Happy Memorial Day weekend.
Don't want to read? Listen to the Podcast.
*1. American Dream
From WaPo - The story behind the ‘American Dream’ photo at West Point that went viral
This is a great story. 2nd Lt. Alix Idrache is from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I spent a few months in Port-au-Prince and, while it is a beautiful tropical environment, it is probably the worst humanitarian environment I have visited - and I have been to some God-awful places. This story is what the American dream is. It is what makes America the most amazing place on the planet.
"'People where I’m from don’t grow up to be pilots, right?” Idrache said. “Like they don’t dream of flying a helicopter, that’s not something you do. You don’t just say I’m going to be a pilot and make it happen. There’re no aviation, there’re no helicopters, no flight schools. There’re none of that.'"
"'Knowing that one day I will be a pilot is humbling beyond words,” Idrache wrote. “I could not help but be flooded with emotions knowing that I will be leading these men and women who are willing to give their all to preserve what we value as the American way of life. To me, that is the greatest honor. Once again, thank you.'"
*2. Mo Money, NO Problem
From New Yorker - Making It Harder to Hold Banks Accountable
"To federal prosecutors—and to a jury in Manhattan—the hustle [a high risk housing loan created by Countrywide] sounded like fraud. And in 2013, Bank of America, which had by then taken over Countrywide, was found liable for fraud and later ordered to pay a $1.27 billion judgment to the government."
"But this week, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals looked at that judgment and asked this question: If an entity (in this case, a bank) enters into a contract pure of heart and only deceives its partners afterward, is that fraud?"
"The three-judge panel’s answer was no. Bank of America is no longer required to pay the judgment."
And that, friends, is how big business, or big banks, make bazillions of dollars at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer.
In other financial news...
+ From Reuters - New York financial regulator prepares to probe online lenders
"Hailed as a “fintech” rival to traditional banks in the wake of the financial crisis, lenders like LendingClub enjoyed rapid growth and attracted plenty of investor dollars through their promise to provide quick and cheap unsecured personal and business loans online. Unlike banks, which retain some of the risk from the loans they make, marketplace lenders sell the loans on to hedge funds, pension funds or individual investors."
The spirit of this type of lending - letting "Joe American" get a piece of, or create, a venture business - is how America sustains its entrepreneurial spirit. But where this gets ugly is when traditional finance (think hedge funds and big banks) get into the game and start to create monetary instruments to hedge against the success or failure of these ventures.
*3. TSA
From Wired - The Woeful TSA Doesn’t Need More Staff. It Needs This Tech
If you travel, or, especially, if you are traveling this holiday weekend, you are dreading the airport security process. It's broke, has been broke for a long time and everyone knows it. The problem is it's there to keep everyone safe, and, generally speaking, it has in the U.S. We have not had a significant flight related terror incidents in a while.
(@ Also, see In Through the Out Door: There Has to Be a Better Way to Manage Airport Security Breaches)
*4. The Superbug Has Arrived in America
From WaPo - Researchers discover dangerous bacteria in Pa. resistant to last-resort antibiotics
"For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort, an alarming development that a top U.S. public health official says could signal 'the end of the road' for antibiotics."
"Scientists and public health officials have long warned that if the resistant bacteria continue to spread, treatment options could be seriously limited. Routine operations could become deadly. Minor infections could become life threatening"
I think we take the miracle of antibiotics for granted and we have over prescribed them and used them illogically in modern livestock practices, and now we could be without their life saving abilities. To me, this ranks up with opioid addiction as a serious public health concern, but I don't think it is getting the attention it requires.
(@ Also, see The Growing Antibiotic Resistance Problem)
In other scary infectious disease news...
+ From NYT - He Survived Ebola. Now He’s Fighting to Keep It From Spreading.
"During the [2014 Western Africa] epidemic, Western media outlets focused much attention on the billion-dollar scramble for high-tech medical solutions...that are still making their way through clinical trials and certifications. But the initiative that holds the most promise for preventing another epidemic is as rudimentary as they come. The governments of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, with assistance from the W.H.O. and NGOs, have tried to train all government health workers in a standard set of practices called Infection Prevention and Control (I.P.C.) and provide these workers with the low-tech, inexpensive equipment — soap, wash buckets, hand sanitizer, gloves, masks, long-sleeved gowns — needed to put those practices into effect. It amounts to basic hygiene, with an emphasis on hand-washing, which remains the single most effective practice for preventing the transmission of infectious disease."
*5. Bracing for Chaos
From WaPo - A growing concern in Cleveland: Chaos off the convention floor
"Amid recurring violence at political rallies held by presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, many local [Cleveland] officials and activists are increasingly worried that this lakeside city is ill-prepared to deal with tens of thousands of protesters and agitators expected to descend on the Republican National Convention here in July."
Boy, I'm glad I don't live in Cleveland (I used to). Starting July 18th, for four days it's going to be the epicenter of the anti-Trump movement, and it's liable to get ugly.
Continuing the violence in America theme...
From WaPo - This could be the reason America is becoming more violent
"But the early reports for 2015 show big increases in violence (up 1.7 percent) and even bigger increases in homicide (up 6.2 percent)."
*BOTTOM OF THE NEWS
* Elon Musk's quest to make rocket landings routine continues today (Hint: It's going to be coming in hot and fast)
* Is 10,000-steps goal more myth than science? Study seeks fitness truths through our phones and more (Hint: Probably. But the good news is at least you're moving)
* End of an Art Form? The Persian Rug May Not Be Long for This World (Hint: Society values quantity over quality)
*Sign up below to receive Top of the News via email.
Don't want to read? Listen to the Podcast.
*1. American Dream
From WaPo - The story behind the ‘American Dream’ photo at West Point that went viral
This is a great story. 2nd Lt. Alix Idrache is from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I spent a few months in Port-au-Prince and, while it is a beautiful tropical environment, it is probably the worst humanitarian environment I have visited - and I have been to some God-awful places. This story is what the American dream is. It is what makes America the most amazing place on the planet.
"'People where I’m from don’t grow up to be pilots, right?” Idrache said. “Like they don’t dream of flying a helicopter, that’s not something you do. You don’t just say I’m going to be a pilot and make it happen. There’re no aviation, there’re no helicopters, no flight schools. There’re none of that.'"
"'Knowing that one day I will be a pilot is humbling beyond words,” Idrache wrote. “I could not help but be flooded with emotions knowing that I will be leading these men and women who are willing to give their all to preserve what we value as the American way of life. To me, that is the greatest honor. Once again, thank you.'"
*2. Mo Money, NO Problem
From New Yorker - Making It Harder to Hold Banks Accountable
"To federal prosecutors—and to a jury in Manhattan—the hustle [a high risk housing loan created by Countrywide] sounded like fraud. And in 2013, Bank of America, which had by then taken over Countrywide, was found liable for fraud and later ordered to pay a $1.27 billion judgment to the government."
"But this week, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals looked at that judgment and asked this question: If an entity (in this case, a bank) enters into a contract pure of heart and only deceives its partners afterward, is that fraud?"
"The three-judge panel’s answer was no. Bank of America is no longer required to pay the judgment."
And that, friends, is how big business, or big banks, make bazillions of dollars at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer.
In other financial news...
+ From Reuters - New York financial regulator prepares to probe online lenders
"Hailed as a “fintech” rival to traditional banks in the wake of the financial crisis, lenders like LendingClub enjoyed rapid growth and attracted plenty of investor dollars through their promise to provide quick and cheap unsecured personal and business loans online. Unlike banks, which retain some of the risk from the loans they make, marketplace lenders sell the loans on to hedge funds, pension funds or individual investors."
The spirit of this type of lending - letting "Joe American" get a piece of, or create, a venture business - is how America sustains its entrepreneurial spirit. But where this gets ugly is when traditional finance (think hedge funds and big banks) get into the game and start to create monetary instruments to hedge against the success or failure of these ventures.
*3. TSA
From Wired - The Woeful TSA Doesn’t Need More Staff. It Needs This Tech
If you travel, or, especially, if you are traveling this holiday weekend, you are dreading the airport security process. It's broke, has been broke for a long time and everyone knows it. The problem is it's there to keep everyone safe, and, generally speaking, it has in the U.S. We have not had a significant flight related terror incidents in a while.
(@ Also, see In Through the Out Door: There Has to Be a Better Way to Manage Airport Security Breaches)
*4. The Superbug Has Arrived in America
From WaPo - Researchers discover dangerous bacteria in Pa. resistant to last-resort antibiotics
"For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort, an alarming development that a top U.S. public health official says could signal 'the end of the road' for antibiotics."
"Scientists and public health officials have long warned that if the resistant bacteria continue to spread, treatment options could be seriously limited. Routine operations could become deadly. Minor infections could become life threatening"
I think we take the miracle of antibiotics for granted and we have over prescribed them and used them illogically in modern livestock practices, and now we could be without their life saving abilities. To me, this ranks up with opioid addiction as a serious public health concern, but I don't think it is getting the attention it requires.
(@ Also, see The Growing Antibiotic Resistance Problem)
In other scary infectious disease news...
+ From NYT - He Survived Ebola. Now He’s Fighting to Keep It From Spreading.
"During the [2014 Western Africa] epidemic, Western media outlets focused much attention on the billion-dollar scramble for high-tech medical solutions...that are still making their way through clinical trials and certifications. But the initiative that holds the most promise for preventing another epidemic is as rudimentary as they come. The governments of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, with assistance from the W.H.O. and NGOs, have tried to train all government health workers in a standard set of practices called Infection Prevention and Control (I.P.C.) and provide these workers with the low-tech, inexpensive equipment — soap, wash buckets, hand sanitizer, gloves, masks, long-sleeved gowns — needed to put those practices into effect. It amounts to basic hygiene, with an emphasis on hand-washing, which remains the single most effective practice for preventing the transmission of infectious disease."
*5. Bracing for Chaos
From WaPo - A growing concern in Cleveland: Chaos off the convention floor
"Amid recurring violence at political rallies held by presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, many local [Cleveland] officials and activists are increasingly worried that this lakeside city is ill-prepared to deal with tens of thousands of protesters and agitators expected to descend on the Republican National Convention here in July."
Boy, I'm glad I don't live in Cleveland (I used to). Starting July 18th, for four days it's going to be the epicenter of the anti-Trump movement, and it's liable to get ugly.
Continuing the violence in America theme...
From WaPo - This could be the reason America is becoming more violent
"But the early reports for 2015 show big increases in violence (up 1.7 percent) and even bigger increases in homicide (up 6.2 percent)."
"There are about 25,000 fewer law enforcement officers in 2012 today than in 2009, which means the number of sworn law enforcement per citizen has declined to a level not seen since 1996."
"There’s no way to know if these numbers are consistent and comparable. But public spending is down overall and the body of evidence suggests that our collective investment in law enforcement has declined. And violence is up."
"There’s no way to know if these numbers are consistent and comparable. But public spending is down overall and the body of evidence suggests that our collective investment in law enforcement has declined. And violence is up."
*BOTTOM OF THE NEWS
* Elon Musk's quest to make rocket landings routine continues today (Hint: It's going to be coming in hot and fast)
* Is 10,000-steps goal more myth than science? Study seeks fitness truths through our phones and more (Hint: Probably. But the good news is at least you're moving)
* End of an Art Form? The Persian Rug May Not Be Long for This World (Hint: Society values quantity over quality)
*Sign up below to receive Top of the News via email.
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