the minority Sunni community into the arms of radical groups led by brutal gangsters, such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi’s Al Qaeda in Iraq, formed in 2004 to fight U.S. troops and their local allies, was a precursor organization to … ISIS."

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Trump’s North Korea Rhetoric: Carbon Copy of Bush On Iraq 15 Years Ago

"Anyone who was paying attention during George W. Bush’s State of the Union addresses in 2002 and 2003 would have found Trump’s statements frighteningly familiar: Trump used exactly the same justifications for war with North Korea as Bush had for war with Iraq when standing at the same podium."

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