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50,000 GM Workers Went on Strike at Midnight

Written by adminSeptember 16, 2019

Only 12 years after the last strike that cost General Motors billions in revenue, the United Auto Workers, or UAW, once again went on strike against the auto company. Both sides have been working on negotiating a new contract. That was until GM decided they would break off contract talks on Sunday. As of midnight, nearly 50,000 GM workers who are part of the UAW hit the picket lines.

The UAW was attempting to negotiate for their workers to get a larger share of GM’s profits. They want an annual pay raise, but what GM was offering wasn’t enough according to the strikers. Union officials say both sides are nowhere near close enough to make a deal, so GM decided they would leave the negotiating table.

President Trump tweeted about the strike, stating: “Here we go again with General Motors and the United Auto Workers. Get together and make a deal!” Other politicians have also shown their support for the workers, especially 2020 presidential candidates Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, and Bernie Sanders.

“The CEO of GM made nearly $22 million dollars last year—281 times the median GM worker. I stand with the 46,000 UAW members who have moved to strike, fighting for affordable health care and fair wages. GM can afford to do right by the,” Castro wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

GM’s “Generous” Offer

According to General Motors, they made a generous offer to the UAW. Not only did they claim to offer new products to be made in assembly plants scheduled to close, they also made a ‘strong offer’ that included a lot of great perks and benefits. Those perks and benefits include better wages, benefits, and they’ve even made a lot of improvements to plants in four different states.

GM tweeted on Sunday: “The offer we presented to the UAW prioritizes employees, communities and builds a stronger future for all. It includes improved wages and health care benefits, over $7B in U.S. investments and 5,400 jobs. Let’s come together and secure our shared future.”

As of right now, a deal looks far from being done. Nearly 50,000 UAW workers in more than 6 states have hit the picket lines. These states include Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, Texas, and New York. But GM is in a good place right now. According to Cox Automotive, GM has 77-days’ worth of inventory, including cars, SUVs, and trucks. That means the workers are in for a long strike if they hope to convince GM to come back to the negotiating table.

“If a strike occurs, GM has enough inventory on the ground so as not to hinder sales in the short run. Strong sales in August helped trim overall industry inventories to the lowest level in three years, according to Cox Automotive data, but GM’s inventories remain healthy and even above industry average,” according to commentary from Cox.

Written by adminSeptember 16, 2019

Real life

It seems as if any little hiccup in the Middle East causes gas prices to shoot through the roof. The oil companies are certainly looking for ways to boost the price to draw in as much income as possible. But now, after an oil attack on Saudi Arabia, and promises of retaliation, this sudden acceleration of trouble in the region could dramatically increase gas prices.

It’s this sudden increase that could push the global economy one step closer a recession. Many nations around the world are already teetering on the edge, including recent indications from the United States. The U.S. is further from a recession than, let’s say, Germany whose economy has been dropping like a stone in recent years.

Yet, a growing trade war with China is have global economic effects felt across every sector. Gas prices have been fairly low lately, with the price per barrel at $54.82 last Friday. Now analysts are predicting prices in the upper $70s as a result of this attack. No one knows yet exactly who committed the attack, even though the United States places the blame firmly on Iran. Iran has denied the accusation.

“The events in Saudi Arabia have ratcheted up tensions in the Middle East to a new level raising concerns about supply security,” said Chris Midgley, global head of analytics for S&P Global Platts. “Price could move higher if Saudi production is confirmed to be curtailed for a more substantial period which is not our current assumption,” he

U.S. Could Tap into Reserves

Kellyanne Conway, advisor to President Trump, suggested that if oil prices do rise dramatically and a shortage takes place due to escalating tensions, the U.S. could make a move. Currently, the United States is the world’s #1 oil producer, and we still have what’s called a Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This reserve is only opened in the case of an emergency. By flooding the market, it could keep gas prices down, at least here.

It’s unknown if whether the U.S. reserves would be pumped into the global market. At the very least, expect the price of gas to jump in the next few days. If you haven’t filled up yet, do so now while the prices are low enough. Oil prices have been creeping down in recent weeks, so this news is unwelcome, especially when it’s unknown exactly what happened in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

The plant that exploded, the Abqaiq plant in Saudi Arabia’s Khurais oil field, pumps out 5% of all the oil in the world each day. Now that it’s shut down, expect the impact to be immediate unless the reserves are opened right away.

Written by adminSeptember 16, 2019

Politics

It’s hard to predict exactly how much candidates will spend on any future election, but it only seems to get more expensive. This year, the political war seems as if it will be even more angry and personal than ever before. The war will be over the estimated 1.2% of U.S. citizens who are largely undecided. According to Frank Luntz, a republican pollster, all the U.S. parties and the candidates will spend as much as $2 billion to reach them.

1.2% can swing a victory in any direction. In the rust belt alone, Michigan and Wisconsin went from being reliable blue states to swinging red. There was very little interest in voting for Hillary Clinton, so the margins in these states were tiny. The year before, these states went handedly towards Democrat Barack Obama, who won his first and second term.

Luntz says that around 6% of U.S. voters are considered “undecided.” The battle is really for them, as both sides know they aren’t going to sway the minds of the real decides. They always vote along party lines, no matter who the candidate is. If the party doesn’t put up an exciting candidate, they would rather stay home than vote for the other side.

Things are more partisan than ever. As a result of President Trump winning in 2016, both Republicans and Democrats seem to have run to their own corners, nearly to the extreme in many cases. Now the Dems are desperate to get Trump out of office for obvious reasons. The Republicans are desperate to keep Trump in office, who is possibly one of the most popular Republican presidents in U.S. history.

Luntz Believes More Money is Needed This Time Around

As stated previously, the real battle is for the small percentage of undecided voters. And all the money is going to go towards convincing them which side is the most moral and better for the country. The Democrats are going to run on getting rid of Trump, while the Republicans will focus on the great economy and play up Trump’s strengths.

“If you’re that undecided now when everybody else has made up their minds, it’s going to be very hard to move you,” Luntz said. “All this money and all this time and all this effort is going to be spent on 6% of the country.”

The election will inevitably come down to how the undecides feel about Trump’s presidency. Not everyone is 100% against him like some hardcore Dems are. Many are “conflicted, the ones that liked aspects of the Trump presidency, but not all of it, or the ones who disliked much of what he’s done.” It’s possible to like what the president has done without liking him as a person.

“I don’t think more money will be spent with more effort and more intensity on a smaller group of people than what will happen in this election,” Luntz said. “Because in the end, if you’re undecided in Texas or California or New York, you don’t matter. So, it’s 6% who are undecided in 20% of the states that could actually move.”

In the end, it’s a race to see who is the least extreme. Will a socialist agenda be the winning strategy for the left, or a more centrist message that grabs the undecideds? This is what the whole election will come down to.

Written by adminSeptember 13, 2019

Life Style

Technology has certainly changed our world. Who among us doesn’t remember going to Blockbuster to rent a movie? Or heading over to Borders books for their latest fictional fix? It’s sort of sad in a nostalgic way. Still, there’s a whole new generation of children being raised who don’t know what these things are. They laugh at the very mention of CDs or landline phones. This can be good news for the future.

As we grow and become more connected, the industrial revolution has been replaced by the more modern information age. We’re always searching for new ways to improve our lives. That’s why we have no choice but to use this modern technology to lessen our carbon footprint. That’s exactly what researchers, engineers, and scientists all around the world are doing.

Ever since Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb in 1879, the model for delivering electricity to power our homes, schools, and businesses hasn’t changed much. We actually burn fossil fuels to generate the electricity that is carried through over millions of miles of power lines. Thankfully, this practice (and all the power companies who supply it) will soon be on its way out.

Thanks to a rigid combination of political pressure and influence, amazing new advances in computer technology, and an outcry in the environmental sector due to rising global temperatures, homeowners are looking for new ways to get off the grid. It’s almost a return to the days when you were reliant on your own devices to survive.

A Green Revolution

One such smart technology involves harnessing the power of the sun. Every home and business has a rooftop, and instead of reflecting the sunlight back into the atmosphere, solar panels placed on the roof can collect and transform it into electricity. This makes your roof a decentralized power plant of its own on a tiny scale.

While the movement might be slow in getting to the majority of homes, at some point the revolution will spread. Higher energy costs will force people to think about more budget-friendly alternatives.

As more people converted to solar energy, the less profits the electric companies draw in. That means they must raise prices to keep up, ultimately forcing away more customers. The end game is literally the death of the power company, as they will fail to maintain current numbers. Just look at the Southwest and you can already see power companies struggle to compete.

A Third-Party Option

As the technology is currently being developed and advanced, you will notice there’s still room for improvement. How do you generate electricity when the sun is down or if you have series of cloudy days? Some customers decide to stay on the grid as a back-up, hooking back up as night falls. This is a cost-effective system, but there are other ways being considered.

For those who are truly intent on living off the grid can purchase a hybrid solar and wind energy system. If you live in an area with average sustained winds of 9-14 MPH, then this system would work great for you; solar when you have sun and wind energy when you don’t.

Regardless of what option is best for you, the world is changing thanks to advancements in technology. The days of coal or fossil fuels being burned for energy are numbered. The only option these companies have is to adapt or die. The smart companies have already invested millions of dollars in further research to clean, renewable energy. They want to stay relevant in an ever-changing world.

Written by adminSeptember 13, 2019

Business

Facebook is truly one of the wonders of the modern world. It allows friends and family to connect and stay close, even if they live a world apart. But another way Facebook has changed the world is the way people do business. In a lot of ways, buying and selling has become infinitely easier. Connecting with customers and building relationships with them has improved as well.

Let’s take a look at several things you should know when running your business on Facebook.

1) Facebook isn’t great for direct sales. When I say that Facebook is amazing for buying and selling, there’s a bit more to it than that. It’s great at generating traffic, building an audience, and interacting with your customers, but if you’re expecting to make immediate sales, then you’ll most likely be out of luck.

Facebook itself says it’s about building relationships. When the majority of users sign on, they’re not typically looking to buy anything. What works best is a method called ‘relationship marketing’. Relationship marketing isn’t focused on making direct sales or an ‘intrusion’ form of selling by always targeting new clients.

Relationship marketing focuses on keeping the customers you already have and building a repertoire with them. There’s great value in the long term by advertising this way. So if you want to make immediately sales, Facebook is not the right platform for you. But if you’re interested in actually having a relationship and building trust with customers, then you’re on the right track.

2) Make friends before making the sell. As we discussed above, Facebook is all about relationship marketing. The way you do this is by creating Facebook ads to build up your page. Your ads, when target properly, will attract users to your page. Once they follow your page, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to build a relationship with them.

Facebook marketing is slow and methodical, but will lead to amazing rewards on the back end. Most marketers use Facebook as a means to drive traffic to their sales funnel. They spend the time up front building the relationship and trust so it’s easier to journey with them through the different stages of your funnel. Taking the time to get to know your followers is key to your success.

Another great advantage to Facebook marketing and building relationships is all the data you can extract from your pages. You can interact directly with your followers, conduct polls, ask questions, and find out ways you can improve the way you do business. You can follow trends to ensure you stay ahead of the curve.

3) Have long-term goals in mind. It’s incredibly easy to spend thousands of dollars on Facebook ads simply experimenting to find out what might work or what doesn’t. If you’re spending that kind of money, what are you accomplishing, not having any goals is a waste. When you spend money in business, you should be gaining something of value.

Since you’re not going to find instant sales through Facebook ads, plan long term. What are your advertising dollars going toward? Do you want more likes on your page? More traffic to your website? Plan out different stages with goals in mind for each stage so your money isn’t going to waste. A quick one-week ad campaign probably isn’t going to make you rich.

Facebook is an amazing platform that can help grow your business in so many ways. With that being said, it’s important to keep in mind exactly what Facebook does and how it operates. It only works if you use it as it was meant to be used.

Written by adminSeptember 13, 2019

Real life

Ahh, the smell of free money. If your student looking for extra money to get through college, the best thing you can do is apply for scholarships. It’s literally free money that you don’t have to pay back. Every dollar that you get in scholarship money is another dollar that you don’t have to take out student loans.

By reducing the amount that you take out in loans, the quicker and easier it will be to pay it back. It also means there’s less time for additional interest to accumulate on to what you already owe. This is why applying for a scholarship is a great way to help lessen the student loan burden.

The problem is, getting a scholarship can be a little bit of a complicated process. You actually have to apply for them and get accepted. Many students feel as if this isn’t worth the time and effort, as if adding additional weeks, months, or years towards paying off their student loan debt is going to be easy.

And yes, it’s possible to be denied a scholarship. If this happens, it’s usually due to a number of different circumstances, many which are simple to understand. Let’s take a look at several reasons why you might’ve been denied a scholarship.

1) You Didn’t Turn in Your Application in Time

One financial aid officer revealed an interview that she contacted three students who would potentially qualify for a particular scholarship. All three individuals reacted differently. The first one completed the application and turned it in on time. The second had a family issue and asked if it was possible to delay the deadline.

The third didn’t really understand the concept of the deadline. And this is what can get tricky. The deadlines are completely arbitrary and are set up to see how seriously you take applying for a scholarship. They’re going to give you free money that you can put towards your college so the least you can do is take the application process seriously. Get your applications in on time and follow the rules.

2) Thinking It’s Not Worth the Time

Sometimes students have the wrong view about scholarships. They believe that only the elite students are going to get one. While in many instances having a 4.0 average is something a lot of scholarships might look for, many will overlook a few discrepancies and grades if the student finds a way to stand out from other applicants.

Again, getting a scholarship can save you a lot of time and money down the road. You should still apply even if you think it’s not going to be worth your time. You might get denied, but you might show something to the person granting the scholarship that allows them to say yes and that’s always worth it.

3) Thinking There’s Too Much Competition

If there’s a lot of money on the line within any given scholarship, a student might decide to pass on it because there’s a lot of others probably applying for the same thing. A lot of applicants might mean you have less of a chance of being awarded. The truth is, that’s not necessarily true. Many of the best scholarships actually have very few applicants for this very reason.

As stated above, it bears repeating. You have no idea what the outcome is going to be or what the grantor of the scholarship is going to see on your application that gets you approved. Still, you should apply no matter what the excuse is.

Written by adminSeptember 13, 2019

Loans

Comedian Hasan Minhaj Tells Congress that Student Debt is a “Paywall to the Middle Class”

Currently in the United States, 44 million Americans owe $1.53 trillion in student loan debt. It’s such a major problem that many economists are saying it is creating an economic crisis. These young Americans are being forced to put off major life decisions, like getting married, having children, buying health insurance, and so much more.

It’s also a major issue being debated during the 2020 presidential race. Nearly every single Democratic candidate has put forward their plans for tackling the issue, including forgiving all $1.53 trillion owed. Many others want free college tuition offered to everyone. Whether these issues become reality or not is unknown, but that’s not stopping anyone from talking about it.

Comedian Hasan Minhaj, host of Netflix’s series “Patriot Act”, recently testified before Congress to talk about the issue. “You know the student loan crisis is bad when I’m asked to testify before Congress about it,” comedian Hasan Minhaj tweeted on Tuesday.

“You don’t need to be drowning in debt to understand that this is an issue sidelining millions of Americans,” said Minhaj, 33. “People are putting off marriage, kids, homeownership and retirement, ―especially my generation.”

‘We’ve put up a paywall to the middle class.’

Minhaj, who has his own show on Netflix, used to be a Daily Show correspondent. His shtick included comedy that mixed facts with statistics to talk about broad issues, like student loan debt. During one of his recent shows, Minhaj took on the subject of student debt. He discussed how confusing and frustrating the entire process is from beginning to end.

During this particular episode, Minhaj polled the audience of 200 members and found together they owed over $6 million towards their student debt. That was more money than they had spent creating the entire set of the show.

“Now granted, our audience is mainly unemployed poli-sci majors, but that’s still a lot of money,” he said, joking with the congressional committee.

“People aren’t making more money, and college is objectively way more expensive,” said Minhaj. “And yet many borrowers are still treated like deadbeats because the government has put their financial futures in the hands of predatory for-profit loan servicing companies.”

This is certainly a difficult subject that doesn’t appear to be solved anytime soon. President Trump has taken the stance that people with student loan debt are responsible for the loans they have taken out. He has signed an executive order, allowing disabled veterans to receive full forgiveness with zero tax impact.

Written by adminSeptember 12, 2019

Politics

On Thursday, close to 150 CEOs from various companies sent a letter to the Senate begging them to pass red flag laws and tougher background checks for all gun sales. Many of the CEOs are well known, such as Arianna Huffington from the Huffington Post and Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Uber.

“There are steps Congress can, and must, take to prevent and reduce gun violence. … That’s why we urge the Senate to stand with the American public and take action on gun safety by passing a bill to require background checks on all gun sales and a strong Red Flag law that would allow courts to issue life-saving extreme risk protection orders,” the letter said.

This letter comes as the Washington Post wrote a scathing attack on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, singling him out for what they consider failing to act on legislation sitting on his desk that could potentially save lives if passed. There’s no proof the laws would indeed save lives, but they feel entitled to act and pass something and McConnell is preventing that from happening.

The opinion piece, entitled: “How many more names will be added to the list before Mitch McConnell acts on guns?” takes a look at the many mass shootings that have happened since 1999, including the names and ages of all the victims. This is an attempt to push red flag laws into place, a law the Democrat-controlled House passed swiftly.

Senate Back in Session

With the Senate now back in session since Monday after the long August recess, these CEOs are demanding that Congress act. As the first matter of business, they want tougher universal background checks and red flag laws so law enforcement and judges can take away the gun rights of others they deem to be unfit for owning weapons.

Still, any type of gun control law is unlikely to pass. We have a Republican-controlled Senate and President Trump is the least likely president to sign it into law even if it does pass the Senate. He would most likely veto the attempt, making the bill dead in the water.

Written by adminSeptember 12, 2019

Technology

FaceApp has been a viral sensation recently as more people are posting pictures of themselves using the app. If you have a Facebook page, you’ve most likely seen your friends, relatives, or even yourself posting what they would look like as an older person. This isn’t the first time that FaceApp has been in the news.

Back when the app was first released in 2017, there was a lot of press around how it made people look younger or older, male or female, or even adding features to their physical face to add a smile or make them look happier. It was truly a revolutionary technology in today’s modern world full of crazy and fun apps we enjoy sharing a social media.

Even as many celebrities use such applications, promoting FaceApp for their millions of followers, there are a lot of growing concerns about the use of this app. You might’ve seen a certain New York tabloid headline that said Russians now own all of your photos. No doubt the headline was sensationalized and meant to scare people, but is there any reality to it?

FaceApp and the Privacy of Users

There are a lot of questions around whether or not we should be using social media. Sign up for a website, we often click through that we’ve read the terms without actually reading them so we can start posting. You essentially get Facebook permission to use your data, and then act shocked when they do.

This is the same warning many are giving about FaceApp. They say that the headquarters of the company is based in St. Petersburg, Russia, meaning if you have the app on your phone, a Russian company has access to some of your data. Did you read the terms and conditions? Was there any fine print that you didn’t see? Or did you just follow along with the latest trend?

It’s almost as if we don’t care about Digital privacy whatsoever. We don’t think about or even consider where our information goes. Every time a movie star has her nude pictures stolen plastered all over the Internet, it makes you wonder how certain things like that happen. It should happen more often considering the apps we download onto our digital devices.

What is Done with Our Data?

“Most images are deleted from our servers within 48 hours from the upload date,” the company said in a lengthy statement.

But if you read the terms and agreements page, it says that by downloading the app, you “grant FaceApp a perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully-paid, transferable sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, publicly perform and display your User Content and any name, username or likeness provided in connection with your User Content in all media formats and channels now known or later developed, without compensation to you.”

That simply means that FaceApp can do whatever they want with your picture. You download the app, hit agree, then they can do what they want. You just gave them full permission and rights. It’s just like Facebook’s terms: “If you share a photo on Facebook, you give us permission to store, copy, and share it with others,” the social network says.

We are not careful with our digital privacy. If this bothers you, then you should start reading the terms and agreements. Know exactly where your information, data, and pictures are being sent and how they’re being used.

Written by adminSeptember 12, 2019

Saving

Every time we’ve written about working on your budget, or even other articles you might have read on the subject, it always talks about reading yourselves of your favorite luxuries. Maybe it’s spending the extra money buying the expensive cup of coffee versus making your own. Maybe it’s cutting off Netflix are some of the other subscriptions you’re paying a lot of money on each month.

Is this always the right answer? Some of the things you’re considering cutting might be very important to you, like that first cup of coffee in the morning. Should you remove every single guilty pleasure from your life, where is there a middle ground? You certainly should put certain priorities in order. If you need to cut things from your life, you don’t have to cut every luxury to save money.

Let’s look at several ways in which to keep in mind the metal ground when preparing your budget.

1) How Important Is It to You?

First thing you should ask yourself when going down your budget is seeing what items are actually important to you. You pay for cable TV, yet you rarely watch it. Is this a luxury that you can cut out of your life? Is it really important to you to have something that cost so much money that you barely use?

This is where this question comes in. You barely use it, but when you do use it, it’s usually for family time. That’s very important to you. Are there other ways to enjoy family time without cable TV? Of course! But we can’t make that decision for you. Were simply saying you should ask yourself which is important enough for you to keep and what you can cut out of your life for a period of time.

2) Are There Any Benefits to Keeping It?

Another question you should ask yourself is do you benefit from keeping the luxury. Will it pay off in the end? Does it improve your life? Sure, going to get a monthly massage can be expensive. But does it help you with life in general? Most likely the answer is yes. It can give a boost of energy and make things a lot more tolerable. If it makes you really happy and it relaxes you, you don’t have to cut out every entertainment expense. But maybe there’s something else you can cut out to help pay for the luxury want to keep.

3) Will You Really Miss It?

Using cable TV is another example, would you really miss it if you cut it out of your life? You can get a regular antenna that gives you all of your local network stations, you can subscribe to Hulu and Netflix which offer plenty of shows and movies, and then cut the $100 cable bill from your life. Will you really miss cable? Probably not. Apply the same idea when going over your budget.

Author Archives: admin

GM’s “Generous” Offer

U.S. Could Tap into Reserves

Luntz Believes More Money is Needed This Time Around

A Green Revolution

A Third-Party Option

1) You Didn’t Turn in Your Application in Time

2) Thinking It’s Not Worth the Time

3) Thinking There’s Too Much Competition

‘We’ve put up a paywall to the middle class.’

FaceApp and the Privacy of Users

What is Done with Our Data?

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