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☆ Tim Walz took a $135,000 early withdrawal from a retirement account—that's generally a 'lose-lose situation,' says CFP
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-09 | by ( Ryan Ermey | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Even more interestingly, Walz told the Journal that he made a roughly $135,000 early withdrawal from a workplace retirement account last year to fund his daughter's college education. Walz is in an unusual situationFor Walz, $135,000 represents a relatively small chunk of what he can expect to earn in retirement. The Wall Street Journal estimates the Walzes' retirement savings at more than $1 million, meaning that the early withdrawal likely represented somewhere in the neighborhood of 10% of the retirement fund. Of Walz and his wife's roughly $300,000 in 2023 income, about $135,000 came from pensions or annuities. But it's especially dangerous for the majority of Americans who will have to rely heavily on their investments to fund their retirement.

Persons: Tim Walz, Walz, Gwen, J.D, Vance, It's, Gerika Espinosa, —, Jamie Bosse, Bosse Organizations: Wall Street, Republican, Street, CGN Advisors, Social Security Locations: Minnesota, Salt Lake City , Utah, Manhattan Kansas

☆ Who is the real Alice Guo? Fugitive mayor accused of spying for China faces legal reckoning after weeks on the run
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-04 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The official inquiry into Alice Guo, disgraced former mayor of a small town not far from the capital Manila, has been compulsive viewing for Filipinos since it began in May. But who exactly is Alice Guo? The Bureau of Immigration (BI) says Indonesian authorities have informed them that former Mayor Alice Guo has been arrested in the country on September 4, 2024. Guo shows her chicken farm in Bamban, Tarlac province, in the Philippines in a YouTube video posted on April 20, 2022. The real concern about Guo arose from her alleged ties with business associates from China currently in prison.

Persons: Alice Guo, Guo, “, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, lawbreakers, ”, Alice L, David Buenaventura, Ditjen, she’s, Alice Leal Guo, scammers, Senator Risa Hontiveros, Marcos Jr, ” Marcos, Guo Hua Ping, hasn’t, Zhang Ruijin, Lin Baoying, Zhang, Lin, AMLC, Shiela, Cassandra Li Ong Organizations: CNN, absconding, Ang Law, Immigration, Philippine Bureau, YouTube, Philippine Offshore Gaming, Philippine News Agency, Philippine senate, Facebook, National Bureau of Investigation, Money, Yuan Technology Inc, Hongshen Gaming Technology Inc, QJJ, Inc Locations: Philippines, Manila, China, South China, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Bamban, Tarlac province, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippine, what’s, POGOs, Beijing, Singapore

☆ Philippines bans gambling operations catered to illicit Chinese players
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The Philippines has announced plans to ban offshore gaming operators, targeting an industry that mostly caters to Chinese gamblers and has sparked growing alarm from law enforcement over its alleged connections to organized crime. Known locally as POGOs, Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators have spawned across the country, both licensed and illicit, employing tens of thousands of Chinese and foreign nationals. Ezra Acayan/Getty ImagesThere are 46 licensed offshore gaming operators and dozens more illicit gambling hubs in the Philippines, according to the country’s gaming regulator, which Marcos has ordered to close by the end of the year. Since then, the Philippines has become a major hub for online gaming catering to tens of thousands of players based in China. “Even if overseas casinos are legally opened, cross-border gambling by Chinese citizens is suspected of violating the laws of our country,” the embassy said in a statement.

Persons: Ferdinand Marcos Jr, ” Marcos, Marcos, Ezra Acayan, Marcos ’, Rodrigo Duterte Organizations: CNN, Philippine Offshore Gaming, Macao –, Philippine News Agency Locations: Philippines, Philippine, Manila, Beijing, South China, China, Macao, Southeast Asia, United States, China’s, Singapore

☆ Guinness World Records day celebrates the super skilled and superlative
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Sarah Mills | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Zhou Quan, from China, holds a Guinness World Records' certificate after achieving the most consecutive, 11 repetitions, single leg full twist back somersaults in Chenzhou, Hunan, China August 15, 2023 in this handout picture released in celebration of Guinness World Records Day 2023. Now he is among the super-skilled people, expert at doing unusual and difficult things that are being celebrated on Thursday by Guinness World Records Day. Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday, who was on hand to adjudicate Swift's record ride, said this year's theme is super skills. "Guinness World Records Day is a global celebration of the superlative," he said. The United States, meanwhile, boasts Henry Cabelus who holds eight world records after achieving the highest backflip Pogo Stick jump, making it over a height of 3.07 metres (10.07 ft).

Persons: Zhou Quan, Britain's Paul Swift, Swift, Craig Glenday, Henry Cabelus, I’ve, Sarah Mills, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Records, Guinness, Britain's Silverstone, Guinness World, Thomson Locations: China, Chenzhou, Hunan, Britain's, Japan, United States

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Fans have pushed the Fisher-Price Corn Popper into the National Toy Hall of Fame, elevating it from perpetual finalist to 2023 inductee, alongside baseball cards, Cabbage Patch Kids and NERF foam toys, the Hall of Fame announced Friday. Baseball cards, Cabbage Patch Kids and NERF toys were voted in in the usual way from among a field of 12 finalists, with input from a panel of experts. The winners are on permanent display at the National Toy Hall of Fame, which is located inside The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. Cabbage Patch Kids continue to encourage imagination and storytelling for kids. Fisher-Price Corn Popper, which is a forgotten finalist no longer, is a great activity for toddlers," Bensch said.

Persons: Price, Popper, Fisher, Ken, Barbie, ” Christopher Bensch, Price Corn Popper, Bensch, “, grownups Organizations: National Toy Hall of Fame, of Fame, Fame's, Toy Hall of Fame, Museum of Locations: ROCHESTER, N.Y, Rochester , New York

☆ The Best True Crime to Stream: Stories That Are Very Scary, and Real
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Maya Salam | More About Maya Salam | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The term “killer clown” would normally send me running for the hills. But I was curious about this 2021 six-episode Peacock docuseries, which is a comprehensive exploration of the crimes committed by the serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who preyed on boys and men and was sentenced on 33 counts of homicide in 1980. profiler Robert Ressler, who is credited with creating the term “serial killer.” (For “Mindhunter” fans, Ressler inspired the character of Special Agent Bill Tench.) While serial killers like him have often been too heavily glorified, there is value in not forgetting the systemic failures that allowed such horrors to continue unchecked. Much as they did with the crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer, the police ignored warnings and pushed aside clues, including pleas from a victim who’d survived, because of entrenched homophobia.

Persons: Peacock, John Wayne Gacy, Gacy, Pogo, Gacy’s, Robert Ressler, Mindhunter, Ressler, Bill Tench, Jeffrey Dahmer, who’d Locations: Chicago, Illinois

The sample capsule will parachute into the Utah desert as its mothership, the Osiris-Rex spacecraft, zooms off for an encounter with another asteroid. The asteroid samples will be handled inside nitrogen-purging gloveboxes by staff in head-to-toe clean room suits. ASTEROID AUTUMNThis fall is what NASA is calling Asteroid Autumn, with three asteroid missions marking major milestones. Both the NASA spacecraft and its target — a metal asteroid — are named Psyche. Japan’s first asteroid sample mission returned microscopic grains from asteroid Itokawa in 2010.

Persons: —, ”, University of Arizona’s Dante Lauretta, Rex, Bennu, Lauretta, NASA’s, Johnson, Kevin Righter, Lucy Organizations: NASA, University of Arizona’s, Empire, Defense Department’s Utah, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Apollo, Soviet Union, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Utah, Japan, Bennu, Colorado, Houston, Antarctica, Cape Canaveral , Florida, U.S, China

☆ How to Tell if Your A.I. Is Conscious
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Oliver Whang | More About Oliver Whang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The report argues that any one of these features could, potentially, be an essential part of what it means to be conscious. And, if we’re able to discern these traits in a machine, then we might be able to consider the machine conscious. And the authors of the recent report are quick to note that theirs is not a definitive list of what makes one conscious. In principle, according to this view, a pinball machine could be conscious, if it were made much more complex. (That might mean it’s not a pinball machine anymore; let’s cross that bridge if we come to it.)

Persons: neuroscientists

☆ I Loved ‘Pee-wee’s Playhouse’ Enough to Marry It
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( James Poniewozik | More About James Poniewozik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Pee-wee’s Playhouse” premiered on CBS in 1986, the year I graduated from high school, which means I was probably too old for it. Or maybe too young. (Among them was a young Laurence Fishburne as Cowboy Curtis, wielding an animated lasso.) The overstuffed set, with its midcentury candy palette and zigzag angles, looked like a B-52s album you could live inside. Pee-wee the character was a parody — a high-on-Pixy-Stix exaggeration of the clean-cut kids’ hosts of the 1950s, a Howdy Doody who brought himself to life.

Persons: ”, Herman, Paul Reubens, Laurence Fishburne, Cowboy Curtis, Howdy Doody Organizations: CBS

☆ This man is traveling the world on non-motorized transport
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Tamara Hardingham-Gill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Not even an elevator,” Pukonen says of his epic adventure, which has seen him travel around 80,000 kilometers without using motorized transport. Ambitious questAdventurer Markus Pukonen has spent over seven years traveling the world using non-motorized transport. Before beginning the trip, Pukonen founded nonprofit organization Routes of Change, with the aim of raising funds and awareness for small social and environmental organizations throughout his journey. “So the fact that what I’m doing is such a crazy, astonishing thing [to some people] is really, really bizarre to me. Although Pukonen has used almost every form of non-motorized transport possible during the journey, he says there’s nothing quite like traveling on water.

Persons: Markus Pukonen, Pukonen, he’d, “, it’s, ”, he’s, ” Pukonen, Randy Mitson, ’, “ I’ve, ” He’s, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, CNN Travel, Children’s, Swift, Toronto Locations: Toronto, rafted, Mississippi, Canada, Lake Ontario, Columbia, Washington, Hawaii, Macau, Vietnam, kayaked, Indonesia, Canadian, Winnipeg, Tofino, Vancouver Island, India, Seychelles, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Brazil, Florida, Savannah , Georgia, North America's, Superior, Georgia, Maine, Hudson, New York, Caribbean, Tobago, Asia, Pukonen, British Columbia

☆ Wrexham: An intoxicating tale of Hollywood glamour and sporting romance
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Aimee Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +22 min

In an often brutal and bleak world, the recent resurgence of Wrexham, the city as well as the soccer club, lifts the soul. The Turf pub is a must-see for Wrexham fans. But now, there’s Wrexham with a story that, in hindsight, feels as if it was just waiting for Hollywood. One of Wrexham city center's shopping areas, pictured on April 22. Wrexham fans celebrate on the pitch after their team beat Boreham Wood at the Racecourse Ground.

☆ House GOP's attempt to shut down Alvin Bragg is unlikely to save Trump but could serve despots in training, say oversight experts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Donald Trump's formal arraignment in Manhattan criminal court sent House Republicans into a tizzy. Stretton wondered about House Republicans' attempt to defang state prosecutors they consider to be political persecutors. "It's hard to say what overstepping bounds are any more," Davis told Insider. "When you defend somebody before you've even seen the indictment, you're kind of hitching your wagon to all the investigations," Goldberg told Insider. He also warned that spotlight-chasing House Republicans risk drowning in unfinished business at the end of the term by floating new Biden-focused inquiries "every couple of weeks."

☆ The US Air Force is finally getting rid of its A-10s, and its focus may be straying from the Warthog's unique mission
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Those retirements would shrink the Air Force's A-10 fleet to 260 aircraft, and Air Force leaders plan to continue decommissioning A-10s in the years ahead. Not so closeUS Air Force joint terminal attack controllers during a close air support training with an A-10 in Nevada in September 2011. Michael HolzworthCurrent and former Air Force officials have said that the F-35 would take over the A-10's mission after the Warthog left the fleet. So it will perform the mission very differently," said Kendall, who is now the Air Force's top civilian official. Those skills "are perishable," Boeding added, "and the stakes are too high to not train dedicated crews (ground and air) in purpose build close air support aircraft."

☆ More New Year’s Resolutions You Can Actually Keep
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Jason Gay | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Some of us are drawn to ambitious New Year’s resolutions. Pogo stick from Maine to San Diego; finish an 80,000-piece puzzle of chameleons playing poker; unmask a trove of secret government records showing Elvis is alive and running a combination Jet Ski/poke bowl shack in Islamorada. If you read my New Year’s column last year, you know I prefer a modest resolution, with a lower barrier to entry. Here’s a fresh list of humble resolutions for 2023:

☆ How Trump Org's tax fraud conviction could bar Trump from federal contracts, even for Secret Service
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Laura Italiano | Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The Trump Organization was found criminally liable of tax fraud on Tuesday after a six-week trial. A ban could end his 'exorbitant' billing of Secret Service agents who protect him at his resorts. At the Trump Organization headquarters in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, the cars, apartments, and tuition were considered part of Weisselberg's $940,000-a-year income, prosecutors said. Secret Service a tough targetWatchdogs concede that Trump's Secret Service billing is a tough target. Barring the unlikelihood of a cash-free solution — Trump letting the Secret Service "stay at our properties for free," as Eric Trump once promised, or forgoing Secret Service protection voluntarily, as Richard Nixon did — Trump's Secret Service spigot may well remain open, watchdogs acknowledge.

☆ How a conviction in Trump Org's upcoming trial could bar Trump from federal contracts, even for Secret Service
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Laura Italiano | Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

A ban could end his 'exorbitant' billing of Secret Service agents who protect him at his resorts. Add to that the recent news that the Trump Organization had billed the Secret Service more than $ 1.4 million to stay at Trump properties during the former president's time in office. At the Trump Organization headquarters in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, the cars, apartments and tuition were considered part of Weisselberg's $940,000-a-year income, prosecutors allege. Secret Service a tough targetWatchdogs concede that Trump's Secret Service billing is a tough target. Barring the unlikelihood of a cash-free solution — Trump letting the Secret Service "stay at our properties for free," as Eric Trump once promised, or forgoing Secret Service protection voluntarily, as Richard Nixon did — Trump's Secret Service spigot may well remain open, watchdogs acknowledge.

☆ Philippines to shut 175 offshore gambling firms, deport 40,000 Chinese workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MANILA, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The Philippines will stop operations of 175 offshore gambling firms and deport about 40,000 Chinese workers, a justice ministry official said on Monday, part of a crackdown on the notoriously opaque online gaming industry. At their peak, Philippine offshore gambling operators, or POGOs, employed more than 300,000 Chinese workers, but the pandemic and higher taxes have forced many to operate elsewhere. The POGOs targeted for closure had licenses that either expired or were revoked, for violations like non-payment of government fees, Clavano said, adding the deportation of the Chinese workers would start next month. The government generated 7.2 billion pesos ($122.21 million) in 2020 and 3.9 billion last year in POGO fees alone, according to the finance ministry. The sector employs 201,000 Chinese and 111,000 Filipinos, according to Leechiu's data, which estimates POGOs deliver 190 billion pesos ($3.22 billion) to the economy each year, a boon to the property and retail sectors.

☆ A House Republican and Democrat are introducing a bill that would require members of Congress to file financial disclosures electronically
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some members of Congress file financial disclosures that are basically illegible. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota are introducing the Easy to Read Electronic and Accessible Disclosures (READ) Act, which would allow users to search, sort, and download financial disclosure data filed by House members, Senators, and candidates for both chambers. "This means that government records, including financial disclosures filed by elected officials, must be easy to find and easy to understand." "These requirements will help bring critical transparency to the financial situation of members of Congress and more opportunity to spot potential conflicts of interest," added Hedtler-Gaudette. The bill comes amid a broader push to ban members of Congress from trading stocks.

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