Minimum wage going up in 21 states, 22 cities
The new year will usher in raises for millions of the lowest paid workers in the country. …read more
Source: Minimum wage going up in 21 states, 22 cities
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Unmerry Christmas: Mass Brawls Break Out Across America’s Malls
By Tyler Durden
During this season of joy and celebration, it appears not everyone is full of Christmas spirit. Last minute holiday shoppers have been filmed brawling with each other in New Jersey, Alabama, and Georgia shopping malls ahead of the holidays.
As The Daily Mail captures on video, a fight broke out at Jersey City’s Newport Center Mall on Friday night when two people started punching each other in the middle of a huge crowd. As onlookers gathered around while several people hit each other, a separate fight broke out off to the side. Multiple security guards tried to intervene and were punched in the process. Video shot by a witness captured the ordeal, which happened right near where a line of children were waiting to meet the mall’s Santa.
Other fights broke out in Alabama and Georgia on Saturday as shoppers tried to finish up their Christmas shopping.
In the Alabama incident, a fight erupted between two women but was soon broken up by multiple officers at the scene.
Also on Christmas Eve, a man was taken to the hospital after he was stabbed while trying to break up a fight between two teenagers at the Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood. And so, what until recently was purely a “Thanksgiving” tradition, mall brawls across America are also redefenining the first word in Merry Christmas.
Source: Unmerry Christmas: Mass Brawls Break Out Across America’s Malls
2016: The year in supercars
It used be that driving an exotic car meant a sore rear-end and buzzing ears. Thankfully, that is no longer true. …read more
Source: 2016: The year in supercars
Artist’s Impression Of The Obama’s Last Christmas In The White House
An Angry Israel Summons Foreign Ambassadors, Accuses Obama Of Conspiring Against It
By Tyler Durden
Israel’s anger mounted for a second day after Friday’s United Nations snub, when on Sunday it summoned ambassadors of countries from the UN Security Council for a Christmas Day reprimand for their support of a resolution condemning Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian lands. The vote passed in the 15-member Security Council on Friday because the United States broke with its long-standing approach of diplomatically shielding Israel and did not wield, as a permanent member of the forum, its veto power, instead abstaining.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Netanyahu lashed out at the US, calling Obama’s behavior a “shameful ambush”, warning he would re-evaluate his contacts with (and defund) the United Nations, while saying he looks forward to working with his “friend” Donald Trump. Then on Sunday, Netanyahu put his personal imprint on the show of anger by repeating at the weekly cabinet meeting what an unidentified Israeli government official contended on Friday – that Washington had conspired with the Palestinians to push for the resolution’s adoption. The White House has denied the allegation
“According to our information, we have no doubt the Obama administration initiated it (the resolution), stood behind it, coordinated the wording and demanded it be passed,” Netanyahu told the cabinet in public remarks. “The resolution that was passed at the UN yesterday is part of the swan song of the old world that is biased against Israel but, my friends, we are entering a new era,” Mr Netanyahu said at a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony. “And just as President-elect Trump said yesterday, it will happen much sooner than you think.”
One can only hope that in this “new era” airplanes full of world-famous army singers are not targeted in retaliation for diplomatic scandals.
Ambassadors from 10 of the 14 countries that voted in favor of the resolution and have embassies in Israel – Britain, China, Russia, France, Egypt, Japan, Uruguay, Spain, Ukraine and New Zealand – were summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, the ministry said.
Moments ago, the Haaretz newspaper added that Netanyahu had also summoned the US ambassador.
BREAKING: NETANYAHU SUMMONS US AMBASSADOR DAN SHAPIRO OVER SECURITY COUNCIL VOTE, PM OFFICE OFFICIAL SAYS
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) December 25, 2016
The move came as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a visit to Israel by Volodymyr Groysman, his Ukrainian counterpart, and accused US President Barack Obama of “disgraceful” behaviour for failing to exercise the US veto. Mr Groysman had due to arrive in Israel on Wednesday on his first official visit to the Jewish state. As reported yesterday, Israel will also suspend some of its funding to the UN, Netanyahu said in a vituperative speech on Saturday evening, in which he warned of further diplomatic and economic retaliation against countries that opposed Israel in international bodies. The Israeli leader vowed to work with incoming US President Donald Trump and members of Congress to fight “all-out war against this resolution”, in his sharpest public attack ever on Mr Obama.
Sunday is a regular work day in …read more
Source: An Angry Israel Summons Foreign Ambassadors, Accuses Obama Of Conspiring Against It
Tsunami Warning Issued After 7.7-Magnitude Quake Strikes Off Chile Coast
By Tyler Durden
A 7.7-magnitude quake struck at 9:22am EST at a depth of 33 kilometers some 40 km southwest of Puerto Quellon in southern Chile on Sunday, the United States Geological Survey said.
The quake prompted a tsunami threat message by the Tsunami Warning Center for areas as far as 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the epicenter.
Tsunami Info Stmt: M7.7 in southern Chile
0622PST Dec 25: Tsunami NOT expected; CA,OR,WA,BC,and AK— NWS Tsunami Alerts (@NWS_NTWC) December 25, 2016
Details to follow.
Source: Tsunami Warning Issued After 7.7-Magnitude Quake Strikes Off Chile Coast
6 painless ways to save thousands
Saving money doesn’t have to mean skipping happy hours and never dining out. …read more
Source: 6 painless ways to save thousands
The week ahead in stocks: The quest for 20,000
This week in stocks: Dow still not at 20,000, Retail’s last stand; Trump tweet watch. …read more
Source: The week ahead in stocks: The quest for 20,000
Shifting Power: Visualizing The World’s Largest Cities For The Last 6000 Years
By Tyler Durden
In 300 B.C., Carthage was one of the world’s largest cities with up to 700,000 people living within its walls. The Carthaginian republic was a force to be reckoned with, controlling inconceivable amounts of wealth and land all around the Mediterranean.
However, just over a century later in 146 B.C., Carthage was burnt to the ground by the Romans. The destruction of Carthage was so thorough that many things are still not known about their civilization today. Carthage went from being a major power to literally being wiped off of the map.
A few decades after the annihilation of Carthage, it was Rome’s turn to become the world’s largest city for close to 500 years. Of course, Rome itself would fall by 476 A.D. for a variety of reasons.
And so the title of the world’s largest city would transfer again, this time to Constantinople across the Mediterranean.
The World’s Largest Cities Throughout History
In the grand scheme of history, things change quite fast. As Visual Capitalist's Jeff Desjardins explains, one cataclysmic choice or event can turn even the greatest empire into a heap of rubble. Sometimes the decline of a world-class city is more gradual – and it is over time that it loses its title to another place in a far and distant land.
The following animated map from KPMG Demographics tracks the world’s largest cities from 4,000 BC to today, and it shows how temporary a city’s rise to prominence can be.
(Keep in mind that there is some disagreement by historians over which cities were the biggest in certain time periods.)
The power of industrialization and technology can be seen here. Up until the 1800s, it was almost unfathomable to have a city of more than a million inhabitants.
Sanitation was a major limiting factor, but other issues like transportation and a lack of density also made it a challenge. The Industrial Revolution changed that, and starting in the 1800s you see cities like London, New York, and Tokyo taking the title in an exponential fashion. It caps off with Delhi in 2050, expected to have a whopping 40 million inhabitants by that time.
Source: Shifting Power: Visualizing The World’s Largest Cities For The Last 6000 Years
