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☆ Home heating costs are on the rise but government assistance is running short
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Shannon Pettypiece | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

But temperatures are already dropping and the number of households seeking assistance is already on the rise, according to interviews with more than a half dozen officials involved in programs that provide heating assistance. Kelly said the Salvation Army in Massachusetts has received twice as many applications as it did this time last year for its winter heating assistance program, which is aimed at those whose incomes are too high to qualify for federal assistance. The cost of heating oil has been a particular concern for the Biden administration, said the government official. Heating oil and diesel inventories are at their lowest levels on record for this time of year. The administration is also prepared to tap into the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, which has about 1 million barrels of heating oil, if necessary, the administration officials said.

☆ Cortez Masto makes a final push with Latina voters in close Nevada Senate race
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Natasha Korecki | Natasha Korecki Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

“I didn’t know how I was going to pay the rent.”Barreat credited Cortez Masto for helping her secure small-business assistance to help her business survive the economic hit. And Cortez Masto’s campaign and allied groups say Latinas hold her political salvation in their hands. The strategy to target Latinas began months ago in the spring, before Cortez Masto even knew whom she’d be up against in the general election. Then, Somos PAC, a Democratic-aligned group that advocates for Cortez Masto, began an air assault against Laxalt on Spanish- and English-language TV. “Hispanic voters are leaving Senator Masto just [like] Joe Biden for the same reason everybody else is,” Laxalt said.

☆ Someone paid $440,000 for the Bible used in 'The Shawshank Redemption'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Bible used in "The Shawshank Redemption" sold for about $441,000 in an online auction. Early in the film, nefarious prison warden Norton hands Dufresne the Bible, telling him "Salvation lies within." The inscription in the Bible used in The Shawshank Redemption. Turning the page, Warden Norton reveals the outline of the hammer Dufresne used to tunnel his way out of the jail. According to the Propstore auction listing, "only one rock hammer Bible was finished for the pivotal scene, as the process of cutting the hammer outline was precise and time-consuming."

☆ In bankrupt Lebanon, locals mine bitcoin and buy groceries with tether, as $1 is now worth 15 cents
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +32 min

Others arrange clandestine meetings via Telegram to swap the stablecoin tether for U.S. dollars in order to buy groceries. In Jan., police raided a small crypto mining farm in the hydro-powered town of Jezzine, seizing and dismantling mining rigs in the process. But mining crypto tokens to earn a living is not for everybody. Younes tells CNBC that he initially moved 15% of his money into bitcoin, and he kept the remaining balance in cash. Lebanon has six bitcoin ATMs — one in Aamchit and five in Beirut, according to metrics offered by coinatmradar.com.

☆ Which Charitable Contributions Are Tax Deductible?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +11 min

As a result, the number of people who can claim charitable donations fell from about 1 in 3 before the law to 1 in 10 today. The upshot is that charitable donations are still a valuable potential deduction—but only for the right kind of taxpayer. Who qualifies for charitable tax deductionsEvery taxpayer has a choice between itemizing their deductions and claiming the standard deduction. Note that for tax years 2020 and 2021, the IRS let people claim a $300 charitable deduction even if they didn’t itemize, but that allowance has expiredWhat kind of giving qualifies for the charitable tax deductionContributions to officially registered charities, which are designated with a special tax code like 501(c) (3), may be deductible on your federal tax return (and possibly your state tax return). But in typical IRS fashion, there are special rules that determine whether and how much of your charitable donations are deductible.

☆ Investors Put a Price on Credit Suisse’s Salvation
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Margot Patrick | Julie Steinberg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Credit Suisse’s stock fell last week after reports that it was sounding out investors to buy new shares. Years of scandals and executive turnover have driven shares in the once formidable Credit Suisse Group AG to an all-time low. The question is: Can they go even lower? The answer depends on how much capital the bank will need to raise to execute its turnaround plan.

☆ Sorry, millennials, you're never getting a good home
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Like a lot of millennials, Enrique Gonsalves is a victim of poor timing. For most millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, the path to homeownership has been fraught with pitfalls and false starts. Add it all up, and the homeownership rate among millennials is lagging that of previous generations. Compared with these generations, millennials have more debt, a lower net worth, and a worse chance of making more than their parents. Those factors, particularly the rise in student debt, have prevented millennials from getting a home.

Cars drive under a downed power pole in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona in Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico September 21, 2022. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo/File PhotoSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Javier Rivera-Aquino is a lawyer who supplemented his income by raising bananas on a 17-acre plot of land in the mountains of west-central Puerto Rico until five years ago, when Hurricane Maria plowed into the island and swept away his plantation. For Rivera-Aquino, this week revived painful memories of 2017 as another powerful storm, Fiona, inflicted a fresh round of destruction on an island still struggling to recover from Maria. Rivera-Aquino knows too well the challenges now facing his neighbors around Lares, about 62 miles (100 km) southwest of San Juan, the capital city. While Cidra, about 31 miles (50 km) south of the capital, suffered multiple landslides in the wake of the catastrophic 2017 hurricane, Fiona has brought its own significant problems, he said.

The arrival of thousands of migrants in New York, Washington, Chicago and beyond has sent officials in those cities scrambling to establish a system of support services, with mixed success. The Office of Migrant Services in Washington, D.C., will offer urgent medical care and connection to resettlement services. Phillips said migrants have been calling volunteer groups in the city “constantly” with problems, leaving volunteers in rapid-response mode. Mental health services are lackingStill, Enriquez said, there is a major hole in that care: mental health services. Mental health screenings are also part of the initial medical checkups at city health centers, Jochum said.

☆ What 'quiet quitting' is actually about
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-08 | by ( Aki Ito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Now, everyone and their mother has an opinion about "quiet quitting," whatever it is. Quiet quitting isn't about quitting our jobs. Slacking off vs. work-life balanceMuch of the debate around quiet quitting revolves around the definition of what it actually is. How should I feel about coworkers who are quiet quitting if I end up having to take up the slack? In a self-help sense, quiet quitting is only the first step on the road to fulfillment.

☆ A weird evolutionary quirk in the human eye could be what saves us from climate change
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-19 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The difference: climate change, our dunderheaded anti-terraforming of Earth. Climate change has been going on for a century and a half. Then that derecho — souped up by an atmosphere pumped full of heat energy, thanks to climate change — swept across South Dakota. In the US, only young people and those who identify as Democrats think dealing with climate change should be a top priority, according to surveys from Pew Research. About half of Americans think humans are only partially responsible for climate change, or not responsible at all.

☆ My husband and I made $200,000 in revenue last year on Poshmark. Here's how I went from working at Bath & Body Works to reselling full time.
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-13 | by ( Perri Ormont Blumberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

I resell shoes on Poshmark full time under the closet name "RNZY," which is my husband, Ryan's, and my name combined. From 2013 to 2015, I worked as a Bath & Body Works store manager in Burlington, Vermont. We sold shoes and clothing, but we quickly niched down to exclusively shoes. We both realized that we enjoyed the entire process of selling shoes — sourcing, cleaning, photographing, listing, and shipping. (We search for the pair of shoes on Poshmark and select "sold items."

☆ Wall Streeters peak between 36 and 40, according to a Harvard social scientist. Here's what they forget to plan for in the second half of their lives.
▼ + stars: | 2022-02-16 | by ( Jonathan A. Knee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In his new book, social scientist Arthur C. Brooks explains why addiction to achievement is bound to yield disappointment. To find true joy in the second half of life, invest in relationships instead of material possessions and social status. According to From Strength to Strength: Finding Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life, the basic problem is the inevitable decline in our abilities. The decline in peak performance begins far earlier than we are likely to admit across professions, not just in athletes. Strength to Strength reads like a companion volume to the cult classic from 1979, The Drama of the Gifted Child by Swiss psychoanalyst Alice Miller.

☆ Trump campaign throws a COVID-19 lifeline to an indie bookstore in New Jersey, buying Rep. Dan Crenshaw's new book in bulk
▼ + stars: | 2020-07-20 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

"It helped us pay the staff, the rent, the insurance and keep the lights on," Books & Greetings owner Kenny Sarfin said. Campaign committees are increasingly making bulk book purchases, which help juice sales numbers and propel politicos' writings onto bestseller lists. The sale follows an earlier $400,000 order of Crenshaw's book by the National Republican Campaign Committee, Politico first reported. The Trump campaign did not reply to several request for comment. While political-committee book purchases are en vogue, it's rare for Republicans — or Democrats — to purchase so many from a mom-and-pop operation.

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