Mainstream News

401(k) millionaires are bragging and posting their balances to social media

"In what many will see as the latest sign of investor euphoria — and of our society’s oversharing epidemic — sharing your 401(k) balance on social media seems to have become a thing. With the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index hitting record after record since President Trump’s election in November 2016, the question, 'How’s your 401(k) doing?' has become a staple in his speeches at campaign-style rallies and fundraisers. And 401(k) balance shoutouts have become a staple among his supporters — and detractors — on Twitter."

Continue Reading401(k) millionaires are bragging and posting their balances to social media

Yellen’s Final Act Is To Ban Wells Fargo From Growing

"Until Wells Fargo addresses shortcomings in areas including internal oversight, it can’t take any action that would boost total assets beyond their level at the end of 2017, without the Fed’s permission. The bank said after-tax profit in 2018 would be reduced by $300 million to $400 million and its stock slumped in late trading Friday."

Continue ReadingYellen’s Final Act Is To Ban Wells Fargo From Growing

YouTube Is Serving Covert Cryptocurrency Mining Ads

"It’s like someone figured out how to monetize the awful Flash ads everyone used to hate for eating CPU cycles. A true win-win! And now it’s even hitting YouTube. TrendMicro has released an updated report, showing a sharp rise in ads served by Google’s DoubleClick service being infested with mining software. Like other attacks, this one uses a Javascript miner to mine Monero via Coinhive."

Continue ReadingYouTube Is Serving Covert Cryptocurrency Mining Ads

Making a Crypto Utopia in Puerto Rico

"Dozens of entrepreneurs, made newly wealthy by blockchain and cryptocurrencies, are heading en masse to Puerto Rico this winter. They are selling their homes and cars in California and establishing residency on the Caribbean island in hopes of avoiding what they see as onerous state and federal taxes on their growing fortunes, some of which now reach into the billions of dollars. They want to build a crypto utopia, a new city where the money is virtual and the contracts are all public, to show the rest of the world what a crypto future could look like. Blockchain, a digital ledger that forms the basis of virtual currencies, has the potential to reinvent society — and the Puertopians want to prove it."

Continue ReadingMaking a Crypto Utopia in Puerto Rico

By reversing policy in Syria, the US is fuelling more wars in the Middle East

"It was a bad moment for the US to stir the pot by saying it would stay in Syria and target Assad and Iran. A Kurdish-Turkish war in northern Syria will be a very fierce one. The US obsession with an exaggerated Iranian threat – about which, in any case, it cannot do much – makes it difficult for Washington to mediate and cool down the situation. Trump and his chaotic administration have not yet had to deal with a real Middle East crisis yet and the events of the last week suggest that they will not be able to do so."

Continue ReadingBy reversing policy in Syria, the US is fuelling more wars in the Middle East

Russia warns of ‘war’ if UN plans to cut oil to North Korea are carried out

"Russia's ambassador to North Korea has warned that a United Nations attempt to cut all oil supplies to the rogue nation could spark a global conflict. Last month, the U.N. Security Council voted to cut 90 percent of petroleum exports to North Korea, something the militarized state referred to as "'an act of war.' The U.S. has repeatedly accused both China and Russia of defying these sanctions and covertly providing their neighbor with oil supplies at sea, something which both of them have denied."

Continue ReadingRussia warns of ‘war’ if UN plans to cut oil to North Korea are carried out

Secret Cabinet documents leaked after locked cabinets sold in Australia

"The Australian government on Wednesday launched an urgent investigation into the loss of thousands of classified documents that were sold with two second-hand filing cabinets and later obtained by a major news outlet. The cabinets were sold by a Canberra furniture shop at a discount price because they were locked and no one could find keys, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported."

Continue ReadingSecret Cabinet documents leaked after locked cabinets sold in Australia

While feds double down on marijuana prohibition, businesses stop bothering

"AutoNation may represent the first wave of a coming trend as marijuana becomes more socially acceptable and companies vie for workers in the tightest labor market in 17 years. As more states legalize -- Vermont will do so in July -- more employees are testing positive on drug tests, according to a Quest Diagnostics report released last year. Positive tests for marijuana rose about 75 percent from 2013 to 2016, the study showed. Results were based on more than 10 million drug tests."

Continue ReadingWhile feds double down on marijuana prohibition, businesses stop bothering

California to create a state-run bank for pot businesses to ease tax collection

"Store owners, growers and distributors are being forced to use cash because most banks won’t open accounts for them while the federal government still considers marijuana illegal. As revenues inevitably increase, they will be lugging larger stacks of 50s and 100s to the tax collector, a situation that everyone agrees makes businesses vulnerable to thievery, violent crime, money laundering and extortion."

Continue ReadingCalifornia to create a state-run bank for pot businesses to ease tax collection