🌞 Shutdown Averted? – September 30 2021

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00am ET. 

• Markets: U.S. Treasury yields eased back slightly on Thursday, following a sell-off amid inflation fears. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is due to speak in front of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services at 10 a.m. ET. 

The Lead: Government Shutdown Averted?

credit: getty

Moments ago Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a verbal deal has been reached to keep the government running. For how long? We don't know.

Congress is rushing to pass a short-term spending bill that would keep the government in business tomorrow. If they don’t, the United States will hit a maximum amount of debt allowed and no longer be able to borrow any money to pay bills. (Yes, it’s problematic that the U.S. has to borrow money to pay its bills but that is not the point.)

The Senate will vote today on a series of small steps that will continue funding without actually raising the debt limit. There is in-fighting about where the money should be spent. Some still want to send money to Israel for its missile defense system and others wanted to spend more on processing Afghan refugees. Fine, everyone has a wishlist but if the government shuts down no one wins. 

Lawmakers are rushing to get this to the President’s desk before midnight tonight. If it works, the government lives to fight another day but the fighting will continue because the borrowing limit still expires on October 18. 

YouTube Bans Anti-Vax Videos

robert f. kennedy jr. banned by YouTube credit: nypost

YouTube is saying no to anti-vaxxers. The company banned some pretty big anti-vax accounts, saying it will no longer allow any vaccine misinformation on its platform.

We’re not just talking about anti-Covid-vaxxers. YouTube doesn’t want any false information about approved vaccines or vaccines in general on its site. YouTube has already removed the accounts of anti-vaccine activists like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., osteopathic physician Joseph Mercola, and others. Instagram already banned Bobby Kennedy in February “for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,” according to a company statement.

Everyone can still give personal vaccine testimonies, facts about vaccine trials, etc., it’s just false information YouTube has a problem with.

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Electric Cars Go Mainstream

electric mini cooper credit: miniusa 

Electric cars aren’t just for bleeding hearts or those of us terrified of the climate crisis! An increasing number of car manufacturers are making electric a reasonable option for all sorts of folk. 

For the luxury-lovers out there, Rolls-Royce announced that its first electric car is coming in 2023. The Rolls-Royce Spectre is a fully electric two-door coupe. And the company isn’t stopping there. All Rolls-Royce vehicles will go electric by the end of the decade.

Jeep isn’t going quite that far, but Jeep’s parent company Stellantis will invest at least $35.5 billion in the electric world through 2025. Jeep also unveiled the 2022 Grand Cherokee on Wednesday, which will be the company’s second plug-in hybrid electric.

Student-Athletes = School-Employees?

credit: Oklahoma state athletics

Cade Cunningham could be an Oklahoma State employee before he graduates. 

(For those who don’t do sports, Cunningham is an Oklahoma State freshman who is on the school’s basketball team.)

NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo said in a Wednesday memo that student athletes are school employees under the National Labor Relations Act. (Yet they are currently not.) This is a battle that has been going on for several years now, but this memo could reignite the fire.

There is already Congressional action on this, with legislation introduced on both sides of the issue. 

News By The Numbers

Up to 8%. That is how much the wind in Jupiter’s Great Red Spot sped up between 2009 and 2020. No one really knows what this means.

39. That is how many Canadian miners were saved after an accident trapped them underground. It took three days, but all miners made it out!

13. That is how many years Britney Spears’ dad has served as conservator of her estate. His conservatorship was suspended on Wednesday.

10 million+. That is how many users have been scammed by the GriftHorse Trojan on Android. It hides in normal-looking apps and then asks for your phone number. Please look that GriftHorse in the mouth.

5.8 million. That is about how many people have Alzheimer’s in the US. A new study shows that changing your diet could help you avoid joining them.

The Dollar Twenty Dollar Store

credit: chain store age

The Dollar Tree has held fast to its name even as other dollar stores broke the dollar barrier. No longer. The store announced that it will start testing higher price points in order to give customers more variety. Because, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but things cost a lot these (pandemic) days. 

As of July, inflation hit 4.2% in the US, the highest it’s been in three decades. And it’s only getting worse with supply chain issues and the rising cost of labor.

Dollar Tree stock rose 13% on the news, so investors are happy. If they just add an ‘s’, it won’t be false advertising. Maybe Dollars Tree will be THE place to go for $5 water bottles.

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