Links

Someone calling themself Sheila Fairley is using my picture as their profile picture and making friend requests to my friends. Even made a friend request to me! Also making friend requests using a different picture.


https://www.networkworld.com/article/3168913/internet/the-look-of-a-facebook-imposter.html
Feb. 13, 2017
Recognizing and dealing with Facebook imposters


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/01/swedens-highest-point-set-to-lose-title-as-glacier-melts
Aug. 1, 2018
Sweden’s highest peak, a glacier on the southern tip of the Kebnekaise mountain, is melting due to record hot Arctic temperatures and is no longer the nation’s tallest point, scientists said on Wednesday. “I’ve never seen this much melted snow on the southern peak as I did this summer,” said Gunhild Rosqvist, a Stockholm University geography professor.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/01/spain-heatwave-warnings-issued-high-forecast-top-44c
Aug. 1, 2018
The first heatwave of the summer has hit Spain, pushing temperatures past 40C (104F) and prompting health warnings for locals and tourists alike as the country begins its August holiday.
Spain’s meteorological office, Aemet, said the hot spell would stretch from Wednesday to at least Sunday as a mass of hot air moved up from Africa. “The spell will be particularly intense and long-lasting in the south-west, the central area and the Ebro valley, with temperatures passing 40C from Wednesday,” it said in a statement.
The UK’s Met Office said that the “exceptional” temperatures in Europe could surpass records in the coming days, warning British tourists heading south to prepare for extreme heat.


https://www.theguardian.com/money/datablog/2018/aug/01/deceased-debt-student-loans-sallie-mae-navient
Aug. 1, 2018
Deceased and still in debt: the student loans that don't get forgiven
It’s not clear how many deceased students Navient is chasing for money but the company has been riddled with controversy


https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/01/california-carr-fire-strip-mall-displaced-animals-home
Aug. 1, 2018
The strip mall where animals displaced by California fires find a 'little bit of home'
Aug. 1, 2018
Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes as the Carr fire has swept across the far north of California, resulting in at least six deaths. While humans had designated places to go during the evacuation, many of their animals did not; several shelters did not accept pets.
Haven Humane Society, a local animal shelter, welcomed a surge of pets starting Thursday night and quickly found its facilities overwhelmed. It needed a new space not already occupied by evacuees or firefighters and settled on the mall, which had a number of empty storefronts, and created an instant animal shelter out of sheer force of will. At the height of the evacuation, the mall hosted more than 600 dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, and box turtles, plus a single tortoise. As of Tuesday, 463 animals remained in the 18,000 sq ft space.



https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-capital-gains-inflation-index-tax-cut-would-it-help-economy-2018-7
Aug. 1, 2018
President Donald Trump is considering a plan to index capital-gains taxes to inflation, which would result in a $100 billion tax cut that would mostly benefit wealthy Americans.
[But capital gains are already taxed at a lower rate to help make up for inflation.
While the interest on regular people's savings are taxed as regular income, even though inflation has the same effect as on capital gains.]
Given the Trump administration's long-rumored interest in the plan, Jane G. Gravelle, a senior specialist in economic policy at the Congressional Research Service, investigated the idea in June. Gravelle found that little economic benefit would result from the change.
According to the CRS report, Trump could implement inflation indexing in a variety of ways, but any version of it would result in little economic growth. Gravelle said that if inflation indexing for capital gains were introduced on its own — as it appears the Trump administration wants to do — there would be no boost at all.
Gravelle found that even if inflation indexing were implemented in concert with other changes to the tax code, the "growth effects would be relatively small."
The report said the tweak in the tax system would not incentivize new investment but rather incentivize savings.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/09/donald-trump-unpaid-bills-republican-president-laswuits/85297274/
June 9, 2016
Donald Trump often portrays himself as a savior of the working class who will "protect your job." But a USA TODAY NETWORK analysis found he has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades — and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans, like the Friels, who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them.
At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other government filings reviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK, document people who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their work. Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters. Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And, ironically, several law firms that once represented him in these suits and others.
Trump’s companies have also been cited for 24 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act since 2005 for failing to pay overtime or minimum wage, according to U.S. Department of Labor data. That includes 21 citations against the defunct Trump Plaza in Atlantic City and three against the also out-of-business Trump Mortgage LLC in New York. Both cases were resolved by the companies agreeing to pay back wages.
In addition to the lawsuits, the review found more than 200 mechanic’s liens — filed by contractors and employees against Trump, his companies or his properties claiming they were owed money for their work — since the 1980s. The liens range from a $75,000 claim by a Plainview, N.Y., air conditioning and heating company to a $1 million claim from the president of a New York City real estate banking firm. On just one project, Trump’s Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, records released by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in 1990 show that at least 253 subcontractors weren’t paid in full or on time, including workers who installed walls, chandeliers and plumbing.
The actions in total paint a portrait of Trump’s sprawling organization frequently failing to pay small businesses and individuals, then sometimes tying them up in court and other negotiations for years. In some cases, the Trump teams financially overpower and outlast much smaller opponents, draining their resources. Some just give up the fight, or settle for less; some have ended up in bankruptcy or out of business altogether.