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White Gold Corp. Announces $4.5 Million Private PlacementTrump Assembles Economic Dream Team: Key Appointments Announced

Ancient Roman home — and luxurious decorations — uncovered in France. See elite findsNone

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Want to earn some cold hard cash this winter? The NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is looking for a few snow-loving New Yorkers who enjoy the great outdoors, heavy lifting and making extra cash. Recruitment is now underway for emergency snow shovelers to work the 2024-2025 winter season to help DSNY workers keep streets clear of the white fluffy stuff. Emergency snow shovelers are per-day workers who remove snow and ice from bus stops, crosswalks, fire hydrants and step streets after heavy snowfalls. Shovelers are paid $18.54 an hour to start and $27.81 an hour in overtime each week. Applicants must be at least 18 years old, eligible to work in the United States and capable of lifting lots of heavy snow. Anyone interested in applying must register for an application appointment online at nyc.gov/snow . The appointments take place at DSNY garages located in 59 sanitation districts throughout the five boroughs . The department is asking applicants to bring two small photos, an original and copy of two forms of ID, and their Social Security card to their appointments . Will NYC be a winter wonderland? NYC has so far remained snow-free , even as New York State was buried in nearly five feet of snow in some regions last week. In 2023, NYC saw a measly 2.3 inches of snow–the least amount of the cold white precipitation since record-keeping in the city began, according to NBC New York . But with temperatures expected to dip below freezing in the Big Apple before the official first day of winter on Dec. 21, snow shovelers could be in for some busy working days this year.As Americans are beyond burned out, Tricia Hersey’s Nap Ministry preaches the right to restDiddy uses Donald Trump's criminal case in bail argument

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Allowing two kickoff return touchdowns and missing an extra point all in the final few minutes added up to the Washington Commanders losing a third consecutive game in excruciating fashion. The underlying reason for this slide continuing was a problem long before that. An offense led by dynamic rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels that was among the NFL's best for a long stretch of the season put up just nine points and 169 yards for the first three-plus quarters against Dallas before falling behind 20-9 and teeing off on the Cowboys' conservative defense. “We just couldn’t really get it going,” said receiver Terry McLaurin , whose lengthy touchdown with 21 seconds left masked that he had just three catches for 16 yards through three quarters. “We’ve got to find a way to start faster and sustain drives, and that’s everybody: the whole coaching staff and the offensive players just going out there and figuring out ways that we can stay on the field.” This is not a new problem for Washington, which had a season-low 242 yards in a Nov. 10 home loss to Pittsburgh and 264 yards four days later in a defeat at Philadelphia. Since returning from a rib injury that knocked him out of a game last month, Daniels has completed just under 61% of his passes, after 75.6% over his first seven professional starts. Daniels and coach Dan Quinn have insisted this isn't about injury. The coaching staff blamed a lack of adequate practice time, but a full week of it before facing the Cowboys did not solve the problem. It is now fair to wonder if opponents have seen enough film of offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury's system to figure it out. “I think teams and coordinators are going to see what other teams have success against us and try to figure out how they could incorporate that into their scheme," Daniels said after going 12 of 22 for 80 yards passing through three quarters in the Dallas game. "We’ve been in third and longer a lot these past couple games, so that’s kind of where you get into the exotic pressures and stuff like that. We’ve just got to be better on first and second downs and stay ahead of the chains.” Daniels has a point there, and it predates this losing streak. The Commanders have converted just 36% of third-down opportunities (27 for 75) over their past seven games after 52% (31 for 60) in their first five. That challenge doesn't get any easier with Tennessee coming to town Sunday. The Titans, despite being 3-8, have the second-best third-down defense in the league at 31.6%. What’s working The defense kept the Commanders in the game against Dallas, allowing just 10 points until the fourth quarter and 20 total before kickoff return touchdowns piled on to the other side of the scoreboard. Even Cooper Rush's 22-yard touchdown pass to Luke Schoonmaker with five minutes left came after a turnover that gave the Cowboys the ball at the Washington 44. The defense spending more than 35 minutes on the field certainly contributed to fatigue as play wore on. What needs help The running game that contributed to a 7-2 start has taken a hit, in part because of injuries to top back Brian Robinson Jr. The Commanders got 145 yards on the ground because Daniels had 74 on seven carries, but running backs combined for just 57. Daniels could not say how much the rushing attack stalling has contributed to the offense going stagnant. “You’ve got to be able to run the ball, keep the defense honest,” he said. "We got to execute the plays that are called in, and we didn’t do a good job of doing that.” Stock up Linebacker Frankie Luvu keeps making the case to be first-year general manager Adam Peters' best free agent signing. He and fellow offseason addition Bobby Wagner tied for a team-high eight tackles, and Luvu also knocked down three passes against Dallas. Stock down Kicker Austin Seibert going wide left on the point-after attempt that would have tied the score with 21 seconds left was his third miss of the game. He also was short on a 51-yard field goal attempt and wide left on an earlier extra point. Seibert, signed a week into the season after Cade York struggled in the opener, made 25 of 27 field goal tries and was 22 of 22 on extra points before injuring his right hip and missing the previous two games. He brushed off his health and the low snap from Tyler Ott while taking responsibility for not connecting. “I made the decision to play, and here we are,” Seibert said. “I just wasn’t striking it well. But it means a lot to me to be here with these guys, so I just want to put my best foot moving forward.” Injuries Robinson's sprained ankle and fellow running back Austin Ekeler's concussion from a late kickoff return that led to him being hospitalized for further evaluation are two major immediate concerns. Quinn said Monday that Ekeler and starting right tackle Andrew Wylie are in concussion protocol. It's unclear if Robinson will be available against Tennessee, which could mean Chris Rodriguez Jr. getting elevated from the practice squad to split carries with Jeremy McNichols. The Commanders still have not gotten cornerback Marshon Lattimore into a game since acquiring him at the trade deadline from New Orleans. Lattimore is trying to return from a hamstring injury, and the secondary could use him against Calvin Ridley, who's coming off a 93-yard performance at Houston. Key number 17 — Handoffs to a running back against Dallas, a significant decrease from much of the season before this losing streak. Next steps Don't overlook the Titans with the late bye week coming immediately afterward. The Commanders opened as more than a touchdown favorite, but after the results over the weekend, BetMGM Sportsbook had it as 5 1/2 points Monday. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflAs Americans are beyond burned out, Tricia Hersey’s Nap Ministry preaches the right to restNone

Jayden Daniels and the offense stalling have the Commanders on a three-game losing streakBello's 20 lead Purdue Fort Wayne past Drexel 87-81Scottie Scheffler has new putting grip and trails Cameron Young by 3 in Bahamas

What is the Federal Reserve for, exactly, besides bailouts?

Sir Nick Clegg has warned that Elon Musk risks becoming a “political puppet master” in the United States in a renewed attack on the billionaire businessman. The former UK deputy prime minister, who is second-in-command at Meta, said the Tesla chief executive and X owner had played an “an outsized role” in the US election and in the formation of the new Donald Trump administration. Musk, 53, donated $118 million towards the re-election of Trump and used his social media platform to get behind the Republicans. When asked whether the world’s richest man was a threat to democracy, Clegg told the BBC: “I think Elon Musk is obviously playing an outsized role in both the election and now the formation of the new US administration.

Jayden Daniels and the offense stalling have the Commanders on a three-game losing streakFormer President delivered the keynote address at the 2024 Obama Democracy Forum on Thursday night in Chicago. This year’s theme was “pluralism.” In classic Obama style, he illustrated the concept with homey examples like a church and a mosque agreeing to share a parking lot. The kind of “pluralism” that seemed to most interest him, though, was that of divergent political factions that can “form coalitions, compete for support and elect representatives who will then go and negotiate and compromise and hopefully advance our interests.” He studiously avoided saying the name of the president-elect, but the presence of hung over the whole event like a particularly grotesque balloon at a . Obama’s remarks celebrating the way flourishing liberal democracies are supposed to work, in the context of , are a vivid reminder that in the United States of America today, the machinery isn’t exactly humming along in perfect order. Obama’s characteristic rhetorical virtues were on full display. He was a constitutional law professor before he was a politician, and he still sounds like one. At the same time, he was a once-in-a-generation talent as a political communicator. He knows how to convey a complex set of ideas in a digestible and appealing way. But there was a massive gaping hole at the center of his speech. He still doesn’t understand why his eight years in power culminated in the rise of Trump. Despite his considerable talents, his brand of centrist liberalism is fundamentally inadequate to the historical moment in which he now finds himself. And his speech in Chicago offered nothing but more of the same. In Obama's telling of the story of America’s experiment in political pluralism, the system worked pretty smoothly in the 20th century, but all wasn’t well beneath the surface. “Democracy,” he said, “was built on top of a deeply entrenched caste system — formal and informal, based on race and gender and class and sexual orientation.” One at a time, various marginalized and underrepresented groups got a “seat at the table.” When this happened, pluralism became far more difficult, because the political conflicts exposed by this enriching of our democracy went deeper than the old “fights about roads and taxes.” But if pluralism is now more challenging, he suggested, it’s therefore become that much more urgent. The word “inequality” appeared exactly twice in the nearly 5,000 words of Obama’s speech. One reference was too vague for it to be clear who exactly was “unequal” to whom. The other specified that he was thinking of the inequalities between “urban” and “rural” populations and “knowledge workers” and those who work with their hands. These are certainly real forms of economic imbalance. But the income gap between an office worker in a city and a rural manual laborer is a rounding error on the scale of the inequality between any of these people and, say, Capital One CEO Richard Fairbank, whose annual salary is in the tens of millions, and whose net worth seems to hover over a billion. To put that number in perspective, if we imagine an immortal vampire crossing the ocean with Christopher Columbus in 1492 and somehow earning the exact equivalent of one thousand dollars every day since then, the vampire would have only about $194 million today. (As one of the Obama Democracy Forum’s sponsors, the Capital One logo regularly appeared on the livestream’s lower-third graphics.) It should go without saying that the small number of Americans with that kind of wealth have a tremendously concentrated amount of power in the economic domain, where they can gain or forfeit power over the lives of vast numbers of employees by buying and selling companies, as well as far more political influence than ordinary citizens. This kind of inequality, though, seems to be entirely outside of Obama’s sphere of concern. Even the use of the word “class” in the phrase “race and gender and class and sexual orientation” is highly telling. The kind of centrist liberalism represented by Obama sees social justice in terms of making sure that the best and brightest members of each demographic group have an equal shot at rising to the top of society, where they can become CEOs themselves, or become politicians and participate in the process he rhapsodized about earlier, whereby bright and competent technocrats “negotiate and compromise and hopefully advance our interests.” When “class” is simply one more item on this list of identity characteristics, it’s clear that he’s talking about making sure that particularly bright and deserving individuals from working-class backgrounds can rise to the top. He’s not interested in giving the working class as a whole more structural power in our economy or our society. In other words, this is the same old centrism. Obama’s version of “pluralism” has always been integral to his message. He first came to national prominence with his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, where he charismatically spoke about how we should resist the efforts of pundits to “slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States” rather than seeing us simply as the United States. His message has always been anti-polarization. As president, Obama did get an incremental form of health care reform through Congress — the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare” — but it was one that preserved the fundamental injustices of the system. Many Americans stay in jobs they hate for fear of losing their employer health insurance. Others don’t have insurance at all, which sometimes leads to grisly outcomes like diabetics dying when they try to ration out their insulin. And even those lucky enough to be insured often are often faced with a bureaucratic nightmare when they have medical emergencies. For-profit insurance companies have every incentive to “Delay, Deny and Defend” when clients make claims. This phrase is the title of a 2010 book on the industry by Rutgers law professor Jay Feinman. And the words “delay,” “deny,” and “depose” were reportedly written on the casings of the bullets found at scene where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed in New York the day before Obama’s speech. If you want an indication of whether the reforms in Obamacare were sufficient to allay ordinary Americans’ anger about our health care system, look no further than the online reactions to that shocking act of violence. During Obama’s eight years in power, America’s wars in the Middle East ground slowly onward. This was a crucial factor in the rise of Trump, who was able to (deceptively) market himself as “anti-war.” And on the economic front, Obama continued George W. Bush’s policy of bailing out “too big to fail” banks while leaving homeowners who lost their houses in the 2008 crash underwater. He oversaw eight years of mounting economic inequality. Those eight years saw flashes of left-wing populist outrage like Occupy Wall Street and the first Bernie Sanders campaign. These were handily defeated by the powers-that-be, though, from the NYPD clearing the protesters from Zuccotti Park to the Democratic Party quelling the Sanders insurgency. And at the end of the day there was nowhere for all that populist energy to go but Trump. Obama’s liberalism is far more concerned with shattering glass ceilings for deserving strivers than raising the floor of material security for everyone. And that’s exactly the kind of liberalism that failed the first time — so spectacularly that a grotesque pseudo-populist demagogue was Obama’s immediate successor. Now Obama’s vice president, Joe Biden, is running out the clock on his presidency, and Trump is returning to power, this time with far more working-class support. Meanwhile, more than a few Americans have despaired so thoroughly of fixing our society through politics that they’re willing to cheer for an assassin murdering a health care CEO in broad daylight on the streets of Manhattan. We urgently need a far better response to the current crisis than anything the dominant faction of the Democratic Party is offering. And the first step is to stop listening to Barack Obama.What’s Viral and What’s Not? Ranking the Top Meme Coins of November 2024

NoneCHICAGO — Nearly seven years ago, two political insiders sitting in a City Hall office agreed: These days, you have to be careful how you talk. Too many politicians are much too obvious about their corrupt intentions and self-dealing, said then-Ald. Danny Solis and Michael McClain, an ally of powerful Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. “They say these outrageous things you can’t say anymore,” McClain said. “... They’re too blatant. It’s just kind of — in my world, Springfield, people openly talk about it.” “So how does the Speaker deal with all this?” Solis asked, noting that the loose-lipped politicians they were discussing — like then-Democratic state legislators Luis Arroyo and Martin Sandoval and fundraiser Victor Reyes — were Madigan supporters. “Well, he has surrogates,” McClain said. “A guy like me, he sends to go talk to Luis.” “Smart,” Solis responded. “He’s gotta be one of the smartest, not just individuals, but elected officials, I‘ve met.” Solis said that stood in stark contrast to his colleague in the City Council, longtime 14th Ward Ald. Ed Burke, who brazenly carried around business cards touting his property tax law firm featuring his work helping reduce taxes for Trump Tower. “You ever see the business cards he uses?” Solis asked McClain before they both shared a laugh. That 2017 exchange, captured on secret camera by Solis and played for jurors Tuesday in Madigan and McClain’s corruption trial, offered jurors a fascinating look into the behind-the-scenes handwringing of two longtime power brokers like Solis and McClain — and even how they worried that it could invite trouble from federal investigators. On the recording, in fact, McClain said the Department of Justice was planning to send 40 more prosecutors to Chicago. “They’ll wanna go after white collar crime,” McClain said. And in a later conversation also played for the jury, McClain had even blunter words for Sandoval, then the powerful head of the Senate Transportation Committee known for playing fast and loose with the rules. “Sandoval — that guy is a ... He’s a piece of work,” McClain told Solis in a recorded phone call. “I mean, I’ve never wanted the guy on my side. I think he’s an indictment waiting to happen frankly.” In the years that followed, Sandoval, Arroyo, Burke, McClain, and Madigan would all be facing federal indictment. Madigan, 82, of Chicago, who served for decades as speaker of the Illinois House before stepping down in 2021, faces racketeering charges alleging he ran his state and political operations like a criminal enterprise. He is charged alongside McClain, 77, a former ComEd contract lobbyist from downstate Quincy, who for years was one of Madigan’s closest confidants. Both men have pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. Solis, prosecutors’ star witness, took the stand Tuesday for the third day in a row, as prosecutors played more video and audio he secretly recorded during his lengthy run as an FBI mole. Solis’s marathon testimony is expected to stretch into December. The meeting where Solis and McClain talked about their loose-lipped peers was called to discuss a development project involving a parking lot in Chinatown, which was then in Solis’s 25th Ward. Solis wanted Madigan’s assistance navigating Springfield bureaucracy because the state would have to transfer the land to the city before development could begin. It was unfolding against the backdrop of a bitter fight between Madigan, a powerhouse Democrat, and then-Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. If Rauner got word that Madigan supported the land transfer, he would certainly block it, McClain and Solis figured. So McClain came up with a backchannel strategy he thought could be successful: Longtime Republican lobbyist Nancy Kimme would feel things out at the governor’s office and report back to McClain, who would in turn communicate with Madigan and Solis. Solis, who by that point had been cooperating with the FBI for a year and a half, slipped in a reference to some back-scratching, appearing to promise that the Chinatown developers would give their business to Madigan’s private tax law firm. “In the past, uh, I have been able to steer some work to Mike, and these guys will do the same thing,” Solis told McClain. “So I’m hoping whatever happens in this 2018 election that this is gonna go through.” McClain was not visible on the video when Solis said that, and did not say anything in direct response. “When you made the comment to Mr. McClain about steering past work to Mike, did Mr. McClain express to you visually or audibly any confusion?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur asked Solis on the stand Tuesday. “No,” Solis said. And he testified that he did not in fact actually know whether the developers of the Chinatown project intended to give Madigan any business. On the video, McClain responded by saying that if Kimme sensed Rauner was resistant to the plan, they could try to make inroads with J.B. Pritzker, who had announced his intentions to challenge Rauner in the 2018 gubernatorial race. Solis’s testimony Tuesday followed a marathon session on the stand Monday, during which he took jurors through his own salacious legal and personal issues and his unprecedented decision to flip and go undercover for the feds. Over nearly three hours, the jury heard about Solis’ sexual trysts at massage parlors, procuring erectile dysfunction pills from friends, an affair with his Chinese translator, a bag of cash handed over at a hotel in Shanghai, a breakup with his wife, and near financial ruin — all while he was heading up the City Council’s powerful Zoning Committee and taking gifts and favors from powerful friends. “I made a mistake,” Solis said when asked why he accepted the favors. “I thought they were my friends and I was wrong.” Solis’ highly anticipated testimony has provided a fascinating dive into one of the biggest public corruption cases in Chicago’s sordid history. It’s the culmination of a saga that began nearly eight and a half years ago, when FBI agents confronted Solis at his home in June 2016 and showed him evidence they’d gathered of his own misdeeds. Solis has so far come across as soft-spoken, testifying in a voice so quiet he’s been reminded several times to move closer to the microphone. After telling the jury Monday that he originally sought massages due to lower back issues, he at one point stood up on the witness stand for several minutes to stretch, remaining on his feet and leaning forward into the mic as he continued to answer questions. Before his testimony resumed Tuesday, the judge said Solis had been outfitted with a body microphone in case he needed to stand again. House Speaker Chris Welch reacts to the indictment of his predecessor, former House Speaker Michael Madigan. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email.

‘Buy now, pay later’ is more popular than ever. It can cost more than you thinkGaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. Declares Fourth Quarter 2024 Cash Dividend of $0.76 per Share

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao, visualizes the income distribution of all U.S. households in 2023, along with the range for which they would be considered middle class. Pew Research estimates a household making between two-thirds to double the median annual income is considered middle class. While median income varies by state , we’ll use the U.S. average declared by the source to set the benchmark. Data is sourced from the Census Bureau , and all figures are inflation-adjusted. In 2023, the median income was $80,060, placing families earning $53,000–$161,000 in the middle class bracked. This is about 40% of all U.S. households. Here’s a more granular breakdown of household income distribution. Looking at just the Census Bureau defined bands: the largest share of American households (17%) are in the $100,000-$150,000 annual salary range. It’s followed by the $50,000–$75,000 category (15.7%). These are also the upper and lower bands of the middle class. Perhaps most interesting is that the $200,000 and over bracket had the third-largest cohort of households (14.4%). Like most parts of the modern economy, the middle class traces its roots back to the Industrial Revolution. A new social strata emerged between the aristocracy and the working poor—where professionals, merchants, and skilled workers benefited the most from the economic changes of the time. But why does it matter today? Because of their collective disposable income, a strong middle class provides a stable consumer base that drives productive investment and economic growth. Additionally, the expansion of the middle class has been linked to reduced poverty rates and improved social policies in many countries. Looking for more graphics that visualize wealth or income distribution. Check out How the Global Distribution of Wealth Has Changed Since 2000 for a bird’s eye view.Wingstop Announces Additional $500 Million Share Repurchase AuthorizationNASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Scottie Scheffler brought a new putting grip to the Hero World Challenge and felt enough improvement to be satisfied with the result, a 5-under 67 that left him three shots behind Cameron Young on Thursday. Young was playing for the first time since the BMW Championship more than three months ago and found great success on and around the greens of Albany Golf Club, chipping beautifully and holing four birdie putts from 15 feet or longer for his 64. He led by two shots over Justin Thomas in his first competition since his daughter was born a few weeks ago. Thomas ran off four straight birdies late in his round and was a fraction of an inch away with a fifth. The big surprise was Scheffler, the No. 1 player in golf who looked as good as he has all year in compiling eight victories, including an Olympic gold medal. His iron play has no equal. His putting at times has kept him from winning more or winning bigger. He decided to try to a “saw” putting grip from about 20 feet or closer — the putter rests between his right thumb and his fingers, with his left index finger pointed down the shaft. “I’m always looking for ways to improve,” Scheffler said. Scheffler last year began working with renowned putting instructor Phil Kenyon, and he says Kenyon mentioned the alternative putting grip back then. “But it was really our first time working together and it’s something that’s different than what I’ve done in the past,” Scheffler said. “This year I had thought about it from time to time, and it was something that we had just said let’s table that for the end of the season, take a look at it. “Figured this is a good week to try stuff.” He opened with a wedge to 2 feet and he missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the par-5 third. But he holed a birdie from about the same distance at the next par 5, No. 6, and holed a sliding 6-footer on the ninth to save par. His longest putt was his last hole, from 12 feet for a closing birdie. “I really enjoyed the way it felt,” he said. “I felt like I’m seeing some improvements in my stroke.” Young, regarded as the best active player without a PGA Tour victory, is treating this holiday tournament as the start of a new season. He worked on getting stronger and got back to the basics in his powerful golf swing. And on this day, he was dialed in with his short game. He only struggled to save par twice and kept piling up birdies in his bogey-free round on an ideal day in the Bahamas. “The wind wasn’t blowing much so it was relatively stress-free,” Young said. Patrick Cantlay, along with Scheffler playing for the first time since the Presidents Cup, also was at 67 with Ludvig Aberg, Akshay Bhatia and Sahith Theegala. Thomas also took this occasion to do a little experimenting against a 20-man field. He has using a 46-inch driver at home — a little more than an inch longer than his regular driver — in a bid to gain more speed. On a day with little wind, on a golf course with some room off the tee, he decided to put it in play. “Just with it being a little bit longer, I just kind of have to get the club out in front of me and get on top of it a little bit more,” Thomas said. “I drove the hell out of it on the back, so that was nice to try something different and have it go a little bit better on the back.” Thomas said the longer driver gives him 2 or 3 mph in ball speed and 10 extra yards in the air. “It’s very specific for courses, but gave it a try,” he said. Conditions were easy enough that only four players in field failed to break par, with Jason Day bringing up the rear with a 75. AP golf: