In its latest round of shareholder disclosures, Wells Fargo admitted that it "unnecessarily foreclosed" on 400-odd householders (that is, stole their houses) and failed to grant loan modifications to 625 qualified borrowers (this is just the latest revelation about Wells Fargo stealing houses); it's also being investigated for its practice of purchasing low-income housing credits. (via Naked Capitalism)
Wells Fargo: we stole houses and we're being investigated for dirty low-income housing credits
The DoJ allowed an oil company to hide $10 million in political donations as part of its bankruptcy filings
In early 2020, the Denver-based Extraction Oil & Gas company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, hoping to reorganize or otherwise free itself from $1.7 billion in debt. (Because making a billion dollars suddenly disappear is a privilege reserved for corporations, which are people, except when they're not.) Since 2018, Extraction had spent about $10… READ THE REST
The US government paid the Trump Organization $3 per glass of water served at a Mar-a-Lago meeting
The Washington Post reports on the receipts from a 2018 meeting at the Mar-a-Lago resort club between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Donald Trump, who also owns and runs Mar-a-Lago. In the next two days, as Trump and Abe talked about trade and North Korea, Trump's Palm Beach, Fla., club billed the… READ THE REST
Trump administration gave a $700M bailout to a $70M truck company after it allegedly defrauded the Pentagon
The Washington Post reports: The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that it will loan $700 million to a trucking firm that ships military equipment, in exchange for having U.S. taxpayers acquire an almost 30 percent stake in the company. Under the unusual arrangement, the Treasury Department will provide the emergency loan to YRC Worldwide, while taking… READ THE REST
The DeliverySafe is the ultimate foil for porch pirates and it could save your holidays
With everyone stuck in COVID quarantine for much of the year, online sales for Amazon and other retailers have gone through the roof. That means more and more packages coming right to your door, to the sheer delight of a more loathsome brand of COVID opportunist: the porch pirate. Thieves taking off with delivered packages… READ THE REST
Become a machine learning aficionado with this training bundle
In the past few days, the U.S. Air Force rolled out new tools fueled by machine learning to help stem the spread of misinformation about COVID. Additionally, the Library of Congress has launched a project on how to use machine learning to better cross-reference all 170 million items in its overflowing archives. Every day, we… READ THE REST
This portable USB charger can get an Apple Watch back to full power on the go
The Apple Watch is a great addition to any tech arsenal–until it runs out of juice, that is. Then, you have to go about the process of recharging. Of course, the Apple Watch only recharges via wireless charging, meaning it can sometimes end up being pretty inconvenient to power up, especially if you're out and… READ THE REST