Conn. Gov. Acts, Hoverboards Grounded
Friday, December 11, 2015
Vol. 4, No. 345
Gunbeat: In a state where a mass murderer killed 20 school children, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said he’s signing an executive order barring anyone on the terrorism watch list from buying a gun in his state.
Incredibly, it’s legal all over the country.
Malloy, a Democrat, said, “Like all Americans, I have been horrified by the recent terrorist attacks in San Bernardino and Paris. This should be a wake-up call to all of us. This is a moment to seize in America — and today I’m here to say that we in Connecticut are seizing it.”
President Obama has asked Congress to enact a national law that would do the same as Malloy’s order.
The Middle: The shrinking American middle class is no longer the majority of Americans, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center. In early 2015 there were 120.8 million adults in middle-income households, compared with 121.3 million in the combined low and and upper-income households.
Pew says, “Fully 49% of US aggregate income went to upper-income households in 2014, up from 29% in 1970.”
The Report’s Chief economist Mark Nussbaum tells us that the decline of the middle class is fed by tax policies that favor the rich and money-lending classes over the poor and borrowing classes of America. He says this feeds “the anger being expressed by so many different groups of people, who are justifiably upset at the disparate treatment which they see manifested in their interactions with the authorities charged with maintaining the status quo. This is not only the police, but their banks, their credit card companies, employers like Walmart, educational institutions, and of course, post-2007; Wall Street.”
Homeland: FBI divers were searching a lake in San Bernardino, Calif. yesterday, searching for a hard drive that may have been dumped by the two shooters in last week’s massacre. The FBI says Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik were seen in the area before their assault. The lake is about 2 ½ miles north of the social services building where the attack occurred.
The Biz Page: Industrial giants Dow Chemical and DuPont have agreed to merge. The new company would be called DowDuPont. As is usually the case on big mergers, thousands of people are likely to lose their jobs.
China Syndrome: One of China’s richest businessmen has gone missing. Guo Guangchang who runs Fosun, has been described as the Chinese Warren Buffett. Guo may have been picked up by the police.
BBC Asia Business correspondent Karishma Vaswani writes that, “he wouldn’t be the first high-profile executive in China’s financial sector to have gone missing in recent weeks. There is speculation that this is part of the wider anti-corruption campaign that Beijing launched to clean up various pillars of China’s economy – which now includes the financial sector.”
No-Fly List: Three major airlines announced that they are banning passengers from bringing hoverboards on their planes, citing incidents of exploding lithium ion batteries. Delta, American, and United won’t let you bring your hoverboard home for Christmas.
The two-wheeled gyroscopic gizmos are the Beanie Babies of the year, but they present dangers beyond broken elbows. The boards have had so many battery fires and explosions that the National Association of State Fire Marshals issued a hazard warning.
It’s not just the airlines. The fun police have been after hoverboards as well. They’re illegal on NY City sidewalks. And the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is taking a look at the safety of hoverboards. That’s the FBI of fun police.
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