Do no evil. "Google is developing a version of its search engine that will conform to China's censorship laws, reports say." Do
"One of the winners of the award known as the Nobel Prize for mathematics had his gold medal stolen minutes after it was given to him. Caucher Birkar, a Kurdish refugee turned Cambridge University math professor, was among four winners of the prestigious Fields Medal on Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro." If this isn't the begin to a Revenge of the Nerds movie, it should be (and maybe this time be a little less misogynist this time).
"Payrolls grew by a lower-than-expected 157,000 in July and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.9 percent, as projected, the Labor Department said Friday… With the economy at full employment and hiring managers struggling to fill open positions, wages normally would be expected to start rising at faster rate."
"But high school graduates have been so effectively encouraged to get a bachelor's that high-paid jobs requiring shorter and less expensive training are going unfilled. This affects those students and also poses a real threat to the economy." Yep. And if you think the return form bachelor's degree is softening, you've not seen how bad PhD has gotten. However trades can be highly cyclical. We're experiencing a drought of workers in the trades because after the housing crash in 2007-2009, most got out of the business. And some skilled trades (like doing my x-ray work) do require some formal schooling.
"Businesses have shut in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, as the nation awaits the release of heavily disputed presidential election results." They've been announced, this situation isn't much better.
And in today's completely predictable news, "A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he threatened to withhold funds from 'sanctuary cities' that do not fully cooperate with U.S. immigration authorities." I think that one was the center square on our Corruption Bingo cards.
"A former worker at a shelter for immigrant youths in Arizona has been accused of molesting eight teenage boys over a nearly yearlong period at the facility, according to federal records cited by nonprofit news site ProPublica." And that's at the "good" shelter.
"The Fed is sticking to the script it has been forecasting to financial markets, but it's expected to raise rates twice more this year — on top of the increases it implemented in March and June." Everything is strong, full-steam ahead!
"Corporate tax receipts are down for the year, while government spending is up. Even with a fast-growing economy, the Treasury Department expects to borrow more than $750 billion to pay its bills during the last six months of this year." Remember all the protests and yelling and screaming when Obama ran deficits this big? Where's the Tea Party now? (Hint, they're the ones running up the deficit.) And by all accounts this should have been a very good year for government revenue, economic activity is up, unemployment is at all time lows, and yet the boon promised by trickle-down economics once again goes "poof" in the daylight of reality. The bad thing here (besides what the GOP plans to do to "solve" their problem) is that if the economy starts struggling, the government can't respond well. And revenue will plunge again.
"Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard is expected to soon begin a major naval exercise that could demonstrate its ability to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial conduit for global energy supplies, US officials say." They've done this before.
"The decision by conservative Koch network to be more selective in supporting candidates that back their free-trade, small government policies, has spurred fear among GOP lawmakers that a major funding spigot will dry up and they worry that the growing spat is dividing the party ahead of the crucial midterm elections." They're going to have to lie harder to get their money.
"QAnon may seem on its face like a fringe Internet conspiracy theory, but its explosion in popularity has led to several real-world incidents." The information bubble bites back.
"The issue arose after Sanders was asked whether or not President Donald Trump condoned or would condemn supporters at one of his rallies who screamed and cursed at members of the media. She said the president did not support any kind of violence, but suggested that his hatred for the media was justified, citing -- as most leaders who turn on the press tend to do -- national security."
"'It would be a good thing if you were to state right here, at this briefing, that the press — the people who are gathered in this room right now, doing their jobs every day, asking questions of officials like the ones you brought forward earlier — are not the enemy of the people,' Mr. Acosta said in his newscaster’s baritone. 'I think we deserve that.'… Ms. Sanders deflected — and then mirrored Mr. Acosta’s tone."
"Paul Manafort's federal trial has now entered the alleged bank fraud section."
"Just hours after the nation’s top intelligence officials warned about Moscow’s efforts to disrupt a second consecutive American election, Trump said at a campaign rally here Thursday night that his diplomatic efforts with President Vladimir Putin 'are being hindered by the Russian hoax.'" For there not being any collusion, our president sure is acting like there is.
"But intelligence experts say Butina's far-from-subtle approach to infiltrating Republican political circles in the US appears to be just one tactic in Moscow's arsenal as Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed to influence American politics and disrupt democracy ahead of the 2016 election. Those efforts are continuing, Trump administration officials say, in the run-up to the midterm elections." Spy work is not all cloak and dagger. An octopus may swim directly in front of you, waving it's tentacles distractingly all while it's still picking your pocket. Or to put it another way, not all assets are hidden and that sometimes can work to the benefit of those assets to remain hidden. And while they said she was a spy, they never said she was a good spy.
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