Crazy...

Taxing...

New York lawmakers have a potent incentive to help make sure they pass a $175 billion state budget by Sunday's deadline: A $10,000 pay raise.

The state's 213 lawmakers are scheduled to see their base pay increased from $110,000 to $120,000 on Jan. 1, 2020, as part of a three-year schedule approved by the state Compensation Committee last year.

The raise takes effect only upon the "timely legislative passage of the budget."   

Agency commissioners appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as well as the state attorney general and comptroller, are also due a Jan. 1 raise that will take effect only if the budget is on time.

Assembly Democrats appeared to clear one of the major remaining hurdles, saying they back congestion pricing, a new tax on drivers below 61st Street in Manhattan.

Raises were also recommended for Cuomo to make $250,000 a year by 2021.

Taxing the people of New York, is the goal for these Democrats while give the corporation prime land and billions of dollars in breaks.

Borders...

The United States was home to 12.2 million in 2007, according to the most recent Pew Research Center estimates. This decade a decrease in unauthorized immigrants from Mexico, even as the numbers from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras increased. Meanwhile, a growing share of unauthorized immigrants had arrived legally and then overstayed their visas.

More recent data from the federal government show that 2018 saw an uptick in border apprehensions. There were nearly 467,000 apprehensions at the southwest border last year, the most in any calendar year since at least 2012. Still, the number of apprehensions in 2018 remained far below the more than 1 million apprehensions per fiscal year routinely recorded during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border survived a critical vote in the House, as Democrats failed to override his veto.    

In February 2019,  76,103 illegal without the needed documentation to enter the U.S. either presented themselves at legal ports of entry or were apprehended by Border Patrol between ports of entry.

Most likely the illegals problem will help the president  in the next election particularly that the Democrats are in hiding. Just a thought.

Extortion...

 

Sex-related extortion rose 30 percent in the U.K. in the last year alone, the National Crime Agency said.

The nature of the sextortion  seems to be changing. Young men are the main victims, and are increasingly being targeted by individuals, especially by females.

Victims are befriended on dating apps including Tinder and Grinder, and then blackmailed when they share photos or information that may be embarrassing.

 Extortionists demanding money from men/ women by using threats to report their requests for explicit photos to police or their sexual practices to family members.

The criminals are often acting alone, but investigators found that the crimes were mostly carried out by overseas organized groups.

Spyware...

A research conducted by associates of Security Without Borders organization along with Motherboard has revealed that government spyware that infected hundreds of people through the official Google Play Store.

The malware was tracked as Exodus, after the name of the command and control servers the malicious apps connected to. More than 20 malicious apps went unnoticed by Google over the course of roughly two years.

According to Motherboard, the Android surveillance malware on the Google Play store that was sold to the Italian government by a company that sells surveillance cameras. This company is not known to produce malware, and if confirmed this is the first surveillance software associated with it.

The researchers argue that the surveillance operation might have targeted also innocent victims because the spyware was poorly developed, a circumstance that is confirmed makes the software illegal.

The Exodus surveillance malware was hidden in look like harmless apps that propose promotions and marketing offers from local Italian cellphone providers, other apps involved in the campaign were designed to improve the device’s performance.

Hack...

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the richest man in the world, just publicly admitted that he sent nude selfies to his girlfriend.  In 2019, if someone is sending nudes to a partner, who really cares?

Bezos’s post comes at a time when leaks of nude selfies have become common place for celebrities. No one wants to have private pictures made public, but it’s increasingly acknowledged that sending naked photos to a partner is a relatively normal thing to do. 

Whatever the case, the release of nude photos would certainly be embarrassing for him but hardly damning.

A 2018 study found that more than 80 percent of adults had sent sexually suggestive texts in the past year.

Meanwhile, nude photos of celebrities have become public as a result of hacks.  

This is an invasion of privacy.

Sia

The singer doesn't reveal her face during appearences.

Australian singer-songwriter Sia Furler has released a nude photo of herself.

The daring move was the Chandelier hit-maker's ultimate response to being faced with a nude photo leak.

She decided to take matters into her own hands after she was informed that someone was shopping naked photos of her to the highest bidder. She beat them to the punch, sharing the nude snap in an angry Twitter post.

The photo tweeted by the star belongs to the photographer, who is believed to have captured the invasive pictures from a distance without permission.

The publication claims the snapper has promised an 'additional 14 images' to whoever chooses to purchase the nude photos.

AFG...

Presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has a plan to break up big tech companies. The proposal entails appointing a bunch of regulators to undo mergers that her administration would deem anti-competitive.  

Warren's plan wouldn't only strip the incentive for big companies to invest in growth and innovation; it would inhibit small-business innovation, as well. It's true that Big Tech frequently swallows enterprises to eliminate competition. Yet many times smaller tech firms don't have access to capital that allows them to bring big ideas to fruition, or they simply can't take the risk. Big corporations can do both.

The fact that Facebook, Google and Amazon didn't even exist 25 years ago tells us the exact opposite. It highlights how quickly innovative ideas can transform the marketplace in an era of relative deregulation. I'd tell you to ask the executives at Woolworth's or Blockbuster -- and soon AOL, MySpace and Sears -- but there aren't any. 

Apple or Amazon were early adapters of the market's new realities. Now, some of their businesses are forced to compete with other giants like Walmart or Samsung. This has been beneficial for consumers. Now, if Twitter and Facebook want to stay on top, they probably should stop antagonizing half of their marketplace. Then again, in 25 years, it's quite likely that a bunch of new platforms will overtake both, no matter what they do. 

Wish that she comes up with a plan to build roads, bridges,  other than break things down or tax the citizens. 

Illusion...

Hopes...