News You Can Use

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Flash - Venezuela's currency crumbles at dizzying speed - France 24

CARACAS (AFP) - 
Venezuela's money, the bolivar, is sinking faster and faster under an intensifying political and economic crisis that has left citizens destitute and increasingly desperate.

Its depreciation accelerated this week, after a disputed vote electing an all-powerful "Constituent Assembly" filled with allies of President Nicolas Maduro, which the opposition and dozens of countries have called illegitimate.

On Thursday alone, the bolivar slumped nearly 15 percent on the black market, to be worth 17,000 to one US dollar.

In a year, the currency has lost 94 percent.

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Bondi synagogue ban: Terrorism fears prompt move, Jewish community left ‘furious’

A LOCAL council has banned the construction of a synagogue in Bondi because it could be a terrorist target, in a shock move that religious leaders say has caved in to Islamic extremism and created a dangerous precedent.

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Some Audiences Tire of Expletive-Filled Films, Study Finds | Hollywood Reporter

Republicans object to cussing in movies far more than do Democrats.
Filmmakers using “@#$%!,” “Goddam” and “Jesus Christ” as a swear risk losing some of their audience, according to a new Harris poll.

Using “Jesus Christ” to swear is the biggest offense, with 33 percent of the general public saying they’d be less likely to see a movie if they knew beforehand of that particular piece of dialogue. “Goddam” was second at 32 percent and “@#$%!” was third with 31 percent.

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Michael Moore Pushes Oprah, Tom Hanks for 2020

During the 2016 election, Michael Moore urged the Hillary Clinton campaign to spend more time in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. They didn’t listen to him. Now, he has a new piece of advice for Democrats ahead of 2020: Only a celebrity can beat Donald Trump.
“We need to run a beloved American in 2020,” Moore said on The View Thursday morning while promoting his new Broadway show. When moderator Whoopi Goldberg joked, “No, I won’t!” Moore replied, “You would win! You run and [have] Michelle Obama as your running mate.”
At first, Goldberg seemed to smile at the prospect, but then shook her head and said, “That’s sad.”

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ICE agents asked to leave CA labor offices | The Sacramento Bee

California’s top labor law enforcer wants federal immigration agents to stay away from offices where state investigators weigh claims about underpaid employees and workplace retaliation.

Labor Commissioner Julie Su last month directed her staff to turn away Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents unless the federal officers have warrants.

Her directive followed three instances over the past 10 months in which immigration agents sought information about California workers who had filed claims against employers. In two cases, immigration agents attempted to attend hearings where investigators discuss claims with workers and their employers, Su said. In all three cases, the agents left when they were asked, she said.

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Mueller’s Role in Delivering Uranium to Russians Raises Questions

The latest release late last week by Julian Assange at WikiLeaks of a 2009 State Department cable to the Russians raises fresh questions about the objectivity of Special Counsel Robert Mueller (shown), the man named to investigate any possible “collusions” between the presidential campaign of Donald Trump and the Russians.

In 2009, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton directed FBI Director Mueller to deliver a sample of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) to Russia. The uranium had reportedly been stolen. It seems particularly odd, considering that the FBI is not under the supervision of the State Department, and that the FBI director would personally make the transfer.

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Ken Livingstone: Venezuela crisis due to Chávez's failure to kill oligarchs | Politics | The Guardian

Ken Livingstone, a former mayor of London, has blamed the turmoil in Venezuela on the unwillingness of the former president, Hugo Chávez, to execute “oligarchs” after he came to power.

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Chinese chatbots apparently re-educated after political faux pas

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A pair of 'chatbots' in China have been taken offline after appearing to stray off-script. In response to users' questions, one said its dream was to travel to the United States, while the other said it wasn't a huge fan of the Chinese Communist Party.

The two chatbots, BabyQ and XiaoBing, are designed to use machine learning artificial intelligence (AI) to carry out conversations with humans online. Both had been installed onto Tencent Holdings Ltd's popular messaging service QQ.

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This Mysterious Military Spy Plane Has Been Flying Circles Over Seattle For Days - The Drive

A very unique USAF surveillance aircraft has been flying highly defined circles over Seattle and its various suburbs for nine days now. Nobody at the DoD seems to know who the aircraft belongs to or what exactly it is doing flying so many missions over the Seattle area. But based on its visibly exotic configuration, and information collected by open source flight tracking websites, we can get a good idea of its capabilities and guess as to what it’s up to. 

The aircraft, which goes by the callsign “SPUD21” and wears a nondescript flat gray paint job with the only visible markings being a USAF serial on its tail, is a CASA CN-235-300 transport aircraft that has been extensively modified for the surveillance mission. You can see more pictures of the aircraft here.  

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Venezuelan authorities crush military rebellion -ruling ...

CARACAS, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Venezuelan authorities have suppressed a military rebellion near the central city of Valencia, a ruling official said on Sunday, days after President Nicolas Maduro formed a legislative superbody internationally condemned as a power grab.

Socialist Party deputy Diosdado Cabello made the announcement shortly after the release of a video showing a group of men in military uniform announcing a rebellion and calling for a broad uprising against President Nicolas Maduro.

One witness in the area of a military base in the town of Naguanagua reported hearing gunshots before dawn, but Cabello said the situation had been brought under control. Officials said the rebels, whom they described as "terrorists," were trying to steal weapons and that seven people were detained after the attack on the base.

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De Blasio wants to tax the rich to pay for subway repairs | New York Post

Mayor de Blasio wants a tax hike​ on New Yorkers​ to pay for repairs to the city’s subway system, according to a proposal released Sunday.

The tax plan, which would target the ​wealthy ​to raise nearly $800 million annually, would bankroll improvements to the subway signal system, track repairs and reduced fares for poor New Yorkers.

De Blasio press spokesman Eric Phillips released details of the proposal to fund ​the “long-term fix​.​”

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World's Top Stock Market Is Really Just a Handful of Top Stocks - Bloomberg

Among the world’s biggest stock markets, there haven’t been any better investments this year than Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index.

But under the surface of that 25 percent surge, gains are getting more concentrated -- and that means for some shares, volatility is on the rise. Take one of the Hang Seng’s heaviest weighted stocks, Tencent Holdings Ltd. It’s the second-best performer this year with a 64 percent surge, accounting for almost a quarter of the index’s gain, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. And its 30-day volatility has jumped 51 percent, as price swings across the index grow ever more muted.

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Study: Loneliness, Isolation Greater Health Problem In US Than Obesity

WASHINGTON — Is feeling alone the greatest health problem Americans face? While the obesity epidemic has long been front-and-center in major cities across the U.S., new research finds that loneliness and social isolation is an even greater public health threat than being overweight.

Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology at Brigham Young University conducted two meta-analyses of previous studies to determine how social isolation, loneliness, and living alone plays a role in a person’s risk of dying.

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Vegan cafe charges male customers 18 percent 'man tax' and seats women first in bid to address gender pay gap

Owner Alex O’Brien told Broadsheet website: “I do want people to think about it, because we’ve had this (pay discrepancy) for decades and decades and we’re bringing it to the forefront of people’s minds.

“I like that it is making men stop and question their privilege a little bit.”

Ms O’Brien says the response from her customers has been positive, with one man even donating $50 (£30) to the cause.

She said: “There’s been nothing but positivity from everyone, males and females.”

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TEMPERATURE READINGS PLUNGE AFTER AUSTRALIA’S BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY ORDERS END TO ‘TAMPERING’ | Climate Depot

Recorded temperatures at the Bureau­ of Meteorology’s Thredbo Top automatic weather station have dropped below -10C in the past week, after action was taken to make the facility “fit for ­purpose”.
A record of the Thredbo Top station for 3am on Wednesday shows a temperature reading of -10.6C. This compares with the BoM’s monthly highlights for June and July, both showing a low of -9.6C.
The BoM said it had taken immed­iate action to replace the Thredbo station after concerns were raised that very low temperatures were not making it onto the official record. Controversy has dogged the bureau’s automatic weather station network since Goulburn man Lance Pigeon saw a -10.4C reading on the BoM’s website on July 2 automatically adjust to -10C, then disappear.

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Is America in a State of Civil War?

Is America in a state of civil war?
“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure,” said Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery on Nov.19, 1863—the Gettysburg Address.
Asserting the construction “great Civil War” in 1863 was a risk. The U.S. Congress did not use the term until 1907.
Calling any contest for sovereignty a “civil war” is a threat to the state.
I learn from David Armitage’s new book, Civil Wars: A History in Ideas, that the term “civil war” has been such a threat over the last 2,000 years, associated with horror and ruin, that it was useful for monarchs, poets, and philosophers to avoid the Roman idea of civil war by using less foreboding words: “rebellion” or “insurrection,” or even “revolution.”

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Real estate tech company aims to replace agents with robots, data | Newsday

A real estate technology company that aims to lower the cost of home-selling by using robots and “big data” instead of commission-based real estate agents has opened a Long Island office — its first outside of California.

REX Real Estate Exchange, which charges a selling commission of 2 percent instead of the usual 5 percent to 6 percent, launched its Long Island operation last week, when it started operating out of a co-working space at RXR Plaza in Uniondale. The Los Angeles-based company expects to start listing New York-area homes on its website, rexchange.com, later this week.

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This new robot gives you a therapy session at your desk. Would you want to? | Ladders

This we know: Too many people struggle with their mental health in silence, especially at work. The stigma around mental health is still strong.

It’s time to change that. About one in five Americans are depressed, a condition that can wreck a person’s mood, relationships, and productivity. More than half of people suffering from depression haven’t sought any treatment for it in the past year despite the painful consequences.

Enter Silicon Valley techies with a solution that cuts out the middle man —or any man at all. If you can’t (or don’t want to) talk to humans about your problems, why not try a judgment-free chatbot?

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Russia aims to cut dependence on U.S. payment systems - RIA

MOSCOW, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Russia will speed up work on reducing its dependence on U.S. payment systems and the dollar as a settling currency in response to U.S. sanctions, RIA new agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Monday.

"We will of course intensify work related to import substitution, reduction of dependence on U.S. payment systems, on the dollar as a settling currency and so on. It is becoming a vital need," Ryabkov was quoted as saying. (Writing by Polina Nikolskaya; Editing by Maria Kiselyova abd Dmitry Solovyov)

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Amid immigration battles, College Park considers giving noncitizens voting rights - Baltimore Sun

Officials in College Park are weighing a plan that would make their city the largest in Maryland to give undocumented immigrants a right to vote in local elections, a long-standing practice elsewhere in the state that has drawn new scrutiny amid the simmering national debate over immigration.

The Prince George’s County city, home of the flagship University of Maryland campus and some 30,000 residents, is considering a measure to let noncitizens cast ballots for mayor and City Council — making it the latest target in a movement that has had more success in Maryland than anywhere else in the United States.

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'Mark of the beast?' Microchipping employees raises apocalyptic questions

The apocalyptic "mark of the beast" prophecy in the Bible makes some wary of a Wisconsin company's recent decision to embed microchips into the hands of willing employees.

The end times account in the New Testament's Book of Revelation warns believers about being marked on the right hand and the forehead by the Antichrist.

But inserting rice-sized microchips under the skin of Three Square Market employees does not fulfill the prophecy, said Chris Vlachos, a New Testament professor at Wheaton College in Chicago.

"I think that this is more of a fulfillment of end times novels and movies than the Book of Revelation itself," Vlachos said.

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Prof lets students choose own grades for 'stress reduction'

A University of Georgia professor has adopted a “stress reduction policy” that will allow students to select their own grades if they “feel unduly stressed” by the ones they earned.
Similarly, students who feel stressed by "group dynamics" are allowed to walk away from their groups without explanation, and will only be graded on "non-group work."
The professor acknowledges that "this policy might hinder the development of group skills and mastery of the class material," but says this is each student's own responsibility.

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OPINION: Can we wean Elon Musk off government support already? | TheHill

Tesla’s new Model 3 has finally arrived, and not a moment too soon. The critics seem to love it, and Tesla management says it’s already received deposits for 500,000 of the vehicles. Perhaps now Elon Musk can finally get his hand out of U.S. taxpayers’ wallets?

Musk is, to be sure, an ideas man. Private, commercial space travel? Check. Washington to New York in less than half an hour in what he calls a “hyperloop” train that will travel at 800 miles per hour? Check. A new kind of tunneling engineering? Check. Solar energy? Check. Electric cars? Check, check.

As wide-ranging as these various entrepreneurial ventures may be, they all have one thing in common – not a single one of them would get funding in a competitive private capital market if it weren’t for massive (and I do mean massive) taxpayer-funded government subsidies.

Let's Stop Spending Tax Dollars on Elon Musk and Cronyism

From Enron to Bernie Madoff, at the end of every great American financial scandal, the totality of the perpetrators’ greed seems to be matched only by the public’s incredulity at how such a thing could be allowed to happen.

And thanks to Elon Musk, there’s a good chance we may all be asking this question again soon.

The Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee have launched a probe into tax incentives paid to solar companies, according to The Wall Street Journal. The committee probes, led by their respective Republican chairmen, Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas and Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, have found an appropriate and disturbing target to begin this work.

SolarCity, a solar installation company set to be purchased by Tesla Motors Inc., is one of the seven companies named in the initial investigation.

Already grossly subsidized, Musk’s SolarCity has become an albatross of waste, fraud, and abuse of tax payer dollars. As legitimate earnings and cash become even scarcer for SolarCity, its entanglement in the Tesla empire suggests that a drastic reckoning not only is imminent, but in fact emboldening Musk to become more outlandish and reckless.

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Here we go again.

Fannie and Freddie could need $100 billion bailout in next crisis, stress test finds - MarketWatch

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could need a taxpayer bailout of as much as $99.6 billion if a severe economic downturn gripped the U.S., their regulator said Monday.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency released the results of a stress test that examined how the mortgage finance companies would perform in what’s called a “severely adverse scenario.” The stress test was mandated by the post-financial-crisis Dodd-Frank Act and the specifics of the scenario were devised by the Federal Reserve.

The test found that Fannie FNMA, +2.61%   and Freddie FMCC, +3.16%   together would require between $34.8 and $99.6 billion, FHFA said. That’s an improvement from last year, when FHFA said the enterprises would need $125.8 billion.