Money & Finance

I read somewhere that they re-enabled them not long afterwards. Funny how our USA lost trust in the "freedom of speech" so easily.

Schlatter dated Jennifer Aniston in 1990, during the shooting of the Ferris Bueller television series. He married Colleen Gunderson in 1994 and they have two daughters and a son. I had never heard of him.....

E-commerce platform Shopify recently launched an enhanced version of its messaging capabilities in the form of Shopify Chat. Live chat capabilities can be particularly useful for a business’ e-commerce, as customers who chat with a brand convert three times more often than those who don’t.12 Shopify Chat aims to be a difference-maker for the company’s core users, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), helping them stay personal and prompt with their customers. The announcement follows Shopify’s foray into the fulfillment business with the Shopify Fulfillment Network. The company wants to connect merchants with third-party logistics providers and help remove barriers to entry for new businesses. 12. Shopify, “Shopify Chat: Close More Sales Through Real-Time Conversations,” Aug 14, 2019.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) released a three-year plan to strengthen the country’s financial technology sector. The central bank dubbed fintech the “new engine” of development in the financial industry and identified six key steps for China to engage.10Included among them involves using fintech to improve the quality of the country’s financial services and to strengthen financial risk prevention and control capabilities.11 Fintech continues to disrupt traditional financial services with more accessible, efficient and affordable products. But fintech is more than a product. It’s an ecosystem of digital tools designed to meet a multitude of needs across markets and industries. China’s stated commitment to a fintech ecosystem figures to have far-reaching implications. 10. The PBOC, “The People’s Bank of China issued the “FinTech Development Plan (2019-2021),” Aug 22, 2019. 11. Ibid.

Stupid robot forgot the insulation first!! Years more training is still necessary evidently.

What legal ground does he have to "order" any business to stop what is legal trade? Now if he outright bans trade with China for EVERYONE... then that is a different ball of wax. If I want to source my supplies from ZAMBIA it is my right to do so no matter what the President may "order"..... He is out of his mind.

Brazil's Forest Fires Illuminate the Beef Industry Brazil’s space research agency, INPE, said Wednesday the number of forest fires in Brazil has leapt 84% this year. Blazes across the Amazon rainforest are putting the focus on Brazil's beef industry and its contribution to deforestation. Smoke from the fires is sweeping out of the rainforest, one of the world's most biodiverse ecosystems, and over some of Brazil's cities, blanketing the skies and blackening water. Hospitals have reported an uptick in respiratory problems. Zoom out: Cattle ranching is responsible for the majority of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, which has increased 88% in the last year. Ranchers need to clear the forests because, well, cows prefer grass over anacondas. Environmental researchers say many of these fires were set by illegal loggers clearing up grazing acreage. Brazil's beef industry is huge. The country is the largest beef exporter in the world. Its meat companies are trying to shed a poor reputation and wriggle into new markets, especially the U.S. Bottom line: The rise in forest fires puts pressure on Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, whose skepticism over environmental conservation could jeopardize a major trade deal with the EU. One European leader is already raising the alarm.

This is surprising.... I wouldn't have guessed this outcome from The Who

A magazine recently ran a "Dilbert Quotes" contest. They were looking for people to submit quotes from their real life Dilbert-type managers. Here are the finalists: 1. "As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday and employees will receive their cards in two weeks." (This was the winning quote from Fred Dales at Microsoft Corp. in Redmond, WA.) 2. "What I need is a list of specific unknown problems we will encounter." (Lykes Lines Shipping) 3. "E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business." (Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company) 4. "This project is so important, we can't let things that are more important interfere with it." (Advertising/Marketing manager, United Parcel Service) 5. "Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule." 6. "No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We've been working on it for months. Now, go act busy for a few weeks and I'll let you know when it's time to tell them." (R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing/3M Corp.) 7. "My Boss spent the entire weekend retyping a 25-page proposal that only needed corrections. She claims the disk I gave her was damaged and she couldn't edit it. The disk I gave her was write-protected." (CIO of Dell Computers) 8. Quote from the Boss: "Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say." (Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation) 9. My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for Monday. When I told my boss, he said she died on purpose so that I would have to miss work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her burial to Friday. He said, "That would be better for me." (Shipping executive, FTD Florists) 10. "We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to discuss it with the employees." (Switching supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division) 11. We recently received a memo from senior management saying: "This is to inform you that a memo will be issued today regarding the memo mentioned above." (Microsoft, Legal Affairs Division) 12. One day my boss asked me to submit a status report to him concerning a project I was working on. I asked him if tomorrow would be soon enough. He said, "If I wanted it tomorrow, I would have waited until tomorrow to ask for it!" (New business manager, Hallmark Greeting Cards) 13. As director of communications, I was asked to prepare a memo reviewing our company's training programs and materials. In the body of the memo in one of the sentences I mentioned the "pedagogical approach" used by one of the training manuals. The day after I routed the memo to the executive committee, I was called into the HR director's office, and told that the executive vice president wanted me out of the building by lunch. When I asked why, I was told that she wouldn't stand for perverts (pedophiles?) working in her company. Finally, she showed me her copy of the memo, with her demand that I be fired – and the word "pedagogical" circled in red. The HR manager was fairly reasonable, and once he looked the word up in his dictionary and made a copy of the definition to send back to her, he told me not to worry. He would take care of it. Two days later, a memo to the entire staff came out directing us that no words, which could not be found in the local Sunday newspaper could be used in company memos. A month later, I resigned, and in accordance with company policy, I created my resignation memo by pasting words together from the Sunday paper. (Taco Bell Corporation)

On one of Apple’s support pages about the Apple Card, it now says, “Exporting data from Apple Card to a financial app like Mint is not currently supported.” Sad. I think I would have liked to try the new card out.

Negative interest rates = The bizarro market... And it's happening right now in most of Europe. The federal government of Germany just did something nearly unheard of: It issued a 30-year bond with a negative interest rate. Here's why that's weird: How a 30-yr bond normally works: An investor gives $900 today, in return for $1,000 in 30 years. Investors make money by lending. How Germany's 30-yr bonds work right now: Investors gave Germany $1,149 today, in return for just $1,000 in 30 years. Investors pay money to lend. The asparagus is white... and you have to pay to keep money in a bank. These are both truths about Germany right now, and it's thanks to the European Central Bank — Europe's equivalent to the Fed. It's using a negative interest rate to force you to take cash from your savings account and invest it instead. It's like opposite day for European bank accounts: In Germany, banks won't pay you interest — they charge you interest. Banks have to pay money for holding your money in an account, so they probably pass that charge on to you. THE TAKEAWAY This is punishing you for not investing... European economies didn't recover from the financial crisis as well or fast as America's did. Policymakers there are still desperate to stimulate growth, which requires investment. So negative interest rates hurt people who don't invest. You're more likely to buy things or invest in stocks if the alternative is your money shrinking in a bank account.

What would these women have told Nike? See link below

At least in the 1970's they moved the car seat to the back seat... 😉

It went to a self-service world.

Activists and leaders gather for the National Cannabis Policy Summit in Washington, DC.

@James Thomas Rook Jr. Similar to the Aristocrats in France lecturing the Parisian factory workers on the importance of cleanliness. While the lesson may be true.... It may not be an option for a vast majority of common people. "Let them eat cake!"

Canopy Growth, the world’s most valuable marijuana company, plans to buy fellow pot company Acreage Holdings for $3.4 billion...when (if?) weed becomes legal at the federal level in the U.S.

Amazon announced a free, ad-supported music streaming service to win more customers for its speakers and Alexa-enabled devices.

I like the circular design. I'm also always impressed as to how exact flight simulator creates views.....amazing.

No wonder Mark Zuckerberg made this statement this week.... “I believe the future of communication will increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure and their messages and content won’t stick around forever.” But don't believe for one minute that he likes this..... he is losing content along the way.

This week, the L.A. Times released its official french fry rankings. Take a good look... It rated Five Guys and McDonald’s as the two best and In-N-Out and Sonic as the two worst. We can do better: We have over 1 million readers and we’d much rather trust your collective taste buds than one writer’s hot take Which fries do YOU think are best?

Nigeria: Africa’s largest economy and most populous country is scheduled to hold presidential elections today. Current President Muhammadu Buhari is facing off against Atiku Abubakar, a wealthy businessman. Whoever wins will have to confront the oil-dependent country’s growing challenge of extreme poverty.