Author: Reporter

Humanity may just be scratching the surface on the scope of climate-changing damage from methane leaks

The amount of the powerful climate-changing gas methane spilling out of oil and gas equipment, coal mines, and landfills globally is nowhere near fully documented and what is known is “only scratching the surface” according to the CEO of one the companies that tracks methane with its own satellites. Rather than improving, the methane emissions problem is worsening according to Stephane Germain of GHGSat. “The past year, we’ve detected more emissions than ever before,” he said. Since late 2023, GHGSat satellites detected about 20,000 sites worldwide that qualify as super-emitters, or sites hemorrhaging at 220 pounds of methane per...

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Now Hiring: Some important ways to guard against falling for scammers offering fake jobs

Between finding openings, sending out your resume and interviewing, looking for a job is tough. Now a growing trend of scammers impersonating recruiters is making it even harder. In the last year, job scams have been on the rise, according to Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit that helps consumers when their identities are compromised. Because most job seekers turn to online platforms for employment, scammers impersonate companies and recruiters to trick people into giving them money or personal information. “We’ve really seen tremendous growth in job scams,” Velasquez said. “I think...

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Retirement planning: Common-sense steps that seniors should take to forecast their cash flow needs

New retirees frequently rhapsodize about the joys of tossing their alarm clocks into the trash and filling their days with whatever activities they find gratifying. But if they are honest, most new retirees find the financial aspect of the retirement transition to be a little jarring. While retirees are often counseled to estimate that they will spend 75% to 80% of their working incomes in retirement, a paper by David Blanchett, formerly of Morningstar and now at PGIM, found that higher-income, higher-saving households may need just 60%, or even less, of their preretirement income during retirement, while lower-earning, lower-saving...

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Lack of insurance: Why consumers should avoid storing too much money in payment apps

Connor Tomasko grew up wary of credit cards. As she taught herself more about managing money, she realized that many people also have bad habits when it comes to payment apps. Tomasko, 31, a freelance software consultant in Chicago, understands why people appreciate the ease of the apps, which typically only require you to know someone’s username in order to send money. But she realized that keeping money in the apps could be risky and means losing out on the interest from a high-yield savings account. She now immediately transfers any payments out of the apps and encourages friends...

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Trump increasingly viewed as a sock puppet as Musk expands his personal grip on the federal government

Elon Musk called on February 13 for the United States to “delete entire agencies” from the federal government as part of his push under President Donald Trump to radically cut spending and restructure its priorities. Musk offered a wide-ranging survey via a videocall to the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, of what he described as the priorities of the Trump administration interspersed with multiple references to “thermonuclear warfare” and the possible dangers of artificial intelligence. “We really have here rule of the bureaucracy as opposed to rule of the people — democracy,” Musk said, wearing a...

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Trump’s hints at a third term already underscore his fear of being seen as a lame duck right now

Donald Trump, a convicted felon and President, has just started his second term, his final one permitted under the U.S. Constitution. But he has already started making quips about serving a third one. “Am I allowed to run again?” Trump joked during the House Republican retreat in Florida in January. Whether teasing or taunting, it seems to be part of a pattern. Just a week after he won election last fall, Trump suggested in a meeting with House Republicans that he might want to stick around after his second term was over. “I suspect I won’t be running again...

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