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☆ After hating on Taylor Swift for years, I've now spent $8,000 on her Eras Tour. I finally understand the hype.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Chris Weller | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Erin Wickham, 34, says she found Taylor Swift "annoying" for most of her twenties. I always knew Swift as this pop-bubblegum artist, so I didn't expect muchThe process of getting converted from Taylor Swift antagonist to full-on superfan happened faster than I expected. Swift's music spoke to me on an emotional level I wasn't expectingI had a difficult 2022. I was crazy for Taylor Swift, but I wasn't going to shell out that kind of money. Taylor Swift's music makes me feel less aloneI imagine this sense of connection is why people have followed groups like the Grateful Dead and Phish around for so many years.

Persons: Erin Wickham, Taylor Swift, Wickham, She's, —, It's, I'd, I'm, Swift, Taylor, TikTok, Marjorie, begrudgingly, I've, what's, Taylor Swift's Organizations: Swift, Service, New, MetLife, Pittsburgh, Amtrak Locations: TikTok, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, merch

☆ Ukraine says Hungary ignores requests for contact with transferred prisoners of war
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 20 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Monday that Hungary has been ignoring requests for contact with prisoners of war that Kyiv said had been secretly transferred from Russia and called the move an act of self interest on Prime Minister Viktor Orban's side. Hungary, which under Orban has forged strong political and economic ties with Russia and has not cut them since Moscow invaded Ukraine 16 months ago, said on June 9 that it had received a group of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia. "All attempts by Ukrainian diplomats over recent days to establish direct contact with Ukrainian citizens have failed," Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said on his Facebook page. Hungary's foreign ministry has not immediately responded to Reuters' requests for a comment. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the operation to transfer the prisoners was carried out solely in the political interests of Orban.

Persons: Viktor Orban's, Orban, Oleg Nikolenko, Gergely Gulyas, Gulyas, Dmytro Kuleba, Viktor Orban, Kuleba, Lidia Kelly, Michael Perry Organizations: Kyiv, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Hungary, Russia, Moscow, Ukrainian, Melbourne

☆ Ukraine repatriates three POWs from Russia via Hungary - Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, June 20 (Reuters) - Kyiv repatriated three Ukrainian prisoners of war from Hungary after a group of POWs was transferred there from Russia without coordination with Kyiv, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. "The Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest managed to bring back three Ukrainian prisoners of war from Hungary," Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko wrote on his Facebook page. Ukraine said on Monday that Hungary has been ignoring its requests for contact with the prisoners of war. It has cast the transfer of the POWs to Hungary as a publicity stunt by Orban. Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka and Kyiv newsroom; Editing by Tom Balmforth and Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Viktor Orban, Oleg Nikolenko, Nikolenko, Orban, Gergely Gulyas, Anna Pruchnicka, Tom Balmforth, Alison Williams Organizations: Kyiv, Thomson Locations: Hungary, Russia, Moscow, Budapest, Ukraine, Kyiv

☆ TurboTax Paying $141 Million to Taxpayers Who Could Have Filed for Free
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Ashlea Ebeling | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

TurboTax owner Intuit will make payments ranging from $29 to $85 to about 4.4 million taxpayers. Photo: ShutterstockMillions of Americans who were charged for tax preparation that should have been free will receive settlement checks from TurboTax starting next week, New York’s attorney general said Thursday. TurboTax owner Intuit agreed to the $141 million settlement a year ago over allegations its TurboTax software deceived low-income Americans into paying to file their taxes when they qualified to file for free. Intuit will make payments ranging from $29 to $85 to about 4.4 million taxpayers, New York Attorney General Letitia James said.

☆ Opinion | Is There Still Free Will in Addiction?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Maia Szalavitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When I was arrested and charged with possession with intent to sell cocaine in 1986, I was addicted to both coke and heroin. I knew that doing this further jeopardized my life prospects and my relationships with everyone I cared about. Was my brain hijacked by drugs — or was I willfully choosing to risk it all for a few hours of selfish pleasure? What makes people continue taking drugs like street fentanyl, which put them at daily risk of death? These questions are at the heart of drug policy and the way we view and treat addiction.

☆ Fact Check-Supposed Yuval Noah Harari ‘free will’ quote not on behalf of UN or WEF
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The graphic attributes the quotation “The era of free will is over” to Harari and has been shared by users across Twitter (here), Facebook (here) and Instagram (here). Interactions with the post suggest that users perceived the statement to have been made on behalf of the international organizations. However, the quotation itself is unverified and Yuval Noah Harari does not hold any official position with the UN or the WEF. Reuters has previously addressed the narrative that Harari represents the WEF or “globalist” views in general, and has debunked statements attributed to Harari in that context (here). There is no evidence that Yuval Noah Harari represents the UN or WEF, or that he made the statement about free will attributed to him.

☆ Hey, Bing, Help Me Overcome My Fear of College Basketball
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +15 min

I’m still learning so I appreciate your understanding and patience.🙏Do you know a lot about college basketball, and do you enjoy talking about it? Why are people so obsessed about the college basketball brackets? I've never filled out a college basketball March Madness bracket, and I heard that it's virtually impossible to do completely accurately, even if you predict the winner. When filling out my college basketball bracket, should I just guess according to what team names I like the best? :)I’m afraid I can’t fill out a March Madness bracket, as I’m just a chat mode of Microsoft Bing search.

☆ Elon Musk says bots making 'good content' will be exempt from Twitter's plan to charge for API access
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter plans to charge developers to access the API used to make third-party services and bots. Elon Musk has tweeted it would offer a free, write-only API for bots "providing good content." Saying he was "responding to feedback," Musk tweeted late Saturday: "Twitter will enable a light, write-only API for bots providing good content that is free." Musk said then that the free access had previously been "abused badly" by "bot scammers & opinion manipulators." "Just ~$100/month for API access with ID verification will clean things up greatly," he tweeted.

☆ Why ChatGPT Could Remain Free Amid Paid 'Pro' Version
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

OpenAI is floating a paid version of its product, prompting questions about future access. The Microsoft tie-up could help develop more sophisticated ChatGPT versions, experts said. The evolution toward paid versions is a common framework for newer technologies, where companies may release free or low cost versions to entice users and to gauge adoption. Keeping a version of ChatGPT free will still help the company develop its technology, Astvansh said. "A free version will help gather data on how people are asking questions, and help it improve other versions of GPT," he said.

☆ Biden speaks with Brazilian president after Bolsonaro supporters storm government buildings
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

President Joe Biden extended U.S. support to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil in a phone call a day after supporters of the country's former far-right leader stormed government buildings in the country's capital. Lula accepted an invitation from Biden to visit Washington early next month to consult on a "wide-ranging shared agenda," the statement said. The call with Lula comes just a day after a group of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace, similar to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. On Sunday, Lula vowed to prosecute rioters involved in the assault on government buildings. He pinned "responsibility" for the attack on Bolsonaro, suggesting that there were “several speeches by the former president encouraging this."

☆ Billionaires like Elon Musk want to save civilization by having tons of genetically superior kids. Inside the movement to take 'control of human evolution.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +40 min

"We are the Underground Railroad of 'Gattaca' babies and people who want to do genetic stuff with their kids," Malcolm told me. Ellison, meanwhile, who has two children in their 30s, has reportedly resumed having kids — with his 31-year-old girlfriend. "The person of this subculture really sees the pathway to immortality as being through having children," Simone said. The person of this subculture really sees the pathway to immortality as being through having children. Before she met Malcolm, Simone was convinced she wanted to live her life single and child-free.

NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Donald Trump defeated his niece Mary Trump in a lawsuit where she accused the former U.S. president and two of his siblings of defrauding her out of a multimillion-dollar inheritance. Mary Trump's case had its roots in the 1981 death of her father Fred Trump Jr., Donald Trump's older brother, who left Mary, then 16, a profitable real estate portfolio. Now a 57-year-old psychologist, Mary Trump claimed that her uncles Donald and Robert Trump and aunt Maryanne Trump Barry were supposed to protect her interests but instead "squeezed" her out of tens of millions of dollars. The cases are Mary L. Trump v Donald J. Trump et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 654698/2020, and Donald J. Trump v Mary L. Trump et al in the same court, No.

REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File PhotoHONG KONG, Oct 18 (Reuters) - As Xi Jinping consolidates power at China's 20th Communist Party Congress this week, Chinese women are not holding their breath for progress in gender equality. Mao Zedong, the founding father of the People's Republic, famously said "women hold up half the sky" and gender equality is enshrined in the country's constitution. "The trend (now) is usually women serve as a deputy or more symbolic position," he said. The sole current female member, Sun Chunlan, who has spearheaded China's zero-COVID policy, is 72 and expected to retire. The Chinese government body in charge of women's rights, the Women's Federation, did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

How much you should save every paycheckThe standard rule of thumb is to save 20% from every paycheck. "The point with both these methods is that saving 20% is still a priority," Anderson says. At the end of the day, the goal really is to just make sure you're saving some portion of your paycheck — even just $20. On the other hand, Barros notes, if you're saving for retirement and you're in your 20s, you can get away with saving between 10% to 15% of every paycheck if you want to retire by age 60. While saving 20% of every paycheck is a pretty standard rule, use the guidelines we outlined above to help you determine what's best for your personal financial circumstances.

☆ DOLIU în lumea cinematografiei. S-a stins din viață celebrul creator al filmului "Superman"
▼ + stars: | 2021-07-06 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +1 min

Richard Donner, regizorul unor filme celebre ca „Superman”, „The Goonies” sau „Lethal Weapon”, s-a stins din viață la 5 iulie, la vârsta de 91 de ani. Tristul anunț a fost făcut chiar de soţia acestuia, producătoarea Lauren Shuler Donner, informează realitatea.net. Primul său mare succes a fost „The Omen” (1976), iar ulterior a produs „Free Willy” şi „The Lost Boys”. Donner a regizat şi produs „The Goonies” (1985), o comedie care spune povestea unor copii, porniți în căutarea unei comori. Richard Donner a realizat nu doar filme, ci și videoclipuri.

Persons: Richard Donner, Lauren Shuler Donner, Christopher Reeve, . Donner, Mel Gibson, Donner, cineastul îşi, Cyndi Lauper, Sting, Bruce Willis Locations: Bronx, New York, Hollywood

☆ Soţia unui preot şi amantul cu peste 20 de ani mai mic, arestaţi după ce l-au ucis împreună pe soţ
▼ + stars: | 2021-03-31 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +2 min

Soția unui pastor din Oklahoma și amantul ei au fost arestați după ce l-au ucis împreună pe soţul femeii. Kristie Evans, în vârstă de 47 de ani, și iubitul ei Kahlil Deamie Square, în vârstă de 26 de ani, au fost arestați pentru uciderea soțului ei de 50 de ani, David Evans. Ba mai mult, ea începuse să i se plângă că soţul a numit-o „groaznică” , spunându-i că vrea să îşi omoare soţul pentru că era aşa „abuziv verbal”. A fugit apoi de la fața locului și Kristie a sunat la 911, susținând că un intrus a intrat și l-a ucis. Kristie și David aveau împreună trei copii împreună.

Persons: Kristie Evans, David Evans, Free Will, David, Beth Green, Khalil, Isus Hristos, Baptiste Harmony Free Will Locations: Oklahoma, Free, Ada, Kristie

I'm a mom of two black children, and I know the importance of teaching them good financial habits to build wealth and close the racial wealth gap. My parents modeled good financial habits for me, and I'm passing along three lessons to my kids: avoid debt, use a budget, and save and invest. The three most important things I'm teaching my children are to avoid debt, use a budget, and save and invest. Save and investLastly, I saw my parents save and invest. While I do want my kids to have wealth, it's not just about a sum of money.

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