Monday, Feb 10 2020

Dose Of News Useful Today

Tuesday, February 11th

That’s Not My Name

Good morning. Sometimes, trying to escape a sticky situation only lands you in a bigger mess. Enter a Wichita Falls, TX woman, who, after being arrested by local police for five outstanding warrants, initially gave the officers a fake name that also had a warrant.

Daily Sprinkle

“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”

– Mark Twain

The (Equi)Facts of Life

The Department of Justice indicted four members of the Chinese military on charges of hacking the credit company Equifax in 2017. The four men have not yet been arrested, and are believed to be residing in China.

Into the breach, dear friends…
Equifax data on roughly 145.5 million Americans was stolen in the spring of 2017. This was one of the largest security breaches in history.

An investigation into the hack showed the company failed to patch a server it knew was vulnerable, leading to the massive breach.
The hack was especially alarming due to the sensitive data that was compromised, including SSNs, driver’s license numbers, addresses, and birthdays.
Last year, Equifax agreed to a $700 million settlement with the FTC in an effort to compensate victims.

But this wasn’t an isolated incident…

Office of Personnel Management: U.S. officials blamed the Chinese government for a 2014 hack of more than 20 million files.
Anthem (health insurance provider): Beijing was thought to be responsible for the 2015 theft of tens of millions of records.
Marriott: Investigators are reportedly preparing a separate indictment against China for the 2018 hack of hundreds of millions of records.

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Trump Releases Budget Proposal

The White House released its budget proposal on Monday that includes:

A $380 billion increase over last year’s $4.45 trillion budget.
A 0.3% increase in military spending, and a 5% decrease in non-defense spending.
A proposed 21% cut ($11.7 billion) in foreign aid.

Experts say the budget is unlikely to become law, but rather represents a blueprint for the administration’s priorities.

LEFT CENTER → ABC News	RIGHT CENTER → New York Post

DOJ Lawsuits

The Department of Justice filed lawsuits against the state of New Jersey, as well as King County, Washington, over their policies of noncompliance with federal immigration authorities. The DOJ also filed a suit in California challenging a law that prohibits any private detention facilities in the state.

LEFT CENTER → NBC News	RIGHT CENTER → Wall Street Journal (No $ needed)

New Hampshire Primary Tonight

The second Democratic presidential nominating contest - the New Hampshire primary - will take place tonight. According to the latest polls, Bernie Sanders holds a strong lead over Pete Buttigieg across the state.


NEUTRAL → Politico	NEUTRAL → Reuters

Off Brand

SoftBank-backed startup Brandless announced they will lay off 70 employees (nearly 90% of their staff) as the company plans to shutter its operations. The remaining 10 employees will fill all outstanding orders before the online retailer closes for good.

Note: Brandless, once valued at more than $500 million, is the first startup backed by SoftBank’s Vision Fund to fail.

Merge Ahead

According to the WSJ, a federal judge is expected to approve the $26 billion proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. The companies had been facing a lawsuit brought by a group of state attorneys general who argued the deal would result in higher prices for consumers.

Copy Cats

On Monday, Xerox announced it had raised its offer to acquire the much larger HP Inc. from $22 to $24 per share, about $34 billion in total. Xerox is expected to make an official offer directly to shareholders in early March.

Last November, HP’s board unanimously rejected two separate acquisition proposals from Xerox.

She Was A Skater Girl

In Afghanistan, it’s considered unacceptable for women to participate in outdoor activities - Skateistan, an organization devoted to empowering the youth of the region, has decided to change all of that.

The newly crowned Academy Award-winning short documentary, Learning To Skateboard In A Warzone (If You’re a Girl), shines a light on Skateistan, and inspires everyone to believe in the power of girls and the next generation.

Perfect Handoff

Following last Sunday’s Super Bowl, nearly 30,000 pounds of barbeque, charcuterie, and other top-of-the-line cuisine items were left uneaten.

Rather than just letting the food go to waste, volunteer organizations worked around the clock to pick up the meals from Hard Rock Stadium and deliver it to Miami area housing shelters, who were able to feed a whopping 20,000 people last week as a result of their efforts.

Toy Story

Toddler Kenley Britton was devastated when she lost her favorite possession - a “Daddy Doll” that looks and sounds like her deployed father - while traveling from Connecticut to Florida.

After an extensive search, Delta Airlines officials were able to track down the doll and reunite Kenley with her treasured toy at the airport last week. Kenley will now sleep soundly once again next to the one who makes her feel loved and safe.

I Speak For The Trees… according to Science Advances, scientists have successfully grown a long-lost Roman date tree from 2,000-year-old seedlings.

Dino discovery… paleontologists have identified the first new Canadian tyrannosaur in over 50 years, dubbed the ‘Reaper of Death.’

I See Fire… scientists have discovered an ancient supervolcano in Utah that is 30 times larger than the one located in Yellowstone.

Fashion with a passion… several major fashion designers have created a line of carbon-negative clothing made from algae that absorbs CO2 from the air.