Russell Simmons steps down after sexual assault allegation

Simmons, the founder of hip-hop music label Def Jam Recordings and CEO of Rush Communications, released a statement on Thursday after screenwriter Jenny Lumet accused him of forcing her to have sex with him in 1991.
Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/30/media/russell-simmons-sexual-assault-stepping-down-companies/index.html?source=Snapzu

YouTube takes down Finnish music videos as licenses run out

The world's largest online video service, YouTube, took down a big chunk of the Finnish music hosted on the platform on Thursday morning after an agreement on licensing ran out. The organisation responsible for administering copyright in the Finnish music industry, Teosto, said that a new, temporary contract was agreed on Thursday morning—but it could be days before all the videos are back up.
Read more: https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/youtube_takes_down_finnish_music_videos_as_licenses_run_out/9955587?source=Snapzu

I’m a Depression historian. The GOP tax bill is straight out of 1929.

Republicans are again sprinting toward an economic cliff.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/11/30/im-a-depression-historian-the-gop-tax-bill-is-straight-out-of-1929/?source=Snapzu

Amazon workers treated like ‘animals’ in exhausting working conditions, reporter reveals

Amazon workers are being treated like “animals,” forced to work to the point of physical collapse, it has been revealed. An undercover reporter for the Daily Mirror laid bare the working conditions at the world’s largest retailer. Daily Mirror reporter Alan Selby found that workers at the Amazon plant in Tilbury, Essex, were so tired that they “fell asleep on their feet” while working a 55-hour week.
Read more: https://www.rt.com/uk/411105-amazon-workers-conditions-retail/?source=Snapzu

Federal Reserve starting to think about its own digital currency, Dudley says

As the price of the cryptocurrency continues to soar, the Federal Reserve apparently is giving thought to having a product like bitcoin for its own. William Dudley, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said at a conference Wednesday that the Fed is exploring the idea of its own digital currency, according to reports from Dow Jones. Any product likely would be well off in the future, he said, adding that it would be "very premature" to estimate when the Fed would come up with its own offering, according to Bloomberg.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/federal-reserve-starting-to-think-about-its-own-digital-currency-dudley-says.html?source=Snapzu

Japan Inc scandals widen as Toray admits cheating

Japan’s Toray Industries Inc on Tuesday revealed 149 cases of quality data falsification at a materials-making subsidiary spanning eight years, in the latest quality-assurance scandal to hit a Japanese manufacturer.
Read more: https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-toray-scandal/japan-inc-scandals-widen-as-toray-admits-cheating-idUKKBN1DS05A?source=Snapzu

Computer glitch leaves American Airlines without any pilots for Christmas

A computer glitch has allowed all of American Airlines’ pilots to take vacation during the week of Christmas, according to ABC and Reuters. The error could leave thousands of planes grounded during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. Citing the union that represents pilots, Reuters reports that over 15,000 planes currently lack pilot assignments in December. “On Friday, management disclosed a failure within the pilot schedule bidding system,” the Allied Pilots Association said in a statement.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/29/16716152/american-airlines-computer-glitch-pilot-vacation-december?source=Snapzu

The Nintendo Switch was the hottest product on Black Friday and Cyber Monday — and it wasn't even on sale

Nintendo dominated online sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday thanks to the company's wildly popular Switch game console, Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal said in a note to clients. The Switch was the best-selling product online across all product categories among online retailers on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, according to Adobe's Digital Insights Initiatives. Nintendo offered no discounts during that time, although the console was already priced below $300.
Read more: http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/nintendo-stock-price-switch-the-hottest-product-on-black-friday-cyber-monday-without-even-being-on-sale-2017-11-1009935119?source=Snapzu

A Hospital Charged $1,877 to Pierce a 5-Year-Old’s Ears. This Is Why Health Care Costs So Much.

An epidemic of unnecessary treatment is wasting billions of health care dollars a year. Patients and taxpayers are paying for it.
Read more: https://www.propublica.org/article/a-hospital-charged-to-pierce-ears-why-health-care-costs-so-much?source=Snapzu

HP Quietly Installs System-Slowing Spyware On Its PCs, Users Say

It hasn't been long since Lenovo settled a massive $3.5 million fine for preinstalling adware on laptops without users' consent, and it appears HP is on to the same route already. According to numerous reports gathered by news outlet Computer World, the brand is deploying a telemetry client on customer computers without asking permission. The software, called "HP Touchpoint Analytics Service", appears to replace the self-managed HP Touchpoint Manager solution. To make matter worse, the suite seems to be slowing down PCs, users say.
Read more: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3238512/microsoft-windows/hp-stealthily-installs-new-spyware-called-hp-touchpoint-analytics-client.html?source=Snapzu

Report: Wells Fargo Bankers Inflated Fees, Got Bonuses

Wells Fargo bankers overcharged hundreds of corporate clients in order to meet their sales goals, the Wall Street Journal reports. Those bankers, most of whom performed international transactions for corporations, allegedly inflated clients' fees, tacking on millions of dollars in extra charges. The bankers were allegedly driven by Wells Fargo's employee rewards system, which gave sizable bonuses to bankers who exceeded their sales goals.
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/report-wells-fargo-bankers-inflated-fees-got-bonuses?source=Snapzu

World's largest bitcoin exchange, bitFlyer, enters the US

BitFlyer, based in Tokyo, announced Tuesday it became the fourth digital currency exchange to receive a "BitLicense" to operate in New York.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/28/worlds-largest-bitcoin-exchange-bitflyer-enters-the-us.html?source=Snapzu

Internet should be open and free, and not cannibalised, says TRAI chairman R.S. Sharma

Trai issued the much-awaited recommendations on net neutrality and has sought to bar telecom service providers from any discriminatory practice on Internet access. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman R.S. Sharma called for Internet, an important platform for India, being kept open and free, and not cannibalised. “No one owns Internet... so, it should be open and accessible to everyone,” Mr. Sharma said, suggesting that service providers should not indulge in gate-keeping of this important platform.
Read more: http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/internet-an-important-platform-should-be-open-and-free-r-s-sharma/article21039915.ece?homepage=true?source=Snapzu

Radioactive playing cards found in Berlin

Police say players could wear a hidden detector to help them detect certain cards and cheat.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42157129?source=Snapzu

Comcast hints at plan for paid fast lanes after net neutrality repeal

Comcast still won't block or throttle—but paid prioritization may be on the way. By Jon Brodkin.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/11/comcast-quietly-drops-promise-not-to-charge-tolls-for-internet-fast-lanes/?source=Snapzu

U.S. judge says Uber withheld evidence, gives Waymo time to investigate

Uber Technologies Inc withheld evidence in a high-profile lawsuit filed by Alphabet Inc's Waymo, a U.S. judge said on Tuesday, dealing a new blow to the most valuable U.S. private company as it tries to complete a multibillion-dollar stock sale.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-alphabet-uber-ruling/u-s-judge-says-uber-withheld-evidence-gives-waymo-time-to-investigate-idUSKBN1DS26X?source=Snapzu

'I am not buying things': why some people see 'dumpster diving' as the ethical way to eat

Young people are taking to bins to protest food waste.
Read more: https://theconversation.com/i-am-not-buying-things-why-some-people-see-dumpster-diving-as-the-ethical-way-to-eat-86536?source=Snapzu

Legalization a boon to more than just marijuana markets

Legalization of marijuana in eight states ­— including Nevada — in last year’s election has opened the floodgates for pot businesses to make money. That’s according to more than a dozen business owners whose products are both directly marketed at buyers in the pot sector, and in similar industries such as farming and plant cultivation. “Let’s put it like this: A rising tide takes all ships,” said Stuart Titus, CEO of San Diego-based General Hemp. “It’s incredible to see the growth in the industry.”
Read more: https://lasvegassun.com/news/2017/nov/27/legalization-a-boon-to-more-than-just-marijuana-ma/?source=Snapzu

Meredith Corp. to buy Time Inc. for upward of $2.8 billion

Time Inc., the steward of some of the country’s most circulated and storied magazine brands, will be sold to the lifestyle-magazine publisher Meredith Corp., the companies announced Sunday. Meredith will pay $18.50 per share in the all-cash deal for a company that counts such titles as Time, Sports Illustrated and People in its portfolio, putting the price tag at about $1.85 billion. Of that sum, the conservative activists Charles and David Koch will contribute $650 million via their private-equity firm Koch Equity Development, putting an iconic magazine company in the hands of some of the country’s biggest Republican donors.
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2017/11/27/meredith-corp-time-inc-purchase/?source=Snapzu

The lithium market and a new perspective of development

Since the Spanish colonial era, Bolivia has been an extractive enclave for the global mining sector. Bolivia is rich in natural resources, but it has had a paradoxical history of unequal economic growth and social paralysis, where its large share of indigenous population has remained impoverished. However, the same region where the Spanish Crown found a source of immense wealth, contains probably the largest reserves of lithium, a precious metal for today’s production of batteries.
Read more: https://medium.com/@juanse.munoz/the-lithium-market-and-a-new-perspective-of-development-1bf69dadfdaf?source=Snapzu

Unilever Acquires U.S. Personal-Care Company Sundial Brands

Unilever, the maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, is acquiring Sundial Brands to expand its offering of hair- and skin-care products aimed at black women.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-27/unilever-acquires-u-s-personal-care-company-sundial-brands?source=Snapzu

EU settles dispute over major weedkiller

The EU will renew glyphosate's licence for five years, despite some health concerns.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42135437?source=Snapzu

Amazon Workers Go On Strike Just As CEO Jeff Bezos’ Net Worth Reaches $100 Billion

On one of the busiest online shopping days of the year, Black Friday, thousands of Amazon employees decided it was also a good day to walk off the job. Warehouse workers in several distribution centers in Germany and Italy took the day off to demand higher wages and better treatment. In sharp contrast, on the same day, the net worth of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos hovered around $100 billion, easily making him the wealthiest person on the planet.
Read more: https://www.inquisitr.com/4644486/amazon-workers-go-on-strike-just-as-ceo-jeff-bezos-net-worth-reaches-100-billion/?source=Snapzu

Why Disney Is Expecting To Lose A Lot Of Money On Hulu Next Year

Hulu might be winning big with original series' like The Handmaid's Tale, but other facets of the subscription service still require a little T.L.C. until they get some legs. The "C", in this instance at least, is cash. Disney reports they're expecting around $100 million in losses in the next fiscal year due to the launch of Hulu Live. Apparently, putting live television on a streaming service is not cheap!
Read more: https://www.cinemablend.com/television/1730000/why-disney-is-expecting-to-lose-a-lot-of-money-on-hulu-next-year?source=Snapzu

‘Organic’ eggs don’t require chickens to have open-air pens, USDA says

Strolling through a flock of free-roaming rust-colored hens, Christopher Nichols admits that no one truly knows whether his chickens are happier because they can strut around and wander outside. But consumers are happier, and that matters a lot to the third-generation egg farmer and a slew of other egg producers who charge a premium price for eggs bearing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s organic certification, which governs not only what hens eat, but nearly everything about how they live their lives.
Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/organic-eggs-dont-require-chickens-to-have-open-air-pens-usda-says/?source=Snapzu

Marvel Studios surpasses $2.5 billion at the global box office in 2017

Marvel Studios has a couple billion reasons to be thankful this year. The studio has now earned over $2.5 billion at the worldwide box office in 2017. The studio broke its own annual record from 2015 ($1.93B) weeks ago and everything else has just been gravy. This is the first year in which Marvel Studios has released three films, but all that’s been overextended are moviegoers’ wallets. Thor: Ragnarok now stands at $759.3M midway through the holiday weekend. It should eclipse $800M before too long, joining its to Marvel Cinematic Universe predecessors in 2017.
Read more: https://marvelstudiosnews.com/2017/11/25/marvel-studios-surpasses-2-5-billion-global-box-office-2017/?source=Snapzu

Uber's Merger With Russia's Largest Tech Company Has Been Approved

The Russian government has approved the merger of Uber and Yandex, the country’s largest technology company and most popular search engine. As a part of the deal, the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company will invest $225 million into the “Google of Russia,” while Yandex will take 59.3 % ownership of a jointly-held company through a $100 million investment, reports Reuters.
Read more: http://fortune.com/2017/11/24/uber-merger-yandex-russia-antitrust-approved/?source=Snapzu

Where unsellable wine goes to die and become fuel for your car’s gas tank

In the wine industry, when your product outweighs your demand, there are few ways to legally dispose of it. By John Capone.
Read more: https://qz.com/1135119/where-unsellable-wine-goes-to-die-and-become-fuel-for-your-cars-gas-tank/?source=Snapzu

The Trouble with Big Science

Jim Kozubek on the potential problems of profiteering in biotech.
Read more: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/trouble-big-science/#!?source=Snapzu

Firms ditch YouTube ads over predatory comments on videos of children

Big brands are pulling advertising from YouTube and Google after their ads were found to be displayed against content being exploited by paedophiles. Despite YouTube promising to take an “even more aggressive stance” against predatory behaviour, the confectionery giants Mars and Cadbury, the supermarket Lidl, Deutsche Bank and Adidas have led a wave of brands removing advertising from YouTube.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/24/youtube-aggressive-action-predatory-comments-videos-children?source=Snapzu

The Climate Crisis? It’s Capitalism, Stupid

The work of saving the planet is not technical, it’s political. By Benjamin Y. Fong.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/20/opinion/climate-capitalism-crisis.html?referer=?source=Snapzu

The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective

Is there someone, sitting in a comfortable chair somewhere, flipping a coin from time to time, deciding what happens in the world? By Puzhong Yao.
Read more: https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2017/11/western-elite-chinese-perspective/?source=Snapzu

Permissionless data slurping: Why Google’s latest bombshell matters

Are you in control? By Andrew Orlowski.
Read more: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/11/22/permissionless_data_slurping_google/?source=Snapzu

The internet already lost its neutrality

Even in the era of "net neutrality" powerful corporations controlled internet content. By Megan Mcardle.
Read more: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2017/11/23/commentary/world-commentary/internet-already-lost-neutrality/#.WhnNEGKIbDs?source=Snapzu

Death by Derivatives

The opening of a canal in 1848 led to the birth of modern financial derivatives, and the early demise of some of the men who traded them. By Michael Durbin.
Read more: https://www.damninteresting.com/death-by-derivatives/?source=Snapzu

The Secret Feminist History of Brown Paper Bags

Tracing the connection between a ubiquitous paper product and the women’s liberation moment
Read more: https://www.eater.com/2017/11/15/16527598/feminist-history-of-paper-bags?source=Snapzu

Workers who hid messages in Zara clothes say they still haven't been paid

Workers who stuffed pleas into pockets of clothing sold at Zara say they still haven’t been paid despite promises of compensation. It was more than a job to them. "We were a family" is what many of the Turkish textile workers who helped make clothes for international fashion brands told CBC News this week. "We felt safe," Bahar Ugur, 26, said. "It was a big deal to work for them." Ugur and eight of her former co-workers, who were all employees of Bravo Tekstil, are huddled around a cafe table on this chilly November night in Istanbul, under a cloud of cigarette smoke.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/business/zara-inditex-workers-still-unpaid-1.4414831?source=Snapzu

The UK has officially fallen out of the world's top five economies

The UK appears to have officially lost its coveted spot on the list of the world’s five largest economies. During Wednesday’s Budget, Philip Hammond, in a series of statements aimed at highlighting the strength and health of the British economy, admitted that the country has slipped to sixth spot, trailing France. The other four countries that make up the leaderboard are the US, China, Japan and Germany.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/uk-world-top-five-economy-philip-hammond-budget-economic-forecast-brexit-eu-withdrawal-a8071046.html?source=Snapzu

Uber hit with 2 lawsuits over gigantic 2016 data breach

In the 48 hours since the explosive revelations that Uber sustained a massive data breach in 2016, two separate proposed class-action lawsuits have been filed in different federal courts across California. The cases allege substantial negligence on Uber’s part: plaintiffs say the company failed to keep safe the data of the affected 50 million customers and 7 million drivers. Uber reportedly paid $100,000 to delete the stolen data and keep news of the breach quiet.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/11/uber-hit-with-2-lawsuits-over-gigantic-2016-data-breach/?source=Snapzu

Broadband ads will be forced to ditch 'misleading' speeds

Broadband firms will no longer be able to advertise their fast net services based on the speeds just a few customers get, from May next year. Currently ISPs are allowed to use headline speeds that only 10% of customers will actually receive. In future, adverts must be based on what is available to at least half of customers at peak times.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42079941?source=Snapzu

Apple offices raided ahead of launch of iPhone X in South Korea

South Korean authorities have raided Apple’s offices in Seoul as it prepares to launch the iPhone X. Metro.co.uk has learned that investigators visited Apple’s HQ earlier this week to ask questions about its business practices ahead of the launch of the smartphone tomorrow. The raid is likely to raise questions about whether South Korean authorities are trying to hamper the success of the X, which has sold out across the world.
Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2017/11/23/apple-offices-raided-ahead-of-launch-of-iphone-x-in-south-korea-7102490/?source=Snapzu

Jeff Bezos’s Net Worth Just Broke $100 Billion

Jeff Bezos is the world’s newest $100 billion mogul.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-24/jeff-bezos-fortune-hits-100-billion-on-black-friday-stock-surge?source=Snapzu

FCC explains why public support for net neutrality won’t stop repeal

Americans who support net neutrality find that their voices don’t count for much. By Jon Brodkin.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/11/why-the-fcc-ignored-public-opinion-in-its-push-to-kill-net-neutrality/?source=Snapzu

Uber’s problem: a culture of dishonesty

There are numerous examples of a deceitful culture at Uber and more examples keep coming out. By Leonid Bershidsky.
Read more: https://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/apps/99158038/ubers-problem-a-a-culture-of-dishonesty?source=Snapzu

Why the Government is Right to Block the AT&T-Time Warner Merger

Despite what Randall Stephenson thinks, the Department of Justice’s suit blocking AT&T from acquiring Time Warner’s assets in an $85 billion merger is a great moment for antitrust in America. It’s late, but it’s welcome. Stephenson, the AT&T CEO, has no one but himself to blame. He and his minions effectively tanked their own plans to merge their company—the largest major pay-TV provider in the country and the second-largest wireless carrier...
Read more: https://www.wired.com/story/why-the-government-is-right-to-block-the-atandt-time-warner-merger/?source=Snapzu

Who are the Real-life Models of “Silicon Valley” Characters? We Have Them.

Uncanny Silicon Valley The absolutely definitive, supremely authoritative, person-to-person mapping of “Silicon Valley” characters to real tech world personalities. When we say that a television show is “realistic,” what do we mean?
Read more: https://www.wired.com/2016/06/who-are-the-real-life-models-of-silicon-valley-characters-we-have-them/?source=Snapzu

Verizon argues throttling video is allowed under net neutrality rules

Last week, Verizon was caught and subsequently admitted to throttling all video traffic on its network. And today, the company is finally addressing the potential net neutrality issue. In a statement to Broadcasting & Cable, Verizon said that its actions represented “reasonable network management,” which is an exception carved out under the 2015 net neutrality rules. "Video optimization is a non-discriminatory network management practice designed to ensure a high quality customer experience for all customers accessing the shared resources of our wireless network,” a spokesperson said.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/25/16025520/verizon-says-video-throttling-allowed-under-net-neutrality?source=Snapzu

FTC reviews TripAdvisor's business practices as more travelers say warnings of rapes, injuries were blocked

Dawn Allison didn’t know when she went to the ladies’ room at Rams Head Tavern south of Baltimore that just two days earlier a woman had found a hidden camera on the floor near the toilet and gave it to police. Allison and her family had been to the restaurant several times, celebrating Mother’s Day and other family occasions. She never dreamed anybody would be spying on her while she was using the bathroom.
Read more: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/investigations/2017/11/21/more-travelers-say-tripadvisor-blocked-warnings-rape-blackouts-and-other-injuries-hotels-around-worl/884167001/?source=Snapzu

Mexico to raise minimum wage...to $4.70 a day

Mexican officials and business leaders agreed to increase the country's minimum wage to 88.36 pesos a day, or about $4.70.
Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/22/news/economy/mexico-minimum-wage/index.html?source=Snapzu

Democrats May Deny It, But This Bill Is A Handout To Payday Lenders

Gwen Moore is pushing legislation to undermine state consumer protection laws. By Zach Carter.
Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gwen-moore-payday-lenders_us_5a0c9300e4b0b17ffce214ff?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004?source=Snapzu