Money and Computing
Updated: House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Hearing; Whistle Blower Complaint Released
“Congress needs the full and unredacted whistleblower complaint. We need to speak with the whistleblower. We need records of the communications. We need to speak with those knowledgeable about efforts by the President, the Attorney General, and the President’s personal attorney to secure political help from Ukraine, the decision to freeze security assistance, and the attempt to cover it up. We also need the records that our Committees requested from the State Department and the White House — by tomorrow’s deadline — or we will subpoena them. These requirements are especially urgent now that the Department of Justice apparently has chosen to stand down, whitewash this investigation, and block Congress from obtaining this information.
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Investing Through the Next Recession: It is Best to Use the Volatility of Financial Markets to Your Advantage
Financial Advisor Lex Zaharoff writes: "Given the reality that there will be a recession in our future, there is a natural tendency to want to adjust our investment strategy in advance of a market drop. Ideally we would like to sell stocks and buy longer maturity bonds of higher quality borrowers just before a recession starts. And before others recognize the recovery, we’d like to reverse those trades – buying back into stock markets and reducing our interest rate sensitivity in our bonds. Unfortunately, it is impossible to know the timing of market fluctuations with greater certainty than the rest of the market." more »
*GAO Report: Commercial Aviation: Information on Passenger Assaults against Airline Customer Service Agents at Airports; Communications Workers of America Study
When travel plans go awry, airline passengers may take out their frustrations on customer service agents. We surveyed 104 customer service agents. About half said passengers had verbally threatened them and 10% said passengers had physically assaulted them in the past year. One prosecutor told GAO the transitory nature of airports makes it difficult to get witnesses to testify at trial; when prosecuted, passengers generally face misdemeanor charges. While stakeholders GAO interviewed generally did not identify gaps in resources, some said incidents could be further mitigated if, for example, airports made law enforcement’s presence more visible or airlines provided conflict de-escalation training to customer service agents. more »
Living Longer, Too? Native-born Californians Who Live Near Large Immigrant Populations Eat Healthier Foods
The authors analyzed data from the Los Angeles County Health Survey with a focus on two specific health behaviors — eating at fast-food restaurants more than once a week and eating five or more servings of fruit and vegetables daily. For the purposes of the survey, an apple is used as a reference point for a serving of fruit, and a handful of broccoli or a cup of cut carrots are used as references for a serving of vegetables. The researchers analyzed 4,244 responses from both immigrants and native-born Americans regarding fast-food consumption. They analyzed 9,166 responses to the fruit-and-vegetable-intake question.
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