Monarchy definition government

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The U.S. government is back into cryptocurrency trading. According to a memo filed Friday in the Southern District of New York, on March 14th the U.S. sold 9,861.1707894 of the 50,000 of bitcoin bitcoin it seized in the case of a hack of the Silk Road marketplace. The government raked in $215.5 million after transaction fees. The per-coin sale price of about $21,877 was $2,000 less than the going rate on that particular day. The sale didn’t appear to impact bitcoin’s price, which gained 2.43% the day of the transaction. Bitcoin’s value currently sits at around $28,000, so maybe the government could have timed the market a little better. Twitter had a bit of fun at the government’s paying $215,000 in transaction fees — about 0.1% of the total amount sold. It seems traders for the U.S. could learn a thing or two from the crypto community about minimizing costs. For example, Gemini, the crypto exchange run by the … [Read more...] about U.S. Government Sells Bitcoin Seized From Silk Road Case, Netting Over $215 Million

Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit is letting go of almost its entire work force with the satellite launch company finding it difficult to secure funding three months after a failed mission. The company, headquartered in Long Beach, California, will cut 675 jobs, about 85% of its workforce, according to a Friday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Earlier this month Virgin Orbit said that it was pausing all operations amid reports of possible job cuts. At the time the company confirmed that it was putting all work on hold, but didn’t say for how long. In January, a mission by Virgin Orbit to launch the first satellites into orbit from Europe failed after a rocket’s upper stage prematurely shut down. It was a setback in the United Kingdom which had hoped that the launch from Cornwall in southwest England would mark the beginning of more commercial opportunities for the U.K. space industry. The company said in February that an investigation … [Read more...] about Virgin Orbit collapse: Mass layoffs at Richard Branson’s satellite launch company after failed mission

After an early morning police raid, Chinese Christian refugees in Thailand now face imminent deportation back to China and persecution, human rights advocates told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Thai police are allegedly transporting the 63 members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church, also known as the Mayflower Church, to Bangkok to be repatriated to the People’s Republic of China, Deana Brown , 68, founder of Freedom Seekers International, told the DCNF while in Thai custody. Along with church members, Thai police also arrested and confiscated the passports of Brown and fellow Texan, Stacy Nichols, 51, who’d both just arrived in Patayya, Thailand, for a week-long visit with the congregation on Thursday, Brown said. In October 2019, the Mayflower Church, led by Pastor Pan Yongguang, fled religious persecution at the hands of the CCP. After a vote, the church decided to resettle in Jeju Island, South Korea, where a travel visa would not be required for Chinese citizens, … [Read more...] about Over 60 Christian Dissidents Detained In Thailand Facing Imprisonment, Torture If Deported To China

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline A federal judge in Texas struck down a provision of the Affordable Care Act that required coverage for a range of preventive services—including for cancer screenings, medications and more—ruling the task force members tasked with enforcing those preventive services were unlawfully appointed. Key Facts U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled preventive care recommendations made by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force do not have to be complied with, and blocked the federal government from enforcing the task force’s recommendations. The task force issues recommendations for preventive care services that insurers are then forced to cover, as dictated by the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, meaning the ruling means insurance companies will no longer be bound to cover the preventive services affected. Among the preventive services affected by O’Connor’s order are screenings for breast … [Read more...] about Judge Strikes Down Required Coverage Of Preventive Care—Cancer Screenings, Pregnancy, Medications And More

While still CEO of now-collapsed FTX, Bankman-Fried transferred millions of dollars to his father. Some of those funds have since been used to pay for his mounting legal fees, according to two sources close to the company. By Sarah Emerson and Steven Ehrlich S am Bankman-Fried, founder of fallen cryptocurrency exchange FTX who claimed to have just $100,000 in his bank account last November, is preparing for trial in October backed by a roster of powerful attorneys. But it has remained unclear, until now, how the former billionaire would afford his pricey defense. Forbes has learned that Bankman-Fried has been paying legal fees from a multi-million dollar gift he gave his father with money borrowed from FTX’s sister company. In 2021, while CEO of FTX, Bankman-Fried made a large monetary gift to his father, Stanford Law professor Joseph Bankman, two sources with operational knowledge of both companies told Forbes . It was funded by a loan from the … [Read more...] about Sam Bankman-Fried’s Legal Defense Is Being Funded With Alameda Money He Gifted His Father

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline The Federal Reserve and Treasury Department fined Wells Fargo $97.8 million on Thursday for allowing a foreign bank to make hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions that were prohibited under U.S. sanctions laws, the latest multi-million-dollar penalty from regulators to hit Wells Fargo in recent years. Key Facts Wells Fargo is accused of allowing an unnamed foreign bank to process $532 million worth of prohibited transactions on its Eximbills financial platform from 2010 to 2015, the Federal Reserve Board said in an announcement. The bank kicked the foreign client off its platform in 2015 and reported the issue to the Fed and the Treasury, according to a filing from U.S. regulators. The Treasury says the bank—which agreed to a settlement with the federal government—violated sanctions against Iran, Syria and Sudan. The Federal Reserve fined the bank $67.8 million, and the Treasury … [Read more...] about U.S. Fines Wells Fargo Nearly $100 Million For Sanctions Violations

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) launched a personal attack against President Joe Biden on Thursday, as negotiations between the White House and GOP lawmakers surrounding two high-stakes fiscal issues—the debt ceiling and the federal budget—are deadlocked. Key Facts McCarthy offered Thursday to meet with Biden “tonight” to discuss increasing the U.S.’ federal borrowing limit, offering to bring “soft foods” to a White House lunch if Biden would agree to a sit-down, in what appears to be a ham-fisted attempt to ridicule the president about his age. (At 80, Biden is the oldest president in history.) The offer is a non-starter, however, as the White House has repeatedly called on Congress to pass a debt ceiling increase with no strings attached and said it will not negotiate with Republicans on increasing the borrowing limit, which the federal government is expected to reach some time in late summer. … [Read more...] about McCarthy Mocks Biden Amid Debt Ceiling Standoff—Offering To Bring ‘Soft Foods’ To Negotiating Table

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin In a way, tomorrow afternoon’s $1-million Florida Derby matters less to its heavy favorite Forte and to his storied Texan trainer Todd Pletcher than it does to the rest of the surprisingly beefy 12-horse field and their connections, some of whom are straining so hard to get up and over the points fence to gain an invite to the Kentucky Derby that we can almost hear their tack snapping apart. A signature, but nevertheless shocking, stat: With 90 Derby points going into tomorrow’s feature at Gulfstream, Forte carries almost double the number of points held by the rest of the field combined. His nearest competitor in this race in Derby points — Cyclone Mischief, currently the fourth-favorite at 8-1 in the morning line — has just fifteen. True, Derby points can be deceptive — as can be all curlicues of past performance, pedigree and current training status in handicapping — but as a general metric for the maturity and appetite of … [Read more...] about The 2023 Florida Derby: Nobody Can Take ‘Sure Thing’ Forte Down — Can They?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin By Rachel Leland, Next Avenue As aging World War II veteran Johnnie Ray Toland started showing signs of Alzheimer's, his family began searching for an assisted living home to care for him. Staff members at one home introduced the family to Tammi Palasini. Palasini, who would later be sentenced to 20 years behind bars for various crimes, including fraud, convinced the Toland family to give her control of $340,000 of their funds. Aid and Assistance Scam In what is known as an "aid and assistance scam," Palasini falsely promised the Toland family that she would help diversify their father's assets to get beneath the threshold to qualify for VA benefits and earn a return on their investment. It wasn't until after Toland's death three years later that the family learned Palasini was a scam artist who had victimized them and their father. On the same day as Toland's funeral, a postal inspector contacted … [Read more...] about How Older Veterans Can Protect Themselves From Scam Artists

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin By Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Next Avenue Social Security's Earnings Test tops my list for our government's most senseless and personally financially destructive policy. The Earnings Test is a massive tax that isn't. It's a tax that's levied and then secretly returned making no money on balance for the government (as measured on an actuarial present value basis). Its sole purpose is to con Social Security beneficiaries below age 67 into thinking that earning money beyond a di minimis amount will come at a huge loss in current net income as well as lifetime benefits. Here's how Social Security describes the Earnings Test. This text appeared in a letter I received in December, 2022. The letter, which announced the system's 2023 COLA (Cost-of-Living Adjustment) was, I presume, sent to each of Social Security's 70 million beneficiaries: Working and Getting Social Security at the Same Time You can work and … [Read more...] about The Social Security Earnings Test Should Be Eliminated