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Mysterious, Deadly Chinese Virus Officially Reaches the US

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By Dan Robitzski – Re-Blogged From Futurism
This is bad. Officials just confirmed the first case in North America.

The deadly coronavirus that’s infected hundreds, and killed at least six in China, has officially made its way to the continental United States.

Authorities have now confirmed a case of 2019-nCoV, a mysterious virus that causes flu-like symptoms, in Washington State, according to The New York Times. While there are already cases in Japan, Thailand, and South Korea, the fact that the virus has now crossed into North America is bad news for the global effort to prevent a pandemic.

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How To End White Privilege

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Brandon Tatum

Brandon Tatum doesn’t forgive you for your white privilege. How can he forgive you for something that doesn’t even exist? So, where did the notion of white privilege come from? Who does it benefit? And who does it hurt? The answers might surprise you.

Please view the VIDEO

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Agencies Seized Retiree’s Life Savings Because He Carried It in Cash

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By Joshua Paladino – Re-Blogged FromHeadline Wealth

The Drug Enforcement Administration and Transportation Security Administration stole more than $82,000 in cash from a 79-year-old retiree through civil-asset forfeiture.

Terry Rolins, with legal assistance from the Institute for Justice, filed a class action lawsuit Wednesday with the hope of reclaiming his retirement money and preventing federal agencies from further abusing their authority, IJ reported.

The lawsuit claims that the TSA overstepped its legal authority, since money does not threaten the safety of air travel, and that the TSA and DEA violated the Constitution by stealing money without probable cause.

“Flying with any amount of cash is completely legal, but once again we see government agents treating American citizens like criminals,” said IJ Senior Attorney Dan Alban..

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U.S. Supreme Court Takes up Presidential Electoral College Dispute

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As the 2020 race heats up, the Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear a dispute involving the complex U.S. presidential election system focusing on whether Electoral College electors are free to break their pledges to back the candidate who wins their state’s popular vote, an act that could upend an election.

The Supreme Court will take up appeals in two cases – from Washington state and Colorado – involving electors who decided to vote in the Electoral College process for someone other than Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 even though she won the popular vote in their states.

Rick Wilking/Reuters

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Scientists Create “Strange Metal” Packed With Entangled Electrons

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By Kristin Houser – Re-Blogged From Futurism

This could be the key to creating quantum technologies.

An international team of researchers has created what’s called a “strange metal” — and they say it could help harness the potential of the quantum world in a practical way.

Specifically, the metal provides evidence for the quantum entanglement nature of quantum criticality. But that’s a lot to unpack, so let’s start with something most of us probably learned about in elementary school: phase transitions.

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A Textbook Case of Inflation for College Students

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By Megan Zogby – Re-Blogged From Headline Wealth

As college textbook prices have increased 88 percent since 2006, education reformers wonder how universities can make books more affordable. One simple thing they could do is to stop selling textbooks with absurdly high mark-ups, the difference between the cost incurred by the bookstore for textbooks and the price at which they’re sold. While some progress has been made within the UNC system, much room for improvement remains.

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, for example, signed a contract with Barnes and Noble in 2009 to merge its university bookstore with Barnes and Noble. That conjunction promised students lower book prices, bringing down the mark-up from 23 percent to 18 percent. However, merging the bookstore has meant that students still pay higher prices than they would if they bought books from an online competitor or the book publisher. The rationale for the merger may have been affordability, but textbooks remain expensive for students who trust UNC-Charlotte’s bookstore to offer the best price.

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Tips for Saving Money on Air Travel in 2020

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By Associated Press – Re-Blogged From Headline Wealth

Summer vacation season will be here sooner than you think, making this a good time to start planning that trip and figuring out how to get the most fun and value for your dollar.

The good news for U.S. travelers is that airfares are around their lowest levels since the federal government started keeping track in 1995. The average domestic ticket price is down more than one-fourth over that time, although some of the price drop is offset by fees on everything from checked bags to aisle seats.

Last week, airlines including American, Delta and United were showing round-trip fares between the New York City area and Paris for under $300 for several dates in February and March. Part of the last week in April was available for just a few bucks more. There were deals between the West Coast and Asia for around $400.

“It’s a great time to be a traveler now,” said Matthew Ma, a co-founder of The Flight Deal. “The seats are tighter, the pitch (between rows) is much tighter, but overall it’s a lot cheaper to fly now than say 10 years ago. How long can the airlines sustain that and still make money, who knows?”

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