Category: Trends & News

Ten years ago, at the peak of the global financial crisis, the Board of Trustees which oversees Social Security in the United States issued a stark warning: They projected that Social Security’s enormous trust funds would completely run out of money in 2039. Naturally nobody paid attention. Back in 2009 the economy in

The federal government sold your Social Security Number for FIVE dollars Welcome to our Friday roll up, where we highlight the most absurd and concerning stories we are following this week. Equifax fined $700 million… for 147 million person data breach Do you remember back in 2017 when Equifax (the giant consumer credit

“Gentlemen… the National Debt… is paid.” That sentence has been uttered in Washington DC exactly one time ever, by a Senator announcing that the US government was officially debt free. That was on January 8, 1835 when the debt that the United States government had accrued since its birth was finally paid off.

Here’s our Friday roll up of the most bizarre stories we’re following this week. Mom can’t sue cop who accidentally shot her child On July 10, 2014, a Sheriff’s Deputy from a rural county in southern Georgia was in pursuit of a suspect when he wandered onto the property of Ms. Amy Corbitt.

The first time I met Steven Seagal, it was in the lobby of a posh hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. He came downstairs sharply dressed, complete with his yellow-tinged ‘Tony Stark’ sunglasses, ready to hit the nightclubs for the evening. My friend Adam introduced us. Steven bowed to me, and, slightly puzzled, I bowed

Here’s our weekly roll-up of the most absurd and concerning articles we came across this week from both sides of the Atlantic. 8th grader gets 3-week suspension for picture of airsoft gun Airsoft guns are toy guns which shoot little plastic BBs. As long as kids are wearing safety glasses, these guns pose

Every time I come to Singapore I can’t help but marvel at its spectacular rise. I have a number of local friends who have been living here since independence in the 1960s, and they tell me the most incredible stories about how impoverished and underdeveloped Singapore was back then. Things were so backward

Here’s our Friday roll up of the most absurd and concerning articles we came across this week. US Government officials consider banning end to end encryption Leaders from US government agencies are rumored to be pursuing a ban on end-to-end encryption. Tech companies like Apple and Google often build encryption into their technology

In October of 2008, a plumber from Ohio named Joseph Wurzelbacher made national headlines when he confronted US Presidential Candidate (then Senator) Barack Obama at a campaign rally: “Your tax plan’s going to tax me more,” Joe told Senator Obama. The confrontation sparked a sensation, and Joe became known nationwide as “Joe the

The average Westerner who hasn’t traveled very much believes Moscow to be a cold, bleak, desolate capital city that’s filled with Stalinist-era architecture and a population that lives in utter misery. But the reality of this place is nearly the complete opposite. Moscow is a bright, beautiful, cosmopolitan city. I’ve always found Moscow

Here’s our Friday roll up of the most absurd and concerning articles we came across this week. Jail time for offensive image in Great Britain Recently some idiot teenager in Britain edited an image of Prince Harry into something that was stupid and racist. This moron clearly intended to be offensive. His photo

In the spring of 1937, a young Scottish diplomat named Fitzroy Maclean embarked on a two year journey across the Soviet Union. It was something that no Westerner had done in more than two decades, and this was well before any modern conveniences, so Maclean had to travel by any means necessary– including

Here’s our Friday roll up of the most absurd and concerning articles we came across this week. UK bans advertisement with “harmful gender stereotypes” UK bureaucrats will now decide if ads and commercials are too offensive. New regulations ban advertisements with gender stereotypes “that are likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread