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5/29/2022
Russian cyberwar against Ukraine
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Davos 2022 - "Tax us more!"
A group of millionaires, known as “Patriotic Millionaires”, protested against the World Economic Forum
gathering of the business and political elite in Davos, Switzerland.
The Patriotic Millionaires
movement started in 2010 with only a handful of signatures. It is now a global organization with more
than 200 members.
The Patriotic Millionaires at Davos asked the world leaders to
immediately introduce fresh taxes on the rich. “We can afford to pay more taxes. The cost of recovery cannot
fall on the poor, the young or on those with lower incomes”
Oxfam is a British founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty. It recently said that increasing inequality will probably push 263 million more people into extreme poverty in 2022, reversing decades of progress.
Millionaires Marlene Engelhorn and Phil White in Davos
Phil White, a former business consultant and
member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, said: “While the rest of the world is
collapsing under an economic crisis, billionaires and world leaders meet in
Davos. It’s shocking that our political leaders listen to those who have the
most but know the least about the economic impact of this crisis. The only way
out is to tax the richest. Tax us now. Tax the delegates attending Davos 2022.”
Marlene Engelhorn, a co-founder of Patriotic Millionaires at the protest, said the only solution to “gross
inequality” was to ask governments “tax me, tax the rich”.
Engelhorn is an heir to the founders of the
BASF chemical company. She co-founded
the #taxmenow initiative. She said: “As someone who has enjoyed the benefits of
wealth my whole life, I cannot continue to sit back and wait for someone,
somewhere, to do something.
“Our
governments don’t do anything to fight gross inequality. Instead, they meet
behind closed doors in Davos. Another
quarter of a billion people will be pushed into extreme poverty this year. It’s
time to rebalance the world. It’s time to tax the rich.”
A modest annual wealth tax on the world’s millionaires and billionaires
could generate $2.52 trillion a year. This would be enough to, among other things,
lift 2.3 billion people out of poverty
The theme of this year’s WEF meeting in Davos
– the first-in-person gathering in more than two years, because of the pandemic
– is “Working together, restoring trust”.
From The Guardian (edited)
Florida's Surfside condo settlement (audio)
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5/23/2022
The most valuable car in the world
(CNN) Mercedes-Benz
confirmed on Thursday that it recently sold the world's most expensive car. A
very rare 1955 Mercedes-Benz SLR coupe that had been kept in the German
automaker's collection was sold to a private owner for €135 million, the
equivalent of $142 million. That price makes it the most expensive car known to
ever have been sold, according to Hagerty, a company that tracks collector car
values.
Money from
the sale will be used to establish the "Mercedes-Benz Fund", a global scholarship
fund.
"Mercedes-Benz
Fund" will support young people in their studies, commitment and actions
towards a more sustainable future.
Mercedes-Benz
will invest additional resources in the coming years. The "Mercedes-Benz
Fund" will be divided into two sub-categories: University Scholarships in
order to connect, educate and encourage students to conduct research on
environmental science projects and School Scholarships focusing on students`
local environmental projects in their communities. The program funds will be
directed to individuals who otherwise do not have the financial means for their
projects and career paths. The program will go beyond financially supporting
the young people and include extracurricular elements like Mercedes-Benz
mentorships opening up new career prospects.
The Mercedes that was sold was one of only two 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe prototypes. The 67-year-old cars were named for Mercedes' chief engineer at the time, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, and are claimed to have a top speed of 186 mph.
It was
sold at a closed invitation-only auction at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in
Stuttgart two weeks ago. The auction was held in cooperation with auto auction
company RM Sotheby's.
The other
Uhlenhaut Coupe will remain in the Museum's collection, according to a
Mercedes-Benz statement.
"Their
racing cars from the 1930s and 1950s are rare, and most are still owned by the
factory, so any that come to market are highly sought after," said Brian
Rabold, vice president for automotive intelligence at Hagerty.
Mercedes' "Gullwing"
SLRs -- so-called because of the doors that rise up like curved wings -- are
considered to be among the world's most desirable cars. And various rare and
racing versions are especially valuable.
The SLR
Uhlenhaut Coupe was, essentially, a hard-top version of Mercedes' famous open-topped
SLR racing car, powered by a 300 horsepower eight-cylinder engine. The thinking
was that a closed car protected drivers from wind and weather at
high speeds, while the closed roof also improved aerodynamics.
Shortly after
the development of these cars, Mercedes stopped its involvement in motorsports,
so the cars were never used in competition.
While the
identity of the car's new owners remains unknown, British classic car dealer
Simon Kidston claimed in a press release he placed the winning bid on behalf of
a customer.
5/15/2022
A 100-year-old man just broke a record (video)
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A 100-year-old man just broke a record (captions)
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/
A 100-year-old man just broke a record (fill in)
Walter Orthmann as a teenager and today
1) with a preposition if you find an empty box
2) with the correct tense, if you find a verb
in parentheses
Walter Orthmann ______ (be born) in the small Brazilian town of Brusque April 19, 1922.
He celebrated two major milestones April: he ______ (turn) 100 and ______ (break) the world record for longest career at the same company.
Orthmann was just 15 when he applied
a job Industrias Renaux S.A. (now known as RenauxView), a nearby textile company
the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil.
“Back in 1938, kids were expected
to work to help support the family,” he ______ (tell) Guinness World Records.
“As the oldest son of five, my mother ______ (take) me to find a job the age of 14.”
RenauxView ______ (hire) him on the spot because his strong proficiency in German.
Orthmann ______ (start) working Jan. 17, 1938 as a shipping assistant.
Then, he ______ (promote) a role
in sales and, eventually, ______ (become) a sales manager. 84 years with the
same company!
January 6 Guinness World ______ (give) him the record for the longest career the same company. He ______ ( break) his own record, which he ______ (set) 2019 after working at RenauxView for 81 years and 85 days.
Orthmann ______ (begin) traveling across Brazil for his job the 1950s. Due his business trips he ______ (meet) people different countries.
the end of February he ______ (celebrate) his 100th birthday co-workers, friends and family. Guinness said Orthmann is in good health "with excellent mental clarity and memory." The office is his favorite place to be, and his advice longevity is to work a good company where people feel motivated.
Orthmann’s secret to success ______
(be) to focus what is in front him.
“I don’t do much planning, nor care much tomorrow,” Orthmann said. “All I care is that tomorrow will be another day in which
I will wake up, get up, exercise and go work; you need to get busy with the present, not the past or the future … Here
and now is what counts.”
Guinness World Records did not say when Orthmann is planning retire.
5/12/2022
Moderna CFO stepped down just one day after taking over
On Wednesday May 11, the pharmaceutical giant announced that its chief
financial officer, Jorge Gomez (photo), departed the company "effective
immediately," following a disclosure by his former employer that it is
investigating financial misreporting.
Gomez formally began his role on Monday May 9, a month after leaving his
role as CFO at the dentistry manufacturer, Dentsply Sirona. Despite his early
departure, he will still receive his annual salary of $700,000 as part of his
severance package. He will, however, forfeit his $500,000 signing bonus.
It is extremely rare for an executive to leave a firm within such a
short period. Listed firms go to great lengths to properly vet candidates, as
part of their due diligence. The process can take many months and usually
involves background checks. The nature of Gomez's departure poses questions
over how rigorously this process was performed.
Moderna was made aware of the internal investigation, following
Dentsply's disclosure, made in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) on Tuesday.
In March 2022, Dentsply's board of directors began an investigation into
allegations surrounding the financial reporting of the use of incentives to
sell its products, as well as the disclosure of the incentives on sales,
according to the filing. The audit committee is also investigating
"former and current members of senior management" over allegations
that they used these incentives to affect executive compensation.
The investigation does not name Gomez specifically. In April Dentsply
terminated its former CEO Donald Casey and removed him from the board, but did
not disclose why.
Gomez's predecessor, David Meline, will resume his position while the
firm searches for a replacement.
From Business Insider
5/10/2022
Little Einstein (article)
A 13-year-old boy from
Minnesota will soon earn his bachelor's degree from college - with a major in
physics and a minor in math - and has been accepted into the University of
Minnesota's Physics PhD program.
Now his parents are trying
to figure out how to pay for it.
Elliott Tanner is participating
in undergraduate research at the University of Minnesota while also tutoring
classmates.
He wants to be a
high-energy theoretical physicist and eventually a professor of physics at the
university. However, tuition costs for the graduate program have been an
obstacle, his mother, Michelle Tanner, said.
Even as an in-state resident, Elliott's family will have to pay a total of about $40,600 for the fall and spring semesters, or roughly $20,300 per semester, according to the OneStop university website.
“You don’t think you’re going to have to pay for college for a 9-year-old, let alone grad school for a 13-year-old. So we weren’t prepared for that part,” Michelle Tanner said.
'We're just trying to
explore all our options, and coming up with dead ends,' Michelle said. 'Trying
to apply for any scholarships, fellowships, grants, and we have not been successful.'
'We were shocked to
discover the university did not extend a financial package to Elliott,' she
added. 'Only 3 percent of incoming physics PhD students in the US do not
receive a tuition waiver and/or financial package, so we never imagined that we
would be scrambling to fund Elliott’s education at 13 years old.'
The parents launched a GoFundMe for Elliott's graduate school tuition that has already raised $25,059 out of $44,000 goal as of Sunday.
On Friday, his mother said
the family had reached its goal to fund his first year in the school's graduate
program.
Elliott's mom said he
started reading and doing math by age 3.
Following a few years of
homeschooling and a high school curriculum that took him two years to complete,
he began taking college classes when he was 9.
Elliott will
formally graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Minor
in Mathematics this month.
From Daily Mail
5/08/2022
5/01/2022
Was there ever cocaine in Coca Cola?
The Claim On April 27, Elon Musk made a series of Tweets referring to his upcoming purchase of Twitter. In one of the tweets, he wrote: "Next I'm buying Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in."
Next I’m buying Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 28, 2022
The tweet proved incredibly popular, gaining 2.6 million likes and more than 500,000 retweets and quote tweets combined within less than 12 hours.
The Facts The claim may sound like an urban legend, but it is true that the original recipe for Coca-Cola, the popular carbonated soda brand, contained something at least similar to cocaine.
The U.S. government's National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) states that the original Coca-Cola formulation "contained cocaine in the form of an extract of the coca leaf" and that the 'Coca' part of the product's name was a reference to the coca leaf from which cocaine can be extracted.
The drink was invented in 1885 by Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton who formulated it in his backyard. At that time, cocaine was believed to be safe to use in small amounts and was a common ingredient in medicine.
At the time, medicines were not regulated as heavily as they are today. Someone could claim that their medicinal product had all sorts of health benefits and did not have to prove this or disclose any risks. Pemberton advertised Coca-Cola as a "brain tonic" that could cure headaches and combat fatigue.
According to fact-checking website Snopes, the 'cocaine' ingredient used in the original Coca-Cola recipe was actually ecgonine, which is a chemical described as "a metabolite of and a precursor to cocaine" by the European Bioinformatics Institute.
It is unclear how much cocaine or ecgonine was ever present in the original Coca-Cola recipe, but in any case it was reduced over time and eliminated entirely by 1929 according to NIDA.
The Ruling
HALF TRUE
Ecgonine, which is not cocaine but is chemically similar to it and obtained from the same leaf, was present in the original Coca-Cola recipe in trace amounts, but removed entirely by 1929.
From Newsweek
Photo Credit: Britta Pedersen/Getty Images/Getty
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