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Business/Economy (General/Chat)

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  • 1 In 5 Crashed Cars Now Totaled By Insurance Firms, ADAS Partly To Blame

    06/02/2024 7:27:35 PM PDT · by where's_the_Outrage? · 30 replies
    Carscoops ^ | June 2, 2024 | Chris Chilton
    More than one fifth of all crashed cars are now totaled by insurance assessors. Proportion of new vehicles written off has increased due to high repair costs. The cost of fixing ADAS systems designed to prevent accidents is often deemed not worth it. The rocketing cost of repairing crashed cars means 21 percent of wrecks now result in a vehicle being totaled by insurance firms, a five-fold increase versus 1980. And some experts think that number could jump to a staggering 30 percent as cars become even more complex. Ironically, it’s the same ADAS driver aids designed to save us...
  • Hurricane ‘hot spots’: History reveals US regions where major storms are most likely to strike

    06/02/2024 7:24:38 PM PDT · by ChicagoConservative27 · 7 replies
    Nypost ^ | 06/02/2024 | Scott Sistek
    While all US coastlines are vulnerable to landfalling hurricanes, history shows us there are hurricane “hot spots” — where storms most frequently come ashore. While it’s impossible to say where hurricanes are going to make landfall with any sort of certainty weeks and months in advance, the FOX Forecast Center says it’s important to know what areas of the country are most vulnerable historically. To help with this, researchers at the National Hurricane Center have put together data to show the frequency at which a hurricane passes within 50 nautical miles (nm) of a given point along the Atlantic and...
  • The Saturn V Rocket and Supply Chain Innovation (NASA and its corporate partners built 15 Saturn V rockets...Remarkably, every Saturn V launch was successful [if not always without some delays])

    06/02/2024 6:20:42 PM PDT · by daniel1212 · 38 replies
    Industryweek.com ^ | May 12, 2011
    The Saturn V was, and still is, the largest object to leave the surface of the Earth. At 363 feet in height -- or over 30 stories tall -- the rocket weighed 6.3 million pounds, about the weight of...50 Boeing 747s... The rocket was the loudest creation made by human hands, except for the cacophony created by nuclear explosions. ...The five rocket engines of the Saturn V's first stage were the most powerful ever built...requiring 7.7 million pounds of force... To house the Saturn V, NASA built the Vertical Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center, which remains one of...
  • Why Indians Are Among The Highest-Earning Ethnic Group In USA, Even Ahead Of Americans

    06/02/2024 5:23:06 PM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 51 replies
    MSN ^ | 06/02/2024 | Gursharan Bhalla
    Earlier in 2023, top American lawmaker Rich McCormick, while addressing the US House of Representatives, said that Indian-Americans constitute about one per cent of the US population but pay about six per cent of the taxes. Does it ring a bell? Interestingly, Indians are the highest-earning ethnic group in the US — ahead of people from countries like China and Japan. How many Indians are there in the US and how much are they earning? The number of people identifying as Asian in the United States nearly tripled in the past three decades, and Asians are now the fastest-growing of...
  • Senator Under Fire For Misusing Thousands Of Taxpayer Dollars (Sinema)

    06/02/2024 4:03:59 PM PDT · by Libloather · 6 replies
    State of the Union ^ | 6/01/24 | Claire O'Hare
    Recent reports reveal that Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona has utilized over $200,000 in taxpayer funds for private air travel since 2020. The Daily Beast disclosed in January that Sinema incurred $116,000 in private plane expenses in 2023, charged to her Senate office budget. Taxpayers have allegedly footed a bill of approximately $210,000 for Sinema’s air travel since 2020. Despite being elected as a Democrat in 2018 and subsequently switching to an independent, Sinema reportedly did not conduct any publicly accessible, in-person town hall meetings while accumulating these expenses, as per Fox News. Fox also noted that Sinema’s sole in-person...
  • Hakeem Jeffries defends Biden saying his son Hunter ‘has done nothing wrong’

    06/02/2024 3:47:30 PM PDT · by Libloather · 26 replies
    The Hill ^ | 6/02/24 | Lauren Sforza
    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) defended President Biden for saying last year that his son Hunter Biden did “nothing wrong” in connection to the federal investigation related to tax and gun offenses. Jeffries backed up Biden on NBC’s “Meet the Press” for his comments regarding the investigation into his son last year when asked if it was “appropriate” for the president to weigh in on the case at the time. “President Biden commented as a loving father, as I would hope any loving father would do. Hunter Biden, of course, is entitled, as was Donald Trump, to the presumption...
  • Thai town maddened by marauding monkeys launches plan to lock them up and send them away

    06/02/2024 10:45:34 AM PDT · by DallasBiff · 31 replies
    AP ^ | 5/24/24 | Jerry Harmer
    LOPBURI, Thailand (AP) — A Thai town, run ragged by its ever-growing population of marauding wild monkeys, launched an offensive against the simian raiders on Friday, using trickery and ripe tropical fruit. Several high-profile cases of monkey-human conflict recently convinced authorities in Lopburi in central Thailand that they had to reduce the animals’ numbers. If all goes well, most will end up behind bars, before starting a new life elsewhere.
  • ‘Now he’s seen as a symbol’: Republicans rally around Trump

    06/02/2024 3:14:04 AM PDT · by Libloather · 41 replies
    Politico ^ | 6/01/24 | Shia Kapos, Lisa Kashinsky
    PEORIA, Illinois — House Speaker Mike Johnson intensified his defense of Donald Trump before headlining a party fundraiser in Illinois on Saturday, as even this deep blue state’s Republicans seized on a Manhattan jury’s guilty verdict as a rallying cry for the former president. “Terrible,” Frank Hernandez, a retiree from Caterpillar, said of the verdict while waiting for Johnson to speak at the dinner. “The prosecutors, the judge, Biden — they were all in cahoots.” **SNIP** And after an army of online donors poured a staggering $53 million into Trump’s presidential campaign, Johnson said it wasn’t just Trump raising money...
  • Hunter Biden owes ex-wife Kathleen Buhle $2.9M in alimony and other debts as she is set to testify in gun, tax evasion trials

    06/01/2024 7:49:13 PM PDT · by Libloather · 46 replies
    NY Post ^ | 6/01/24 | Jon Levine
    Hunter Biden owes his ex-wife $2.9 million after a protracted legal battle — and now his one time spouse is expected to be a key witness in his looming trials. Kathleen Buhle, who was married to the first son for 24 years before they split in 2017, claims Hunter has blown off agreed-upon alimony payments, legal fees, interest and other debts to her over the years. Buhle sued Hunter in 2019, shortly after he married current wife Melissa Cohen. The dispute with Buhle has been simmering in Washington, D.C. courts for years, and in 2021 Hunter was found to be...
  • Trump remains resolute as ever — he tells The Post a guilty verdict won’t impact his sleep or campaign: ‘Some people say I’m a warrior’

    06/01/2024 7:18:41 PM PDT · by Libloather · 23 replies
    NY Post ^ | 6/01/24 | Michael Goodwin
    The front page of Friday’s New York Times had a huge, all-caps, single-word headline: “GUILTY.” True enough, but the story that followed was so full of hot-air that I feared the paper in my hands would spontaneously combust. After recounting the verdict of the Manhattan trial, the story suddenly veered into crazy land. It declared that Donald Trump’s “insurgent behavior delights his supporters as he bulldozes the country’s norms,” and went on to claim: “Now, the man who refused to accept his 2020 election loss is already seeking to delegitimize his conviction, attempting to assert the primacy of his raw...
  • Severe storms to fire over High Plains, Upper Midwest through first days of June

    06/01/2024 4:55:46 PM PDT · by ChicagoConservative27 · 7 replies
    AccuWeather ^ | 06/01/2024 | Alex Sosnowski
    Severe weather will focus across the High Plains into Saturday night before expanding to the Upper Midwest by later Sunday, then reload over the High Plains and Rockies and advance into the Midwest again next week. AccuWeather meteorologists warn that more storms packing tornadoes and big hail will continue to pose risks to lives and property. Areas of severe thunderstorms will shift back and forth from near the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River into next week. May typically brings a strong surge in severe weather across the United States. However, storm activity this past month has propelled the tally...
  • Cigarette, vape sales from self-service vending machines to be banned from 2025 [Ireland]

    06/01/2024 11:03:59 AM PDT · by Olog-hai
    RTÉ News ^ | Friday, 31 May 2024 16:10
    The sale of tobacco products from self-service cigarette and vape vending machines is to be banned next year under measures being introduced by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly. The machines are often found in bars and nightclubs. […] … Donnelly said the ban was a continuation of Government policy to “de-normalize” the sale of tobacco products. “On ‘World No Tobacco Day’, I am bringing into operation further elements of our overall tobacco control strategy,” he said. […] The Department of Health said the ban was a recommendation of Tobacco Free Ireland and is in line with the Program for Government...
  • Why EVs Aren't The GreenTech Panacea || Peter Zeihan

    06/01/2024 7:19:56 AM PDT · by DUMBGRUNT · 29 replies
    Youtube ^ | 2 Nov 2023 | Peter Zeihan
    Ford and GM have both suspended well cancelled plans to build a couple new facilities for battery and Eevee assembly, no changes to their internal combustion engine vehicle plans ...cleanest state is California they are still 50% fossil fuel energy and they lie about their statistics because they say they don't know what the mix is for the power that they're importing from the rest of the country which is something like a third of their total demand and the stuff that comes say from the Phoenix area in Arizona to the LA Basin which is something like 10 gigawatt...
  • Saturday War Room, 10AM-Noon ET

    06/01/2024 6:45:02 AM PDT · by 4Liberty · 10 replies
    America’s Voice News ^ | 06/01/2024 | Steven K. Bannon
    PM 4Liberty, if you want On/Off this listhttps://pluto.tv/live-tv/americas-voicehttps://americasvoice.news/Tune in via Roku/AppleTV/AmazonFire with the America’s Voice App https://americasvoice.appLIVE STREAM all Bannon shows & find past episodes here: https://rumble.com/c/BannonsWarRoom | https://americasvoice.news/playlists/the-war-room/
  • Hip-Hop is Declining in Popularity

    06/01/2024 6:19:38 AM PDT · by Libloather · 66 replies
    Newsweak ^ | 6/01/24 | Shannon Power
    It was only in 2018 when hip-hop surpassed rock 'n' roll to become the most popular music genre in the U.S., but its glory was short-lived. In 2023—the year when hip-hop celebrated its 50th birthday— the music genre that gave a voice to millions seemed to be losing its appeal. While 2023 was marked with historic performances by hip-hop royalty at major events, the newer generation struggled to make a dent on the charts. **SNIP** Or as musicologist and historian Zachary Diaz told Newsweek, there has been a "musical gentrification" of hip-hop which has seen corporations and big music labels...
  • Biden VETOES bill that would have allowed regulated financial institutions to custody Bitcoin and other crypto

    06/01/2024 4:04:58 AM PDT · by RandFan · 8 replies
    X ^ | June 1 | Swan
    @Swan President Biden VETOES the bill that would have allowed regulated financial institutions to custody Bitcoin and other crypto assets. -- Biden Vetoes Crypto Custody Bill President Joe Biden vetoed a bipartisan bill that aimed to allow highly regulated financial firms to hold Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The bill sought to repeal the SEC's SAB 121, which sets accounting standards for firms that custody crypto. Critics fear the veto may stifle innovation in the crypto industry, sparking debate among crypto enthusiasts and political commentators. Biden argued that the veto maintains the SEC's authority over accounting practices.
  • Rubio: Biden is ‘demented man propped up by wicked and deranged people’

    06/01/2024 3:29:46 AM PDT · by Libloather · 28 replies
    The Hill ^ | 5/31/24 | Tara Suter
    Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) slammed President Biden on Friday calling him a “demented man” in a post on the social media platform X. “Our current President is a demented man propped up by wicked & deranged people willing to destroy our country to remain in power,” Rubio said in the post, which features a video of Biden following a Friday announcement about the Israel-Hamas war. In the video, Biden is walking away from a podium as someone asks him a question. “Mr. President, can you tell us sir, [former President Trump] refers to himself as a ‘political prisoner’ and blames...
  • Biden administration issues guidelines on carbon credit integrity (only 6.66 years left)

    06/01/2024 3:09:40 AM PDT · by Libloather · 3 replies
    The Hill ^ | 5/28/24 | Rachel Frazin
    The Biden administration on Tuesday announced new guidelines for ensuring the integrity of carbon credits or offsets. While the practice of buying carbon offsets or credits is voluntary, the administration says it hopes to help ensure that credits being sold are actually credible. Individuals, businesses and other entities can buy these credits to try to “offset” their emissions as part of an effort to achieve net-zero. This can entail things like paying organizations to plant trees or prevent them from being cut down. But, markets for carbon credits have been plagued by issues including double counting. Questions have also been...
  • Menendez told top USDA official to ‘stop interfering’ with company accused of offering bribes

    06/01/2024 2:47:33 AM PDT · by Libloather · 4 replies
    Politico ^ | 5/31/24 | Daniel Han
    NEW YORK — In May 2019, a senior official at the USDA was told by his then-chief-of-staff that Sen. Bob Menendez would call his personal cell phone in around an hour. The agriculture official, Ted McKinney, had been trying to get Egyptian officials to reverse their decision to grant a new company a monopoly certifying halal meat exported to that country. That decision, he recalled from the witness stand of Menendez’s corruption trial Friday, was “very unusual” and could hurt American beef interests. McKinney said that he would “never forget the words” Menendez told him during the brief call: “Stop...
  • Biden is asked if he will end up in court like Trump and responds to claims trial was 'political'

    06/01/2024 2:29:21 AM PDT · by Libloather · 12 replies
    Daily Mail ^ | 5/31/24 | Emily Goodin, Nikki Schwab
    President Joe Biden brushed off claims by Donald Trump that the New York hush-money trial was politically-motivated and orchestrated by the White House. 'I didn't know I was that powerful,' Biden quipped when asked about it. The president also said he wasn't worried he may end up in court one day like Trump. 'Not at all. I didn't do anything wrong. The system still works,' he said. Republicans have been trying to tie Biden to his son's Hunter business dealings, claiming they were working together to enrich the family. Biden has said repeatedly he wasn't involved in his son's work....