People are moving into the Least tax states or No income tax states

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Leslie Park

As the pandemic winds down, and the social and demographic changes become more obvious, people are moving from big cities to rural communities. Of course, money is the main reason to move out. People are spending less as inflation continues to wipe out value, and the economic climate continues to be unstable.

A side effect of this is that many Americans are abandoning some of the higher-tax states for lower or no-tax states.

In healthy financial life, there are many rules to apply to different lifestyles, although, the 50-30-20 rule is the most popular; 50% of monthly income for essential needs, 30% of monthly income for non-essential needs, and 20% are for paying credit cards/saving.

From this perspective, consumers should spend 50% of their incomes on housing, cars, and taxes within the budget. if the tax is high, then their essential needs would be higher, and taxpayers become unhappier, not because of more work to make it up but because they’d also have no time to enjoy their lives as well.

For example, States with no income tax are Washington State, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nevada, Texas, Alaska, Tennessee, and Florida. For retirees, States with no sales tax are Delaware, New Hampshire, and Oregon. Property tax-wise, the least tax state is Louisiana that $532 per $100,000.

In the first quarter of the year 2023, the mortgage rate is 6.61% in 30-year fixed, according to mortgage news daily.com. However, some areas of the U.S. are still in a seller market, and it is usually these states with lower taxes.

The demographic map of America is changing, and the political atmosphere will likely impact this change in some time.

Serial’s Adnan Syed’s Conviction Reinstated

Posted on March 28, 2023 by Leslie Park

A few years back, the “Serial” podcast looked into the case of Adnan Syed, the individual convicted of the murder of Hae Min Lee, who was once his ex-girlfriend.

The conviction had been vacated and Syed freed; however, in a 2-1 decision, the Maryland appellate court ordered a do-over of the hearing which vacated Syed’s conviction because the circuit court judge had violated the rights of the Young Lee, the brother of the victim. He was not given adequate chance to attend the hearing.

Syed’s attorney has stated that she planned to appeal the decision to the Maryland Supreme Court as the overturning of the decision had to do with procedural matters of notice and mootness rather than Adnan Syed’s guilt or innocence.

Adnan Syed’s situation remains unclear, although Syed’s team is fighting to keep him out of confinement while the next steps are being figured out.

[Opinion] Palm Reading leads more job cutting in Tech Companies?

Posted on March 22, 2023 by Leslie Park

AIs are replacing human jobs and workloads in some workplaces. Now, Amazon sells business software and its service to the U.S. cafe chain Panera Bread, and consumers’ eyes are wide open. This new software allows people to pay by opening their palms in front of the scanner at the cash register. According to Yahoo.com, Amazon started to sell such business software in June 2022 and has provided for more than 69 locations in U.S. and UK.

Amazon One device is a scanning system for regular customers that let customers scan their plans to pay, with two locations in greater St. Louis. Kumar said the deployment would expand to 10-20 Panera cafes in the coming months. Vice President Dilip Kumar from Amazon said the e-commerce and cloud-computing giant is widening the deployment of its contactless technology with existing customers, in an interview with Reuters.

“More than 50 of the installations were with the likes of independent retailers, stadiums, and university customers, and the rest were in Whole Foods and other Amazon stores,” he added.

AI and automation are seemingly threatening when it comes to people and their ability to retain and keep their jobs. Since November 2022, Amazon has cut jobs by a total of 27,000. Tech companies are cutting jobs like relay races now a day.

Due to the harsh economic climate, many businesses are liquidating their inventories and selling off their businesses or just closing. Meta cut 10,000 jobs in 2023, Google cut 12,000 in January, and Microsoft laid off 10,000 employees in January 2023.

Chat GPT or Bard, Fight for the top AI

Posted on March 21, 2023 by Leslie Park

Chatbots are becoming the next search engine. People have become familiar with using the tool, bragging that Chat GPT helped them with homework or pass examinations and dissertations. This has been an ongoing thing since the early 20th century and finally coming to fruition for tech moguls and investors.

Since November 30, 2022, more than a million people have jumped into the new and more developed chatbot, ChatGPT.

According to CBC.CAnews, ChatGPT by OpenAI is available as a “research preview” to the public for now. It allows users to enter questions or tasks into a textbox — whether it’s asking it to write a poem, song lyrics, or computer code — and it’ll output copy or code that’s passable as a human.

“I think it’ll be a slow process, but I do think a lot of people are going to be interested in creativity or creative work product that is written by AI as opposed to humans,” said Maura Grossman, a research professor with the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo who studies AI ethics, among other things.

Microsoft and other tech companies invested in OpenAI for a while Google quietly developed a chatbot called Bard. Of course, these new developments are not foolproof; OpenAI shut down temporarily on Monday due to reports of bugs that allowed some users to see titles of other users’ chat histories, for example.

Google started Bard as a webpage on its own rather than sourcing it off of its search engine and leads users to get more detailed information from Googling lists. Microsoft, the one of larger investors of OpenAI, added a similar chatbot to its Bing internet search engine to challenge Google. Google has dominated the “search engine” for 20 years, but Microsoft hopes to take over with Bing’s new AI chatbot.

Many other chatbots are coming into the very competitive tech world, who will be at the top of the world, we don’t know yet, but we all have been watching them as spectators or runners in that space and hope that the one with the most reliable information wins out for the betterment of society and minimization of harm.

Ozempic’s Diabetes Medicine Could Help with Weight Loss

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Leslie Park

The news these days is filled with women obsessed with taking risks to lose and maintain weight, as was the case here. Social media is blowing up with one particular brand called Ozempic, which the FDA has proved as diabetes medication. The medicine was originally approved to treat diabetes 2, chronic conditions, and obesity. Recently, it has been proven for weight loss too. Some said after they have taken this medication from their doctor’s prescription, they dropped pounds as desired and quickly.

ICYMI, Ozempic is an FDA-approved prescription medication used to treat type 2 diabetes in adults, explains Natasha Bhuyan, MD, a family medicine physician with One Medical.

It, however, also has many side effects of taking this medication, such as abdominal pains, and those with thyroid concerns shouldn’t take it. Of course, it leads to an impact on the body and face, Dr. Joshua Zeichner, an associate professor of dermatology and the director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai said.

These drug prices are cheaper in Mexico and Canada than USA as usual, and people have tried to get their medications there despite increased risk.

Ozempic is a weekly injection designed to improve blood sugar control. Its active ingredient semaglutide mimics the action of a hormone naturally found in the body that stimulates insulin release after you eat called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). The extra insulin helps lower blood sugar and prevent spikes. GLP-1 also signals fullness, helping to suppress appetite and reduce food intake.

Semaglutide, sold under the brand names Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus, is an antidiabetic medication used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and as an anti-obesity medication for weight loss management, developed by Novo Nordisk in 2012

Basically, Ozempic works by slightly elevating metabolic rate and increasing fat burning from fat cells, says Benjamin Bikman, Ph.D., a professor of cell biology and physiology at Brigham Young University who studies metabolic function and co-founder of HLTH codes, according to the Women’s Health magazine.

Before taking this Semaglutide, all things to be considered, are allergies, age, and the status of pregnancy, and if you are taking these medications, you shouldn’t take the Semaglutide as well. According to Mayo Clinic,

Chloroquine
Chlorpropamide
Ciprofloxacin
Delafloxacin
Enoxacin
Gatifloxacin
Gemifloxacin
Glimepiride
Glipizide
Gliquidone
Glyburide
Grepafloxacin
Hydroxychloroquine
Insulin
Insulin Aspart, Recombinant
Insulin Bovine
Insulin Degludec
Insulin Detemir
Insulin Glulisine
Insulin Lispro, Recombinant
Levofloxacin
Lomefloxacin
Metformin
Moxifloxacin
Nateglinide
Norfloxacin
Ofloxacin
Repaglinide
Sparfloxacin
Tolazamide
Tolbutamide
Trovafloxacin

While this is a treatment that can help many Americans, a regular diet and exercise is still one of the best ways to lose and maintain a healthy weight.

U.S. Drone MQ-9 was hit by Russian Fighter Jet Su-27

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Leslie Park

The unmanned drone, U.S. MQ-9 Reaper was hit by the Russian fighter jet Su-27 in the international airspace over international waters, at the Black Sea on Tuesday around 7 am (CET), Fox News reported. According to the U.S. defense official, one of two Su-27s flew in tandem when the collision happened in the international airspace over the Black Sea. The SU-27 landed in Crimea after the incident, and the situation of the fighter jet is unknown.

The State Department is summoning the Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov to express its “strong objections” to the intercept. “U.S. European Command and U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) issued a statement on the incident in which they reported the events leading up to the collision and admonished the Russian military for a ‘pattern of dangerous actions’ in international airspace.”

Su-27 attempted to humiliate the unmanned drone by “fuel dumping, flying in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound, and unprofessional manner” before striking the propeller of the MQ-9. The statement said, “This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional,” According to Fox News.

“Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9,” said Gen. James B. Hecker, commander, USAFE-AFAFRICA. “In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”

The U.S. MQ-9 being downed by the Russian SU-27 in international airspace is a very sensitive issue under the Russia-Ukraine war and neighboring countries.

Dr. Takeshi Kasai Fired from WHO’s Western Pacific Regional Director Position

Posted on March 8, 2023 by Leslie Park

The World Health Organization (WHO) fired one of its top officials, Dr. Takeshi Kasai (57) after the AP reported last January that dozens of staffers accused him of being racist, abusive, and exhibiting unethical behaviors that may have been problematic operation of the U.N health agency’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Associated Press.

Dr. Takeshi’s termination has been issued on Wednesday through an email to its employees after an internal investigation found his “misconduct.” It is the first kind of decision that the WHO has made. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that “This has been an unprecedented and challenging journey for all of us,” and the incoming new director will start next month.

Kasai previously denied acting in a racist, abusive, and unethical manner. The Japanese government supported Dr. Takeshi as one of the top officials to be nominated in 2019 but has not commented on the matter at this time.

According to the summary of the internal WHO investigation presented at a meeting of the agency’s executive board this week in Geneva, “Kasai regularly harassed workers in Asia, including engaging in “aggressive communication, public humiliation, and making racial comments.”

More than 30 unidentified WHO staffers have sent out their written complaints about Kasai’s misconduct after holding off for an extended period in fear of Kasai’s retaliation.

4 Americans Kidnapped in Mexico

Posted on March 6, 2023 by Leslie Park

Photo captured from CNN

Last Friday, 4 U.S. citizens driving in a car with a North Carolina license plate went missing in the border city of Mexico, Matamoros, the FBI said. The FBI has stated that this is likely kidnapping involving guns. The four had entered Matamoros across from Brownsville, Texas on Friday and were traveling in a white minivan, the photo showed.

An innocent Mexican citizen was killed in the incident, US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said in a statement on Monday. “We have no higher priority than the safety of our citizens,” Salazar said. “This is the most fundamental role of the US government. Officials from various US law enforcement agencies are working with Mexican authorities at all levels of government to achieve the safe return of our compatriots.”

The situation and identities of the 4 missing U.S. citizens are unknown at this time. CBS News reports, “One woman, walking on her own, was forced into a white pickup truck. Men armed with long guns and wearing bulletproof vests are then seen dragging one person after another into the vehicle.”

The FBI San Antonio Division office has asked for public help from anyone who has witnessed this incident or knows the whereabouts of the 4 U.S. citizens. The agency announced a reward of $50,000 for their return and the arrest of those involved.

They had traveled to the border city of Matamoros for medical procedures, CNN reports, citing receipts found in the vehicle. The US State Department has issued a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory for US citizens thinking of going to Tamaulipas, citing crime and kidnapping.

Dude Causes Metrobus Crash into Jewelry Store

Posted on March 2, 2023 by Leslie Park

On Thursday, March 2, 2023, WMATA transit police confirmed that a Metrobus crashed into a jewelry store on the weekend, caused by a man who was driving a van. He has been charged with unsafe lane change, failure to control speed to avoid a collision, improper right turn, and failure to wear corrective lens.

The event occurred at approximately 9:30 AM on Thursday morning in Wheaton.

What a crash.

Congress Wants to Block New D.C. Criminal Laws: Too Soft, They Say

Posted on February 28, 2023 by Leslie Park

On the morning of the last day of February at Columbia Heights in D.C., sirens were wailing on the 14th and Meridian Place, NW. One incident happened in the area around 11:30 p.m. on Monday night, and police were involved in a shooting. According to the DC Police Department’s Twitter, Police shot at a suspect who was said to be armed, and the suspect fled, shot, and killed himself. On its Twitter account, “Assistant Chief Parsons provides an update on the officer-involved shooting in the 1400 block of Park Road NW.” Additional information is not yet available.

Recent Criminal code reformation in DC is bringing more attention to the lawmakers in the Capitol. Mitch McConnell, the minority leader of the House said that “D.C.’s radical local government” has failed to control crime in the city. According to DCist.com, Congress blocked the bill from taking effect.

“The D.C. Council has responded to the crime wave, listen to this, with a new bill to make the city even softer on crime. It lowers maximum penalties for violent crimes and creates new ways to shorten the sentences of incarcerated felons. Well, the good news is the Constitution actually gives the Congress final say over issues in our nation’s capital,” Rep. McConnell added.

“When the soft-on-crime local government has become this completely incompetent when members of Congress cannot go about their daily lives without being attacked and families cannot come [to] visit our Capitol in safety, then it’s about time our federal government provides some adult supervision,” he added.

United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) said on February 14 about this bill,

“Carjackings have increased consecutively five years year over year. In the past three years, the number of carjackings in the District of Columbia has tripled. Homicides— 200 homicides in the past two years. And today, in February, we’re running 20 percent ahead of where we were last year in terms of the number of homicides committed here in the District of Columbia. Sexual abuse is up 82 percent, motor vehicle theft [is] up 96 percent, and property theft, in general, is up 19 percent.

I implore my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join this effort. Let’s send our resolution of disapproval to President [Joe] Biden’s desk. I can’t believe that President Biden wants to encourage more crime here in the District of Columbia. Combating crime should not be a Republican or a Democrat issue— it should be a commonsense issue, a bipartisan issue.” The House passed this resolution and it will be debated and voted on the Senate floor in early March, according to Sen. Hagerty’s office website.

Both chambers are working to block D.C. City Council from implementing the Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022 (RCCA) from taking effect, considering the laws within to be too liberal and too “dangerous.”

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