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☆ 5 alarming stats on U.S. economic inequality in Pulitzer-prize winning author's new book
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

(Desmond's findings are based on data from a number of sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Pew Research Center.) (Desmond analyzed tax data from a number of sources, including the Office of Management and Budget.) watch now"Most families who enjoy those subsidies have six-figure incomes and are white," Desmond writes. "There is growing evidence that America harbors a hard bottom layer of deprivation, a kind of extreme poverty once thought to exist only in faraway places of bare feet and swollen bellies," Desmond writes. Racial wealth gap is as large as in the '60sLooking at the work of other authors and Federal Reserve data, Desmond found that the racial wealth gap is as wide today as it was more than five decades ago.

☆ Op-ed: Crypto and blockchain need a trellis, not just a weed killer, says Scaramucci
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Anthony Scaramucci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

You might not know this, but Goldilocks and the Three Bears is actually a story about the debate currently surrounding regulation of the blockchain and crypto industries. The agency nearly doubled the size of its crypto assets enforcement unit last May. Many in the crypto industry want this "regulation by enforcement" to stop. It's as much of a trellis for good plants as it is a weed killer. Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner of SkyBridge Capital, an alternative asset manager and SEC-registered investment adviser.

Copyright Office issued new guidance on Wednesday to clarify when artistic works created with the help of artificial intelligence are copyright eligible. "The answer will depend on the circumstances, particularly how the AI tool operates and how it was used to create the final work," the office said. Generative AI systems like Midjourney, ChatGPT and DALL-E, which create text and images in response to human instructions, have recently skyrocketed in popularity. The office reiterated Wednesday that copyright protection depends on the amount of human creativity involved, and that the most popular AI systems likely do not create copyrightable work. The office also said that copyright applicants must disclose when their work includes AI-created material, and that previously filed applications that do not disclose AI's role must be corrected.

☆ I just traveled to Argentina — and doubled my money with a 'black market' exchange rate
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +15 min

A legal exchange rate influenced by the black marketA worker lays out 500 Argentine peso note sheets on Aug. 14, 2020 in Buenos Aires. Greg IacurciPut another way: Your money goes almost twice as far with the "blue dollar" exchange rate. The exchange rate for the transaction was 366 Argentine pesos per U.S. dollar, almost double the official exchange rate (190 pesos per dollar) at the time. Anyone who wants to save more cash in U.S. dollars must turn to the black market, which sets the "blue dollar" exchange rate. The exchange rate offered by Western Union has been similar to that of the "blue dollar" rate on the black market.

☆ French Roald Dahl publisher says 'non' to text changes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Feb 23 (Reuters) - French publisher Gallimard said it had no intention of making changes to translated versions of children's books by the late British novelist Roald Dahl, unlike the author's UK publisher. No," Hedwige Pasquet, director of Gallimard Jeunesse, said in an interview with Le Figaro newspaper. The role models of Matilda, a book-loving child prodigy, were also changed to include a female author. The Roald Dahl Story Company, which manages the copyrights and trademarks of Dahl, said it was not unusual to review language when reprinting books, and described any changes as “small and carefully considered”. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke out against the changes, saying "it's important that works of literature and works of fiction are preserved and not airbrushed."

☆ New 'Lord of the Rings' movies are coming after Warner Bros. Discovery secured the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's books
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Samantha Delouya | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Warner Bros. The plan comes after Warner Bros. struck a deal with the video game company that owns the rights to Tolkien's books. Warner Bros. Warner Bros. On the direct-to-consumer front, Warner Bros.

☆ I made $363,000 last year from self-publishing my books. Here's how I did it spending less than $20 a week on ads and winning over BookTok.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Ella Hopkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

She connected with readers through authors' Facebook groups and by posting regularly on #BookTok. I decided to also publish my books through Kindle Select, which made my books accessible on Kindle Unlimited, a KDP subscription serviceI've always been a big reader, and I used Kindle Unlimited when I was struggling with money. I'd found so many authors I loved on Kindle Unlimited — it was important to me to have my book available there, too. I decided to make my books accessible to Kindle Unlimited readers. I connected with new readers by posting videos and doing takeovers of other author's Facebook pagesI hustled hard on social media.

☆ I've been selling my clothes on Poshmark for 7 months. Here's how the algorithm works and how to get sales and followers.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some Poshmark sellers can make six figures in sales on the platform. I started selling on Poshmark in June to get rid of clothes I didn't wear and make room for my thrift-shopping habit. Getting likes, followers, and sales on Poshmark is just as addicting as it is on social mediaA screenshot of the author's Poshmark closet. Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins/ScreenshotAs soon as I started listing my clothes on Poshmark, I got a wave of followers on the app. Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins/InsiderOthers are time-consuming, like sharing your listings 5,000 times and sharing other sellers' listings 5,000 times.

☆ Trump probably won't win his $50 million lawsuit against Bob Woodward with experts saying the suit 'turns the First Amendment on its head'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Former President Trump claims he owns the audio rights to interviews conducted by Bob Woodward. But legal experts say it's unlikely a court will agree with Trump, who claims he's owed $50 million. "The case centers on Mr. Woodward's systematic usurpation, manipulation, and exploitation of audio of [former] President Trump," states the complaint, filed with a federal court in Florida. The audiobook didn't go on sale for another two years — after, Woodward says, he decided its release served the public interest. "Filing a lawsuit over publishing those interviews turns the First Amendment on its head."

☆ A week in Hawaii on vacation with my toddler cost $4,500, and she'll never remember it. Here's why I'm glad we went anyway.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Emily Hochberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

I ruled out my first island choice, Maui, and decided on Oahu as it was more affordable. Emily Hochberg/InsiderI've spent time on Maui before and love it for the variety of activities and ample natural beauty. But a standard room in a four-star hotel cost nearly $1,000 per night when I searched on Google a few months in advance. On Oahu, in Honolulu, on the other hand, I found standard hotel rooms for around $250 to $300 per night on Google. I could book a one-bedroom suite there for the same price as a standard room on Maui.

"Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre" comes to Netflix on January 19. The 12-episode anime series brings 20 of Ito's horror manga tales to life. How to watch 'Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre'You can watch "Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre" exclusively on Netflix starting January 19. "Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre" is based on 20 of Junji Ito's horror stories from a handful of his manga. Junji Ito is a horror manga artist with something of a cult following.

☆ Christmas meant real Christmas trees for my family. Then my husband got a fake one.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Elizabeth Grey | Elizabeth Grey Is An Essayist | Cook. You Can Find A Link To Her Highly Unprofessional Cooking Show | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

My origin story begins on Christmas Eve. I asked my mother once if we could get silver tinsel icicles, having seen them at a friend’s house. When my brother had kids, we started driving to his house on Christmas Eve to be with them. I would use the fake tree as Exhibit A in the court wrangling over our inevitable divorce. I believe there are two kinds of people, real vs. fake tree, and real tree people are superior.

☆ Congress is poised to ensure that no vice president could unilaterally decide an election 2 years after Trump pressured Pence to reverse his loss
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

After months of debate, lawmakers are poised to pass major changes to the Electoral Count Act. They wanted the vice president to either delay the January 6 joint session of Congress and/or unilaterally find that the certified results of states in disputes were not legitimate. I think Vice President Pence … did exactly the right thing and previous vice presidents have done the same. Trump himself has suggested that by clarifying the Electoral Count Act, senators are implicitly suggesting that Pence could have had this power. In order for pro-Trump lawmakers to throw the election to the vice president, they still needed to file objections to the results.

☆ Orwell's novel of repression '1984' tops Russian bestseller lists
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Kevin Liffey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984", set in an imagined future where totalitarian rulers deprive their citizens of all agency in order to maintain support for senseless wars, has topped electronic bestseller lists in Russia. The novel is the most popular fiction download of 2022 on the platform of the Russian online bookseller LitRes, and the second most popular download in any category, the state news agency Tass reported on Tuesday. And last month the Kremlin's spokesman said there had been no attacks on civilian targets, despite wave after wave of bombardment of Ukrainian power facilities that have left millions without heat or light in the depths of winter. However, the Russian translator of a brand new edition of "1984" sees the parallels to Orwell's novel elsewhere. Reporting by Kevin Liffey; editing by Pritha SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ It took a full year, multiple calls to the dealership, and an angry tweet at Ford's CEO, to finally get my all-electric pickup truck delivered
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( George Pearkes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

But the process of getting the truck was far from ideal — beset by production delays, missing parts, and unresponsive customer service. There are still a few kinks to be worked out before electric vehicles can dominate the US market — the road to an electrified American auto industry is going to be a bumpy one. For me, the most important driver for buying an electric vehicle was that it feels like a giant step toward a decarbonized future. While electric vehicles can borrow a lot of that institutional knowledge, new technology and business models mean there is still a way to go before everything is smooth sailing. Even without the prodding from the government, car companies have shown a keen interest in shifting their fleets toward electric vehicles for business reasons.

My wife and I are fortunate enough to travel around the country in our 21-foot teardrop trailer. While there are many benefits to living like nomads and traveling back and forth across the U.S., we were leery when we began our first cross-country trip. As a same-sex couple, the seismic political and cultural divide that has been rapidly spreading since the 2016 presidential election made us fearful about traveling through ultra-conservative Southern states. The author's teardrop trailer on a lavender farm in Northern California. I have long believed love overcomes hate, and our teardrop trailer travels remind me that there are good people everywhere, even in those places where you least expect them to be.

Playing Animal Crossing translates money lessons into a language I understand well. In Animal Crossing, money plays a big role. In Animal Crossing, if you want to move a house or a building, it costs a lot of extra money. From catching bugs and fish to sell to digging up fossils, earning money in Animal Crossing takes time, just like in real life. One of my favorite ways to earn money in Animal Crossing is by digging up fossils.

☆ Elon Musk says Stephen King is 'one of most creative people on Earth' despite the author calling him a 'terrible fit' for Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk tweeted on Sunday that Stephen King is "one of the most creative people on Earth." It followed King's tweet commending Musk's Tesla work but calling him a "terrible fit" for Twitter. Musk went on to tweet he would welcome suggestions from the author on running Twitter. King tweeted on Saturday: "I think Elon Musk is a visionary. The following day, podcast host Graham Allen told Musk over Twitter to ignore King.

☆ Morning Bid: COVID vs RRR
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Nov 24 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Stella Qiu:Another central bank pivots. This has aided the risk-on mood in the market, with Asian shares mostly advancing and U.S. dollar broadly weaker. The minutes of the Fed's November policy meeting showed a "substantial majority" of policymakers reckon it will "likely soon be appropriate" to slow the pace of rate hikes. China's COVID infections hit a record high, with Beijing, which has the strictest rules, failing to contain the spreading virus. "In our view, ending zero COVID as soon as possible is the key to raising credit demand and bolstering growth."

☆ Murdoch's New York Post buries coverage of Trump's re-election speech on page 26: 'Florida Man Makes Announcement'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The New York Post buried Donald Trump's 2024 Presidential announcement on page 26. The once-loyal Post has turned on the former president since the GOP's disappointing midterm results. "A Florida retiree made the surprise announcement Tuesday night that he was running for President," the Post's article dismissingly said. "Trump, famous for gold-plated lobbies and for firing people on reality television, will be 78 in 2024," the article said. But after Republicans' disappointing results in the 2022 midterm elections, Murdoch's outlets appear to have turned on the former president.

☆ Stephen King compares Elon Musk with a fictional character who cons friends into doing chores and charges them, following Twitter verification dispute
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Stephen King likened Elon Musk to a character who cons friends into doing chores and then charges them. King referenced the protagonist in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain. King has criticized Musk for planning to charge Twitter users $8 a month to stay verified. "Musk makes me think of Tom Sawyer, who is given the job of whitewashing a fence as punishment," King tweeted on Wednesday. The author has spoken out about plans for a monthly verification fee for Twitter users who want to keep their blue tick.

☆ Salman Rushdie lost sight in one eye following attack, agent says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Salman Rushdie lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand following an attack on stage at a literary event in western New York in August, his agent said. Wylie described the author's wounds as "profound," and noted the loss of sight of one eye. Khomeini's successor, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was suspended from Twitter in 2019 for saying the fatwa against Rushdie was "irrevocable." He is being held without bail in a western New York jail. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Maria Caspani, Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Oregon sheriff arrests Forest Service employee for controlled burn that spread
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Daniel Trotta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 20 (Reuters) - A county sheriff in Oregon has arrested a U.S. Forest Service employee on suspicion of reckless burning after a controlled burn escaped and scorched about 20 acres (8 hectares) of private land. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterRelations between New Mexico communities and the Forest Service were strained earlier this year when a controlled burn sparked a large wildfire. A Forest Service review found that pressure to meet objectives may have led the agency to ignore risks posed by a controlled burn. In Oregon, Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley said in a statement on Wednesday his office arrested a 39-year-old "burn boss" after a controlled burn escaped and torched 20 acres belonging to a cattle rancher. Forest Service representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

☆ How Equifax used employment records it collects from 2.5 million companies to fire dozens of its own employees for working second jobs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Kate Taylor | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The crackdown was the result of an investigation that unfolded in recent months conducted by Equifax employees, including HR and cybersecurity, according to a document seen by Insider. The product has employment records, including weekly pay, of 105 million US workers, according to the company's last annual report. At one point, 25 employees were interviewed on the investigation's findings, and 24 were terminated, resulting in savings of $3.2 million, according to a document. In one author's case, this included all salaried positions since graduating college in 2013, as well as a job working in the college library as a student. "With predictions of more than 36 million employees working remotely by the year 2025, the need to monitor an employee's employment status will continue to grow," the company says in marketing material.

☆ Christopher Columbus is the target in bestselling Native American author's new comic, and Hollywood wants in on it
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Mike Calia | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK – Even in fourth grade, Stephen Graham Jones thought the heroic story of Christopher Columbus was a crock. said Jones, author of The New York Times-bestselling supernatural thriller "The Only Good Indians" and a member of the Blackfeet Native American tribe. (A 2002 episode of "The Sopranos" depicted members of the Italian crime family fighting Native Americans who are protesting Columbus Day.) "I've only gotten support and people agreeing that if we could, we should go back and take Columbus out," Jones said in an interview Friday at New York Comic Con. By the end of the first issue, Tad fears he is becoming a monster.

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