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Anthropic CEO says DeepSeek was ‘the worst’ on a critical bioweapons data safety test Anthropic CEO says DeepSeek was ‘the worst’ on a critical bioweapons data safety test Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei is worried about competitor DeepSeek, the ******** AI company that took Silicon Valley by storm with its R1 model. And his concerns could be more serious than the typical ones raised about DeepSeek sending user data back to China. In an interview on Jordan Schneider’s ChinaTalk podcast, Amodei said DeepSeek generated rare information about bioweapons in a safety test run by Anthropic. DeepSeek’s performance was “the worst of basically any model we’d ever tested,” Amodei claimed. “It had absolutely no blocks whatsoever against generating this information.” Amodei stated that this was part of evaluations Anthropic routinely runs on various AI models to assess their potential national security risks. His team looks at whether models can generate bioweapons-related information that isn’t easily found on Google or in textbooks. Anthropic positions itself as the AI foundational model provider that takes safety seriously. Amodei said he didn’t think DeepSeek’s models today are “literally dangerous” in providing rare and dangerous information but that they might be in the near future. Although he praised DeepSeek’s team as “talented engineers,” he advised the company to “take seriously these AI safety considerations.” Amodei has also supported strong export controls on chips to China, citing concerns that they could give China’s military an edge. Amodei didn’t clarify in the ChinaTalk interview which DeepSeek model Anthropic tested, nor did he give more technical details about these tests. Anthropic didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment from TechCrunch. Neither did DeepSeek. DeepSeek’s rise has sparked concerns about its safety elsewhere, too. For example, Cisco security researchers said last week that DeepSeek R1 failed to block any harmful prompts in its safety tests, achieving a 100% jailbreak success rate. Cisco didn’t mention bioweapons but said it was able to get DeepSeek to generate harmful information about cybercrime and other ******** activities. It’s worth mentioning, though, that Meta’s Llama-3.1-405B and OpenAI’s GPT-4o also had high failure rates of 96% and 86%, respectively. It remains to be seen whether safety concerns like these will make a serious dent in DeepSeek’s rapid adoption. Companies like AWS and Microsoft have publicly touted integrating R1 into their cloud platforms — ironically enough, given that Amazon is Anthropic’s biggest investor. On the other hand, there’s a growing list of countries, companies, and especially government organizations like the U.S. Navy and the Pentagon that have started banning DeepSeek. Story Continues Time will tell if these efforts catch on or if DeepSeek’s global rise will continue. Either way, Amodei says he does consider DeepSeek a new competitor that’s on the level of the U.S.’s top AI companies. “The new fact here is that there’s a new competitor,” he said on ChinaTalk. “In the big companies that can train AI — Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, perhaps Meta and xAI — now DeepSeek is maybe being added to that category.” Source link #Anthropic #CEO #DeepSeek #worst #critical #bioweapons #data #safety #test Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Millennials Are Sharing Websites They Used That Don’t Exist Anymore, And Dang We Had It Good Millennials Are Sharing Websites They Used That Don’t Exist Anymore, And Dang We Had It Good TikTok user @ashleyteacoz asked people, “What early internet site did you use to use religiously that just doesn’t exist anymore?” and the answers in the comments have me equal parts missing my childhood and feeling like old lady Rose throwing jewels into the sea. tiktok.com Here’s what people said: 1.Stumbleupon 2.Angelfire and Geocities 3.Funnyjunk.com Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 4.Mapquest 5.AIM 6.Altavista 7.Grooveshark Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 8.Weheartit 9.I Can Has Cheezburger? 10.Zwinky 11.Livejournal Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 12.Yahoo Answers 13.Photobucket 14.Postsecret 15.MySpace Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 16.The Doll Palace 17.People of Walmart 18.AOL Chat Rooms 19.Rotten Advertisement Advertisement 20.Piczo 21.YouTube (without ads) 22.MSN Messenger 23.Habbo Hotel Advertisement Advertisement 24.Ask Jeeves 25.Gaia Online 26.DeviantArt 27.Ebaumsworld Advertisement Advertisement 28.Xanga 29.And lastly, Quizilla Do you remember any websites you visited that don’t exist anymore? Please share in the comments so we can all collectively feel older than we already do Source link #Millennials #Sharing #Websites #Dont #Exist #Anymore #Dang #Good Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

We Wouldn’t Be Too Quick To Buy Enbridge Inc. (TSE:ENB) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend We Wouldn’t Be Too Quick To Buy Enbridge Inc. (TSE:ENB) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you’re one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Enbridge Inc. (TSE:ENB) is about to go ex-dividend in just 4 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company’s books to be eligible for a dividend payment. The ex-dividend date is an important date to be aware of as any purchase of the stock made on or after this date might mean a late settlement that doesn’t show on the record date. This means that investors who purchase Enbridge’s shares on or after the 14th of February will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 1st of March. The company’s next dividend payment will be CA$0.9425 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of CA$3.66 per share. Based on the last year’s worth of payments, Enbridge stock has a trailing yield of around 5.9% on the current share price of CA$63.51. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it’s growing. See our latest analysis for Enbridge Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Enbridge distributed an unsustainably high 123% of its profit as dividends to shareholders last year. Without more sustainable payment behaviour, the dividend looks precarious. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. Enbridge paid out more free cash flow than it generated – 116%, to be precise – last year, which we think is concerningly high. It’s hard to consistently pay out more cash than you generate without either borrowing or using company cash, so we’d wonder how the company justifies this payout level. Cash is slightly more important than profit from a dividend perspective, but given Enbridge’s payouts were not well covered by either earnings or cash flow, we would be concerned about the sustainability of this dividend. Click here to see the company’s payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends. TSX:ENB Historic Dividend February 9th 2025 Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it’s easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Fortunately for readers, Enbridge’s earnings per share have been growing at 15% a year for the past five years. Earnings are growing pretty quickly, which is great, but it’s uncomfortably to see the company paying out 123% of earnings. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, we feel this is a clear concern around the sustainability of the dividend. Story Continues Many investors will assess a company’s dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the past 10 years, Enbridge has increased its dividend at approximately 10% a year on average. It’s great to see earnings per share growing rapidly over several years, and dividends per share growing right along with it. From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Enbridge? While it’s nice to see earnings per share growing, we’re curious about how Enbridge intends to continue growing, or maintain the dividend in a downturn given that it’s paying out such a high percentage of its earnings and cashflow. It’s not an attractive combination from a dividend perspective, and we’re inclined to pass on this one for the time being. Although, if you’re still interested in Enbridge and want to know more, you’ll find it very useful to know what risks this stock faces. For example – Enbridge has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of. If you’re in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Source link #Wouldnt #Quick #Buy #Enbridge #TSEENB #ExDividend Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

These 3 High-Yield Dividend Stocks Just Gave Their Investors Another Raise These 3 High-Yield Dividend Stocks Just Gave Their Investors Another Raise Some companies really treat their investors well. They pay lucrative dividends that they routinely raise. That makes them excellent stocks to buy and hold for passive income. Several high-yielding dividend stocks recently raised their payouts again. That list includes PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), and Rexford Industrial Realty (NYSE: REXR). With more dividend growth likely, this trio are great stocks to buy and hold for a steadily rising stream of passive income. PepsiCo currently offers a dividend yield of around 3.8%. That’s more than three times higher than the S&P 500’s dividend yield (around 1.2%). The beverage and snacking giant recently announced its latest annual dividend increase. The company intends to increase its dividend by 5%, starting with the June payment. That represents its 53rd consecutive annual dividend increase, keeping PepsiCo in the elite group of Dividend Kings (companies with 50 or more years of annual dividend growth). PepsiCo can easily afford its high-yielding and steadily growing dividend. The company produced $12.5 billion in net cash last year, easily covering its $7.2 billion dividend outlay. PepsiCo also repurchased $1 billion of its shares. The company ended the year with a cash-rich balance sheet with over $9 billion of cash and short-term investments. With more growth ahead (it expects to deliver mid-single-digit earnings-per-share growth in 2025), PepsiCo is in a strong position to continue paying a growing dividend. Chevron recently announced a 5% dividend increase for 2025. That marks the oil giant’s 38th consecutive year with an annual dividend increase. It has grown its payout at a faster pace than the S&P 500 has over the past five years. That pace is nearly double the rate of its nearest peer in the oil patch. With its latest raise, Chevron’s dividend yields 4.2%. The oil giant is in an excellent position to continue increasing its dividend. It produced $15 billion in free cash flow last year, easily covering its $11.8 billion dividend outlay. Chevron returned a record $27 billion in cash to shareholders last year via dividends and share repurchases by utilizing its strong balance sheet. It ended the year with a net debt ratio of around 10%, well below its 20% to 25% target range. Chevron expects to produce an even ******* free cash flow gusher in the future. It foresees adding $10 billion to its annual free cash flow by 2026, fueled by projects to grow its high-margin production and cost savings initiatives. That number doesn’t include its pending acquisition of Hess, which would significantly enhance and extend its free cash flow growth outlook. It should give the oil giant plenty of fuel to continue increasing its payout. Story Continues Rexford Industrial Realty recently revealed that it’s raising its dividend by another 3%. That pay bump pushed the industrial real estate investment trust’s (REIT’s) dividend yield up to around 4.1%. On the one hand, Rexford’s recent raise is a bit light compared to its historical growth rate. The REIT has grown its payout at a 15% compound annual rate since its initial public offering in 2013. It could certainly have supported a higher dividend increase, given its strong financial profile and the earnings growth it delivered last year (6.8% increase in its core funds from operations (FFO) per share). Instead, the REIT opted to launch a $300 million share repurchase program to capitalize on the nearly 30% decline in its share price since the start of last year. The company’s stock has slumped due to higher interest rates and slowing demand growth in the Southern California logistics market, its sole focus area. Rexford Industrial has significant built-in growth that should help offset the near-term headwinds of the Southern California warehouse market. The company expects its net operating income to grow by more than 30% over the next three years, driven by repositioning and redevelopment projects and rental increases (embedded in its existing leases and capturing much higher market rates as legacy leases expire). On top of that, the REIT has a strong balance sheet, giving it ample financial flexibility to make accretive acquisitions as opportunities arise. The REIT’s built-in growth and additional upside from acquisitions and improving market conditions position it to continue increasing its dividend in the future. PepsiCo, Chevron, and Rexford Industrial Realty continue to grow their high-yielding dividends. They’re all in strong positions to keep pushing their payouts higher in the future. Because of that, they’re excellent dividend stocks for those seeking lucrative and growing income streams to buy. Before you buy stock in PepsiCo, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and PepsiCo wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $795,728!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 926% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 177% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list. Learn more » *Stock Advisor returns as of February 7, 2025 Matt DiLallo has positions in Chevron, PepsiCo, and Rexford Industrial Realty. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chevron. The Motley Fool recommends Rexford Industrial Realty. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. These 3 High-Yield Dividend Stocks Just Gave Their Investors Another Raise was originally published by The Motley Fool Source link #HighYield #Dividend #Stocks #Gave #Investors #Raise Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Evidence That the Right's Assault on Women Is Here | Opinion – Newsweek Evidence That the Right's Assault on Women Is Here | Opinion – Newsweek Evidence That the Right’s Assault on Women Is Here | Opinion NewsweekI Was Fired by Donald Trump: Top Lawyer at EEOC Speaks Out on “Anti-DEI” Purge, Gutting of Agencies Democracy Now! Source link #Evidence #Right039s #Assault #Women #Opinion #Newsweek Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

OnePlus 13 review: A focused flagship that ignores the AI hype – Engadget OnePlus 13 review: A focused flagship that ignores the AI hype – Engadget OnePlus 13 review: A focused flagship that ignores the AI hype EngadgetThis is Crazy, But the OnePlus 13 is $500 Cheaper Than Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra Droid LifeI pushed the OnePlus 13 to its limits at a concert, and it didn’t fail to impress Android PoliceOnePlus 13’s AIRVOOC 50W charger and magnetic cases: Unboxing and hands-on Business StandardOnePlus 13 is a winner, but I’m not upgrading: Here’s why MSN Source link #OnePlus #review #focused #flagship #ignores #hype #Engadget Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Where you can watch the 2025 Super Bowl live today – CBS News Where you can watch the 2025 Super Bowl live today – CBS News Where you can watch the 2025 Super Bowl live today CBS NewsSuper Bowl 2025 expert picks, prop bets, odds, best bets, where to watch, live streaming, more CBS SportsSuper Bowl LIX: When the game starts, where to watch, and who’s performing WLTX.comChiefs vs. Eagles live updates: Super Bowl 2025 latest news, predictions, start time, odds – The Athletic The Athletic Source link #watch #Super #Bowl #live #today #CBS #News Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Donald Trump Cancels Joe Biden’s Security Clearance; Biden Aide Says “It’s Like He’s Working For Musk” – Deadline Donald Trump Cancels Joe Biden’s Security Clearance; Biden Aide Says “It’s Like He’s Working For Musk” – Deadline Donald Trump Cancels Joe Biden’s Security Clearance; Biden Aide Says “It’s Like He’s Working For Musk” DeadlineTrump says he’s revoking Biden’s access to classified information CNNTrump says he’s ending Biden’s classified intelligence briefings in payback move NBC WashingtonTrump revokes security clearances for Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan Reuters Source link #Donald #Trump #Cancels #Joe #Bidens #Security #Clearance #Biden #Aide #Hes #Working #Musk #Deadline Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

All major pieces of the plane and helicopter from deadly DC midair collision have been recovered, NTSB says – CNN All major pieces of the plane and helicopter from deadly DC midair collision have been recovered, NTSB says – CNN All major pieces of the plane and helicopter from deadly DC midair collision have been recovered, NTSB says CNNBlack Hawk involved in collision that killed 67 people recovered from Potomac River YahooFairfax mourns aircraft ****** victims Fairfaxtimes.comAll major pieces of plane and helicopter in mid-air collision in Washington DC have been recovered, say ****** investigators Sky NewsWashington DC plane ****** disaster happened 10 days ago: What to know USA TODAY Source link #major #pieces #plane #helicopter #deadly #midair #collision #recovered #NTSB #CNN Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

For most L.A. fire victims, insurance won’t pay enough to rebuild – The Washington Post For most L.A. fire victims, insurance won’t pay enough to rebuild – The Washington Post For most L.A. fire victims, insurance won’t pay enough to rebuild The Washington PostThe LA fires have a shocking price tag — and we’ll all have to pick up the tab Vox.comAllstate says California wildfires to bring company $1.1 billion in losses Fox Business Source link #L.A #fire #victims #insurance #wont #pay #rebuild #Washington #Post Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Flu season in the US is the most intense it's been in at least 15 years – NBC DFW Flu season in the US is the most intense it's been in at least 15 years – NBC DFW Flu season in the US is the most intense it’s been in at least 15 years NBC DFWWeekly US Influenza Surveillance Report: Key Updates for Week 5, ending February 1, 2025 | FluView CDCFlu levels now highest since 2009 pandemic, CDC reports CBS NewsUS seasonal flu cases skyrocket to highest level in at least 15 years: CDC Fox News Source link #Flu #season #intense #it039s #years #NBC #DFW Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Baltic states switch to European power grid, ending Russia ties Baltic states switch to European power grid, ending Russia ties VILNIUS (Reuters) – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said on Sunday they had successfully synchronised their electricity systems to the European continental power grid, one day after severing decades-old energy ties to Russia and Belarus. Planned for many years, the complex switch away from the grid of their former Soviet imperial overlord is designed to integrate the three Baltic nations more closely with the European Union and to boost the region’s energy security. “We did it!,” Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said in a post on social media X. After disconnecting on Saturday from the IPS/UPS network, established by the Soviet Union in the 1950s and now run by Russia, the Baltic nations cut cross-border high-voltage transmission lines in eastern Latvia, some 100 metres from the Russian border, handing out pieces of chopped wire to enthusiastic bystanders as keepsakes. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, herself an Estonian, earlier this week called the switch “a victory for freedom and European unity”. The Baltic Sea region is on high alert after power cable, telecom links and gas pipeline outages between the Baltics and Sweden or Finland. All were believed to have been caused by ships dragging anchors along the seabed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia has denied any involvement. Poland and the Baltics deployed navy assets, elite police units and helicopters after an undersea power link from Finland to Estonia was damaged in December, while Lithuania’s military began drills to protect the overland connection to Poland. Analysts say more damage to links could push power prices in the Baltics to levels not seen since the invasion of Ukraine, when energy prices soared. The IPS/UPS grid was the final remaining link to Russia for the three countries, which re-emerged as independent nations in the early 1990s at the fall of the Soviet Union, and joined the European Union and NATO in 2004. The three staunch supporters of Kyiv stopped purchases of power from Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but have relied on the Russian grid to control frequencies and stabilise networks to avoid outages. (Reporting by Andrius Sytas and Janis Laizans in Vilnius; Editing by Terje Solsvik and David Holmes) Source link #Baltic #states #switch #European #power #grid #Russia #ties Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Happy Tears as 5 Thai Hostages Return Home From Gaza – The New York Times Happy Tears as 5 Thai Hostages Return Home From Gaza – The New York Times Happy Tears as 5 Thai Hostages Return Home From Gaza The New York TimesThai hostage freed from Gaza says feels ‘reborn’ after return home YahooReleased Thai hostages return to Bangkok after being held for over a year in Gaza CNNThai nationals held captive by ****** for 15 months return home CBC.ca Source link #Happy #Tears #Thai #Hostages #Return #Home #Gaza #York #Times Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

The federal government just switched sides in a major Supreme Court case. Here’s what it means The federal government just switched sides in a major Supreme Court case. Here’s what it means An expected legal move just became official: the Trump administration told the Supreme Court on Friday that it’s abandoning the Biden administration’s position in a major case on transgender minors. Through legal briefs and oral arguments, the Biden administration had fought against a state-level ban on certain gender-related medical procedures, offering support to the families involved in the case, who are represented by the ACLU and other civil rights organizations. Now, the Trump administration has expressed support for the Tennessee law the families challenged, arguing that SB1 does not violate the Constitution. “The Department has now determined that SB1 does not deny equal protection on account of sex or any other characteristic. Accordingly, the new Administration would not have intervened to challenge SB1 — let alone sought this Court’s review of the court of appeals’ decision reversing the preliminary injunction against SB1,” wrote Curtis Gannon, the deputy solicitor general, to the Supreme Court clerk. If there was anything surprising about the Trump administration’s move, it was that federal officials asked justices to move forward with the case. Rather than request a dismissal of U.S. v. Skrmetti, Gannon wrote that it would be best for the country if the court issues a ruling by early July as planned. Ben Appel, of New York, right, who describes himself as a gay man who is concerned that gender nonconformity is being medicalized, rallies with others who support a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, outside the Supreme Court in Washington. | Jacquelyn Martin Skrmetti case The Supreme Court case on Tennessee’s SB1 asks the justices to determine whether a ban on certain types of gender-related treatments, such as hormone therapy, fuels sex discrimination by making access to care dependent on a patient’s sex at birth. During oral arguments in December, several justices appeared concerned about the state of health care for transgender children and teens. They raised questions about the risks and benefits, noting that the science seems to be unsettled, as the Deseret News reported at the time. Then-U.S. solicitor general Elizabeth Prelogar was one of two attorneys fighting against SB1. She attempted to assuage the justices’ concerns about medical treatment for transgender children and teens, noting that ruling against the Tennessee law would not be the same thing as ruling in favor of controversial treatments. Prelogar said that SB1 needed to be subjected to heightened legal scrutiny because it draws sex-based lines between patients and therefore amounts to sex discrimination. Trump administration on transgender minors By the end of the oral argument session in December, it appeared likely that the Supreme Court would allow SB1 to take effect. That’s probably the key reason why the Trump administration has not asked for the case to be dismissed. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Tennessee officials, it would go a long way toward resolving the question of what states can and can’t do when it comes to regulating gender-related health care procedures. As it stands, legal experts disagree on existing restrictions, which explains why multiple cases about transgender children, as well as transgender adults, are currently waiting on the Supreme Court’s doorstep. Switching sides in Supreme Court case As recently as a decade ago, the Trump administration’s decision to abandon the Biden administration’s position in the Skrmetti case would have been controversial. In the past, the solicitor general’s office typically operated above the fray of partisan politics, according to The Washington Post. That changed when President Donald Trump first took office in 2017, and former President Joe Biden did not return to the status quo. “President Donald Trump’s first administration dramatically shifted positions in four cases,” The Washington Post reported. “The Biden administration also flipped positions in at least a half dozen cases.” Since taking office on Jan. 20, the Trump 2.0 team has asked for changes to five pending cases in addition to the Skrmetti case on transgender minors, which has already been fully briefed and argued. The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hit pause on four of the pending cases, which are all about the environment, but agreed to hold off on acting on the fifth, which is about student debt relief, per The Hill. In a joint statement released Friday, the groups representing the families fighting Tennessee’s law criticized the Trump administration’s letter to the Supreme Court. “Tennessee’s discriminatory and baseless ban continues to upend the lives of our plaintiffs — transgender adolescents, their families, and a medical provider. These Tennesseans have had their Constitutional right to equal protection under the law violated by the state of Tennessee. This latest move from the Trump administration is another indication that they are using the power of the federal government to target marginalized groups for further discrimination. We condemn this latest move and will continue to fight to vindicate the constitutional rights of all LGBTQ people,” read the statement from the ACLU, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal and Akin Gump. If the Supreme Court follows the Trump administration’s recommendation to continue with the Skrmetti case, the justices’ decision is expected by early July. Source link #federal #government #switched #sides #major #Supreme #Court #case #Heres #means Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Federal Courts Are the Frontline for Those Opposing Trump Executive Orders – The New York Times Federal Courts Are the Frontline for Those Opposing Trump Executive Orders – The New York Times Federal Courts Are the Frontline for Those Opposing Trump Executive Orders The New York TimesIn Trump’s actions, opponents see more than cuts — they see a constitutional crisis The Washington Post Source link #Federal #Courts #Frontline #Opposing #Trump #Executive #Orders #York #Times Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Tory MP refuses to rule out future party pact Tory MP refuses to rule out future party pact Conservative MP Alex Burghart has said Reform “wants to destroy” his party but refused to definitively rule out a deal between the two sides in the future. It comes after Reform *** topped a YouGov opinion poll for the first time this week, edging in front of Labour on 24% and the Tories on 21%. Conservatives Lord Craig Mackinlay and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg have called for the party to make a pact with Reform to boost its chances at the next election. Source link #Tory #refuses #rule #future #party #pact Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

RAC Arena locks out patrons for Bryan Adams concert due to Water Corporation issue RAC Arena locks out patrons for Bryan Adams concert due to Water Corporation issue Eager Bryan Adams fans have been left locked out and stranded outside RAC Arena on Sunday night, as a Water Corporation issue delays the start of the *********’s concert. Source link #RAC #Arena #locks #patrons #Bryan #Adams #concert #due #Water #Corporation #issue Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Men Who Have Gotten Vasectomies Are Sharing Their Stories And Some Of Them May Surprise You Men Who Have Gotten Vasectomies Are Sharing Their Stories And Some Of Them May Surprise You When it comes to scheduling a medical procedure involving a vulnerable area of the body, it’s not hard to find reasons to procrastinate. There is the need to take time off work, the discomfort and the recuperation ******* involved. In the case of a vasectomy, a person (or a couple) also has to come to terms with making their decision not to have children in the future. The stereotypical patient is a middle-aged father who doesn’t want to have any more kids and whose wife perhaps welcomes this opportunity for him to finally take on the burden of their family’s reproductive planning. Lots of vasectomy patients still meet this profile, but doctors are seeing an increased interest in the procedure from people who are younger and who don’t have children. (Note that vasectomies are usually reversible, but a successful pregnancy following a reversal depends upon a number of factors.) Motivations for vasectomies vary — and are currently shifting. Kanizphoto / Getty Images For some patients, the decision is made with a sense of urgency. Robert*, who is now in his 70s, told HuffPost, “My wife had three C-sections in three years and three months, two resulting from failed contraception. It needed to be done.” Others feel less rush and may hold off for convenient timing. Matthew* told HuffPost that he chose to have the procedure done on the Wednesday before the opening weekend of March Madness “because I knew I’d have to just lay down all weekend. Might as well have something to watch.” David (who asked to be identified by first name only, as did the men quoted in the rest of this article), had the procedure done not long after his wife had twins, bringing their total number of children to five. “It was good timing in that the twins didn’t take as much work because it was before they could even crawl, and the other three kids were with the grandparents for a couple of weeks so I could rest and recover properly without putting too much strain on my wife,” he told HuffPost. Many men spoke of feeling ready once their families were complete, like Tom, who said, “When my third child approached 1 year old and was healthy, I scheduled the vasectomy appointment.” Age can be a compelling factor, as it was for Eric, who told HuffPost: “I wanted more children since I only have one, but the idea of having to raise children into my 60s sounded like not a great time. I am currently 43, so I opted to have it done.” The financial responsibility of a child was also a top concern for the men who spoke with HuffPost. “The last of my three kids was born when I was 39,” a man named Elton told HuffPost. “Doing the math, it seemed irresponsible to plan on any more offspring when that would have put my ‘help them with college and launch to independence’ time to be concurrent with my ‘get my affairs sorted for a reasonably independent retirement’ time.” Anthony explained that he scheduled a vasectomy in 2020, but, as an elective procedure, it was postponed due to COVID-19. He “didn’t want more children” and worried about having the resources to support another child. “The financial and emotional requirements to give a child a decent life are becoming too much,” Anthony told HuffPost. There is also the ease of the procedure in comparison to a person with female anatomy having their tubes tied, as well as the sense that here, finally, is an opportunity for a man to “do his part” when it comes to family planning. “The vasectomy is a much quicker and lower-impact operation than anything my wife could have done for the same effect,” said Chris, whose decided with his wife that their family was complete with two children. “Me getting snipped was far less invasive and far lower recovery time than her having her tubes tied or anything else. It just made sense to us.” David felt similarly: “Vasectomies are non-invasive and painless, so it was a no-brainer for me.” Not all men who seek vasectomies are fathers, and more now are younger than you’d expect. Ocskaymark / Getty Images The cultural impetus for this shift appears to be Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the June 2022 decision with which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and took away the constitutional right to abortion in the United States. Since the ruling, there has been an uptick in the number of people scheduling vasectomies as well as a change in their reasons for doing so. Dr. Kathleen Hwang, a urologist at Penn Medicine, has experienced this rising interest in vasectomy in her practice. Around the fall of 2022, she said, “the number of consult requests exponentially increased to where I needed to adjust my clinical practice to accommodate the increase in volume.” Hwang was involved in a research study about men’s reasons for seeking vasectomies. She and her colleagues surveyed more than 300 men who sought vasectomies following June 2022, the time of the Dobbs ruling. Thirty percent of respondents identified “sociopolitical issues,” which included the Dobbs decision, as an “important” or even “the most important” factor in their decision. Patients who felt this way, Hwang explained, were often younger and single. They were also more likely to be child-free. Patients without children were five times more likely to say that sociopolitical issues influenced their decision, Hwang said. “The fastest growing population of men interested in this method of contraception are men who are childless and younger men (under 30 years old),” Hwang told HuffPost. In the survey, she said, “many of the patients provided feedback that their decision to proceed with a vasectomy was largely to reduce the burden on their female partner from either being on a current contraceptive and or to protect them from needing to ever consider an abortion.” Interestingly, the survey found that men who considered sociopolitical reasons for having a vasectomy spent significant time thinking about their decision — an average of four years, or about twice as long as those who did not report sociopolitical influence. “In the past, younger men or childless men were thought to be making more hasty decisions and would have regret around sterilization, but our data demonstrates that they spend a significant time considering vasectomy and are unlikely to have regret,” Hwang said. Thomas, a 27-year-old who recently had a vasectomy, exemplifies this cultural shift in motivations. “I personally have never wanted to have children in my life and have wanted a vasectomy since I was at least 22,” he told HuffPost. He was delayed by a lack of health insurance but also because he thought providers would question his decision. “I was not very confident that any doctors would willingly perform the procedure on me, since I don’t have kids and I am fairly young,” he said. The 2024 election results increased his resolve to seek out the procedure “I have become increasingly pressed to get one recently because of the admin shift. If prenatal health care is becoming increasingly difficult to access, someone who doesn’t want a kid is naturally concerned that they will be forced to have one. That’s in my own self-preservation but also in the interest of protecting women and those who have uteruses, since pregnancy is a two-way street,” he said. As for women’s feelings about men having vasectomies, it appears that at least some may feel relief to find a partner who has had one. A man named Jon told HuffPost he had the procedure done while he was married, shortly following the birth of his third child. He got divorced several years later, he said, and “when I started dating again it was apparently a ‘plus point’ for me.” *Not his real nameThis article originally appeared on HuffPost. Source link #Men #Vasectomies #Sharing #Stories #Surprise Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Revealed: gambling firms secretly sharing users’ data with Facebook without permission | Gambling Revealed: gambling firms secretly sharing users’ data with Facebook without permission | Gambling Gambling companies are covertly tracking visitors to their websites and sending their data to Facebook’s parent company without consent in an apparent breach of data protection laws. The information is then being used by Facebook’s owner, Meta, to profile people as gamblers and flood them with ads for casinos and betting sites, the Observer can reveal. A hidden tracking tool embedded in dozens of *** gambling websites has been extracting visitors’ data – including details of the webpages they view and the buttons they click – and sharing it with the social media company. By law, data should only be used and shared for marketing purposes, with explicit permission obtained from users on the websites in which the tools are embedded. But testing by the Observer of 150 gambling sites – including virtual casinos, sports betting sites and online bingo – found widespread breaches of the rules. This weekend, Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative chair of the all-party parliamentary group on gambling reform, called for an “immediate intervention”. He said: “The use of tools such as Meta Pixel without explicit consent seems wholly in breach of the law and should be immediately stopped. The gambling industry’s marketing practices are now out of control, and our regulatory structure and codes of practice are repeatedly shown to be inadequate. This cannot go on.” Wolfie Christl, a data privacy expert who has investigated the ad tech industry, said: “Sharing data with Meta is highly problematic, even with consent, but doing so without explicit informed consent shows a blatant disregard for the law. “Meta is complicit and must be held accountable. It benefits from facilitating problematic and unlawful data practices for its clients and systematically looks the other way, using its terms and conditions as a shield rather than seriously enforcing them.” Bet442 was among the gambling companies that transmitted data via the Meta Pixel tracking tool without explicit permission. Of 150 websites tested by the Observer, 52 shared data automatically via the Meta Pixel tracking tool without explicit consent, according to analysis of network traffic. The sites found to have transmitted data to Facebook without permission included Hollywoodbets, Sporting Index, Bwin, Lottoland, 10Bet and Bet442. The data transfer happened automatically on loading the webpage, before the person clicked to agree or decline marketing. At no point during the testing did the reporter agree to the use of their data for marketing. In the days afterwards, they were bombarded with Facebook ads for gambling websites, indicating that they had been profiled by Meta as someone interested in gambling as a result of the unlawful data sharing. In a single browsing session, they were shown gambling ads from 49 brands – not just websites that had shared their data unlawfully, but others too. This included betting companies that were unaware of the unlawful data sharing and whose own use of Meta Pixel was within the rules – among them, Ladbrokes, Sky Bet, BetVictor, Tombola and Bet365 – as well as dozens of smaller brands. The offers included free bets, a “new players offer” with a 200% bonus and a “gold blitz” with the chance to “win up to 5,000 times your bet”. Details of the data sharing and profiling come amid calls for a wider investigation into targeting of gamblers. In September, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued a reprimand to Bonne Terre Ltd, trading as Sky Betting & Gaming, for unlawfully processing people’s data through advertising cookies without their consent. The brand said at the time it regretted a “technical error”, which had been rectified. As the Observer reported last week, in a separate case, Sky Betting & Gaming collected hundreds of thousands of pieces of data about a problem gambler who was sent more than 1,300 marketing emails. The high court found the data use unlawful, ruling that the compulsive nature of the man’s gambling meant his ability to give consent was impaired. The company said it had made significant changes since the claimant’s experience in 2017-19 but “fundamentally disagrees” with the ruling and is considering an appeal. The Gambling Commission has announced measures to prohibit cross-selling, where companies target existing customers with ads for other parts of their business. But there is nothing to prevent brands relying on profiling by third parties such as Meta to try to recruit new customers. Meta did not comment on the Observer’s findings but pointed to its terms and conditions, which stipulate that companies should obtain consent before sending it data. “We educate advertisers on properly setting up business tools,” a spokesperson said. The Liberal Democrat peer Don Foster, chair of Peers for Gambling Reform, said: “It is critical that gambling companies and online platforms act lawfully, and it is concerning to see evidence of continued unlawful practices.” Prof Heather Wardle, a gambling research specialist at Glasgow University, said: “This kind of untamed marketing is hugely risky. If you are already experiencing difficulties from gambling, it is likely to make you gamble more.” The Observer has previously reported on the misuse of Meta Pixel in other sectors, including by NHS trusts that were inadvertently sharing sensitive health data. The ICO said last year that it was conducting a “wide-ranging review” of tracking pixels, which must be used “fairly, lawfully and transparently”, and that it would “not hesitate” to take enforcement action if needed, which can include fines of up to £500,000. “Too often, there is a lack of accountability for how these tools collect and use people’s personal information, with poor transparency and deceptive design,” a spokesperson said. After being contacted by the Observer, several gambling operators updated their websites to prevent automatic data sharing – or removed the Meta Pixel tool altogether. One betting brand, Bwin, a previous sponsor of Real Madrid and the Uefa Europa League, shared data on people visiting a promotional page for a £20 free bet. The data sharing happened automatically on loading the website, without the person being asked for consent. skip past newsletter promotion Analysis and opinion on the week’s news and culture brought to you by the best Observer writers Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion A Bwin spokesperson said: “Due to an internal error, the promotional page was not fully aligned with other group sites. We are deeply committed to ensuring that personal data is handled appropriately and have taken immediate action to rectify the issue.” Twenty-six websites operating under the licence of gambling group AG Communications appeared to be sharing data with Meta automatically and without explicit consent, including Bet442, King Casino, 666 Casino and 24Spin. A representative said it took compliance with its obligations extremely seriously. Gambling company Hollywoodbets shared data with Meta despite not being given consent to do so. Another company, Hollywoodbets, which sponsors Premier League club Brentford, showed website visitors a consent banner telling them that it shared data with its “social media, advertising and analytics partners” – and giving them the option to “allow all”. But the Observer’s testing found that even if the person did not click accept, data was shared with Meta, including details of which pages they viewed and the buttons they clicked. The person was subsequently shown Facebook ads for Hollywoodbets, and Meta’s activity logs showed that data had been received from the website. A representative of Hollywoodbets said it complied with all regulatory requirements but declined to comment further. Lottoland, which says it has 20 million customers, declined to comment. Its website includes a banner that appears to give people the option to “accept all” or “reject nonessential” tracking. But the Observer’s testing found that it sent data to Meta before the website visitor had indicated their choice. Sporting Index and 10Bet did not respond to comment requests. The Betting and Gaming Council, which represents the industry, said: “Advertising must comply with strict guidelines, and safer gambling messaging is regularly and prominently displayed. The previous government stated that research did not establish a causal link between exposure to advertising and the development of problem gambling.” The Gambling Commission, which regulates betting companies, said: “Operators may only collect and use data to attract custom in ways that are lawful and in compliance with data protection legislation, and their focus should be on preventing gambling harm. Questions around data protection are a matter for the ICO.” Flutter, which owns several brands that served ads on Facebook but did not share data with Meta unlawfully, said it had “acted appropriately and gained consent at all times”. Bet365 declined to comment but is understood to deny setting up marketing campaigns that specifically target users of other gambling websites. The other advertisers did not comment. Source link #Revealed #gambling #firms #secretly #sharing #users #data #Facebook #permission #Gambling Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Defense stocks may be caught between Trump’s trade war and military spending plans Defense stocks may be caught between Trump’s trade war and military spending plans The second Donald Trump administration began with some aggressive moves by the U.S. president toward other world powers, but the impact of those actions on American defense companies is still up in the air. Trump’s unorthodox approach to diplomacy and a looming budget fight on Capitol Hill means defense contractors have a high degree of uncertainty around what’s next. The iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA) rallied in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s victory, but the fund is little changed since Nov. 11. ITA 3M mountain Aerospace and defense stocks have not been able to build on their postelection rally. American defense contractors typically supply the U.S. armed forces, but they can also send their products to foreign militaries either through the U.S. military or directly with federal approval. Trump’s “America First” approach could theoretically lead to more spending for the U.S. military while lowering foreign military sales. “Right now, people are confused by a number of different crosscurrents. One of which could be a resolution somehow of the war in Ukraine — that has been anywhere from $25 [billion] to $50 billion in additional US spending on weapons to Ukraine,” said Roman Schweizer, a policy analyst at TD Cowen. U.S. government funding is also unclear, with a March 14 deadline for a potential shutdown getting closer. Some military projects could also fall under the scrutiny of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, spearheaded by Elon Musk, who has been critical of Lockheed Martin ‘s F-35 fighter jet in the past. If the U.S. military budget does suffer some sort of shutdown-related disruption or targeted cuts, not all companies will be effected equally. Bank of America analyst Ronald Epstein highlighted Northrop Grumman in a Feb. 7 note as a relatively insulated company. “The U.S. administration change and DOGE has increased uncertainty across the market on government spending, program certainty, and the nature of government contracting,” Epstein said. “We see NOC insulated from the noise due to the company’s position on some of the most critical defense programs regarding national security, power projection, and next generation technologies.” Missile defense Of course, there could be a long-term spending benefits for the defense companies under a Republican administration. On Jan. 27, Trump issued an executive order titled ” The Iron Dome For America ” to explore upgrades to the U.S. missile defense system. Republican Senators Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota announced a bill to that effect on Thursday, calling for more than $18 billion in spending. While the exact shape of that program remains to be seen, it could be a boost for defense stocks. “I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be a standalone bill to fund the Iron Dome for America program. I think that’s going to sort of come together over a series of years, and it really just depends on how expansive that program is,” TD’s Schweizer said. William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma said in a Jan. 28 note to clients that any Iron Dome plan would likely benefit leading missile defense names, such as Lockheed Martin and RTX . DiPalma also said that Boeing ‘s Millennium Space business and AeroVironment’ s BlueHalo could be in play for contracts. Trade war concerns Trump’s threatened tariffs on allies like Canada and Europe could be another wrinkle for defense companies, even if their products are unaffected. “Trade wars and tariffs may have a negative impact on a country’s appetite to buy US weapons system,” said TD’s Schweizer. The scale and technology of U.S. weapons systems does make it hard for countries to shop elsewhere, outside of small contracts here and there, said Tony Bancroft, a portfolio manager at Gabelli. “When you buy a US weapons system, you get the logistics chain with it. Other countries don’t have the kind of volumes that we deal in,” Bancroft said. Foreign military sales also tend to be higher margin deals for defense contractors than domestic sales, he added. Top defense holdings in the Gabelli Commercial Aerospace and Defense ETF (GCAD) as of Dec. 31 included L3Harris Technologies and Spirit AeroSystems . Source link #Defense #stocks #caught #Trumps #trade #war #military #spending #plans Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

From Dogecoin to $Trump: everything you need know about the wild world of meme coins | Cryptocurrencies From Dogecoin to $Trump: everything you need know about the wild world of meme coins | Cryptocurrencies Three days before his inauguration as US president, Donald Trump made an unusual move. He launched $Trump, a so-called meme coin that fans and speculators could buy in the hopes it would gain value. Initially, $Trump soared from a value of $7 to $75 per coin in a day, according to crypto price-tracking website CoinMarketCap. Two days later, it dropped to about $40 – just as incoming first lady Melania Trump launched her own meme coin, $Melania. Even the pastor at Trump’s inauguration ceremony, Lorenzo Sewell, got swept up in the meme coin frenzy, promoting a $Lorenzo version the same afternoon. So what exactly are meme coins, and why is everyone and their vicar suddenly getting involved? Meme coins are a type of digital asset based on a meme – usually something that has gone viral online. The best known is Dogecoin, inspired by the popular meme featuring a shiba inu dog that speaks in Comic Sans. But Dogecoin is a bit different from the slew of recent meme coins, says Simon Peters, crypto analyst at trading platform eToro. Launched in 2013, Dogecoin has its own blockchain – the decentralised ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. The majority of other meme coins are “tokens”, meaning they operate on top of an existing blockchain and so require little in the way of technical development. These tokens are very easy to make; there are millions of them. The only real purpose of most meme coins is speculation: users create or buy them in the hope that their value will soar so they can make a lot of money very quickly. Sounds lucrative, what’s the catch? In reality, the vast majority of people lose money. Most meme coins are volatile and short-lived. They are also susceptible to what’s known as a “pump and dump” scheme or a “rug pull”, says Peters. This is when creators keep a lot of the tokens for themselves, hype up the project on social media to attract other buyers and increase the value, then dump all of their tokens – flooding the market and causing the price to ******. “Then everybody moves on to another one,” says Carol Alexander, a professor of finance at Sussex University. Given the crypto market is largely unregulated, investors have little recourse if something goes wrong. The first lady has also launched her own meme coin, $Melania. Photograph: Beata Zawrzel/Shutterstock No regulators, no guardrails, sounds iffy… All this hasn’t put people off, and there has been a ***** in meme coins over the past year. Alexander compares it to the previous fad around NFTs, another type of crypto asset (you may remember people paying millions of pounds for digital images of monkeys). There are a few reasons for the recent interest. January 2024 saw the launch of pump.fun, a platform that lets anyone easily create a meme coin (although it was blocked for *** users in December following a warning from the Financial Conduct Authority). The election of crypto-friendly Trump may also have emboldened the community. But a key driver of meme coins, says Alexander, is more of a social issue: “Young men, disillusioned, wanting to try and get rich quick.” They’re basically a form of gambling – an amped-up version of the stock market but with less connection to anything concrete Mike Hearn, early bitcoin developer Which would explain why they are based on internet in-jokes or puerile humour… Indeed. At the time of writing, several top meme coins reference dogs; the shiba inu breed is a particular touchpoint. Others include a Pepe token, based on the cartoon frog meme sometimes associated with the alt-right, and a Gigachad token, referencing an “alpha male” meme. Subjects of memes have also tried to parlay viral fame into crypto gains: in December, Haliey Welch, better known as “hawk tuah girl” after a viral video of her referencing *********, launched the $Hawk token, which promptly lost 95% of its value). Are bitcoin and meme coins essentially the same? Though meme coins have their foundations in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, early bitcoin developer Mike Hearn says they have little to do with the original crypto vision. He left the bitcoin community in January 2016 as he didn’t agree with the direction in which it was headed. He wanted to see cryptocurrency used as a real alternative to traditional finance rather than just a speculative asset. Meme coins are a continuation of this trend, he says: “They’re basically a form of gambling – kind of a more amped-up version of the stock market, but with less connection to anything concrete.” Doesn’t sound any more crazy than an online betting site to me… Then consider the story of New Zealand-based artist Andy Ayrey, who trained an AI language model and set up an X account, @truth_terminal, for it to share its thoughts. Ayrey describes the bot as being like a teenager that “doesn’t have any social awareness of when to be gross and when not to be”. Truth Terminal particularly enjoyed posting about Goatse, a not-safe-for-work meme that has become part of early internet lore. The AI gained an interest in meme coins after interacting with crypto accounts on X, and Ayrey set up a crypto wallet on its behalf. Then things got weird. Inspired by the bot’s posts, a stranger – Ayrey says he doesn’t know who – created a Goatse-themed token on pump.fun and sent some to Truth Terminal. Truth Terminal promoted the token on its account, and “all hell broke loose”, says Ayrey. The market capitalisation of the token – the total value of all tokens – shot up. At its most valuable, around a month after launch, it reached more than $1.2bn, according to CoinMarketCap. The angrier people get about it, especially in traditional finance, the more people think Fartcoin is funny and it goes up Andy Ayrey, creator of Truth Terminal AI chatbot The AI later became involved in another meme coin, Fartcoin, based on the rather more relatable meme (again, Ayrey says he doesn’t know the creator). Fartcoin reached a peak market cap of more than $2.3bn. So Ayrey was quids in? Not so simple. The whole experience introduced Ayrey to some of the issues around meme coins. He found that their value on paper massively eclipsed what he could actually get for them, owing to low liquidity. As soon as he sold the tokens, their value would decrease and would negatively impact others who held the tokens. Eventually, he worked out a private deal with a couple of investors on the basis that they wouldn’t dump the Fartcoin on the market. He admits it’s been amusing having to talk to finance and tax authorities about “liquidating Fart”. He believes this is part of the appeal for meme coin fans. “The more people get angry about it, especially in traditional finance, the more people think Fartcoin is funny and Fartcoin goes up,” he says. Who is making money then? The main people making money off crypto, says Alexander, are institutional investors – trading firms that use strategies that wouldn’t be allowed in regular stock trading. “All the big professional traders are making billions out of this, and ordinary people are losing their money,” she says. And Trump? Alexander sees his meme coin as being slightly different from many coins in that it has a potential alternative function on top of speculation: users buy it to show their support for the president. In this way, it’s similar to a “fan token”, like those produced by sports teams and players. The Trump token has drawn criticism owing to conflicts of interest; among other concerns, Trump owns one of the entities collecting trading fees. Alexander thinks the motivation for the coin is simple: “It’s just showing that he can do this sort of thing,” she says. “He can do whatever he likes and he knows it.” Source link #Dogecoin #Trump #wild #world #meme #coins #Cryptocurrencies Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Update on Dalton Knecht trade involving Lakers, Hornets – Yahoo Sports Update on Dalton Knecht trade involving Lakers, Hornets – Yahoo Sports Update on Dalton Knecht trade involving Lakers, Hornets Yahoo SportsLakers’ trade for Hornets center Mark Williams rescinded NBA.ComMark Williams trade rescinded: What comes next for Lakers on buyout market and in the offseason CBS SportsSocial media reacts to Lakers voiding Mark Williams trade: ‘It’s just to distract us from the PlayStation Network going down for 24 hours with no explanation’ Hoops Hype Source link #Update #Dalton #Knecht #trade #involving #Lakers #Hornets #Yahoo #Sports Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Yellow-spotted baby turtles are released in Brazil river Yellow-spotted baby turtles are released in Brazil river Some 4,900 yellow-spotted river turtles, also known as tracajás, have been released into the Igapó-Açu River, in Brazil. The threatened species lives in river basins in northern South America, and the Federal University of Amazonas has been running projects aimed at boosting turtle numbers for a decade. In that time, more than 70,000 turtles have been set free to live in the wild. Source link #Yellowspotted #baby #turtles #released #Brazil #river Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Prince Harry drops ceremonial puck in NHL game Prince Harry drops ceremonial puck in NHL game Watch the moment The Duke of Sussex Prince Harry took part in the ceremonial puck drop at the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs NHL match to mark the start of the 2025 Invictus Games in Canada. Source link #Prince #Harry #drops #ceremonial #puck #NHL #game Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

******** cargo ship runs aground off Russia’s Sakhalin Island ******** cargo ship runs aground off Russia’s Sakhalin Island STORY: :: Parts of Russia’s Sakhalin region are on high alert after a ******** cargo ship runs aground offshore :: February 9, 2025 :: Sakhalin region, Russia :: Limarenko Brief :: Ministry of Digital Development of Sakhalin Region No fuel spillage was recorded and there was no threat to the crew, but the situation required readiness for any scenario, the governor, Valery Limarenko, said on the Telegram messaging app. The ship was stranded in the shallow waters off Sakhalin’s Nevelsky district, he added. “A high alert regime has been introduced in the district,” Limarenko said. Limarenko later said that it was a ******** ship, and that marine and diving rescuers could not approach the vessel due to a strong storm. “Decisions on unloading the vessel or removing it from the shallows will be made as soon as the weather conditions improve,” he added. Source link #******** #cargo #ship #runs #aground #Russias #Sakhalin #Island Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]