Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning look at incompetency, corruption and policy failures:
• Most of My Instagram Ads Are for Drugs, Stolen Credit Cards, Hacked Accounts, Counterfeit Money, and Weapons: The ads are a window into a blatantly illegal underground economy that Meta is not only failing to moderate, but is actively profiting from and injecting into users’ feeds. (404 Media)
• A shiny scheme is draining retirement accounts. Right-wing media enables it. We’ve been following these companies for years. And the picture that emerged from our research was alarming. (MSNBC) see also How right-wing news powers the ‘gold IRA’ industry: Ads for gold coins have become a mainstay on Fox News, Newsmax and other conservative outlets, even as regulators have accused some companies of defrauding elderly clients. (Washington Post)
• The Secret Weapon Hackers Can Use to Dox Nearly Anyone in America for $15: Most Americans have very little choice but to provide their personal information to credit bureaus. Hackers have found a way into that data supply chain, and are advertising access in group chats used by violent criminals who rob, assault, and shoot targets. (404 Media)
• Deepfake Imposter Scams Are Driving a New Wave of Fraud: AI could turbocharge the cybertheft economy. The world’s banking industry is scrambling to contain the risk. (Bloomberg)
• America has the world’s safest air travel but sucks so bad at car safety: Three things the US can learn about road safety from our ultra-safe air travel system. (Vox)
• Airline Close Calls Happen Far More Often Than Previously Known: The incidents — highlighted in preliminary F.A.A. safety reports but not publicly disclosed — were among a flurry of at least 46 close calls involving commercial airlines last month alone. They were part of an alarming pattern of safety lapses and near misses in the skies and on the runways of the United States, a Times investigation found. While there have been no major U.S. plane crashes in more than a decade, potentially dangerous incidents are occurring far more frequently than almost anyone realizes — a sign of what many insiders describe as a safety net under mounting stress. (New York Times)
• Heat records are being smashed in multiple parts of the globe: As the relentless heat wave in the central U.S. peaks, parts of Europe, Asia and South America are broiling, too. (Washington Post)
• No OB-GYNs left in town: What came after Idaho’s assault on abortion In Sandpoint, Idaho, the maternity ward closed down. Within months, medical care for women in the rural community was hollowed out. (The Guardian)
•. A right-wing sheriffs group that challenges federal law is gaining acceptance around the country: “Leaf is on the advisory board of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, founded in 2011 by former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack. The group, known as CSPOA, teaches that elected sheriffs must “protect their citizens from the overreach of an out-of-control federal government” by refusing to enforce any law they deem unconstitutional or “unjust.” (AP) see also The right-wing campaign to make our kids dumber: For reasons that may not be too hard to understand, Republicans and conservatives seem to be intent on turning their K-12 schools, colleges and universities into plantations for raising a crop of ignorant and unthinking students. Donald Trump set forth the principle during his 2016 primary campaign, when he declared, “I love the poorly educated.” (Los Angeles Times)
• Fyre Festival is back for a sequel — allegedly: The latest chance to get fooled twice just sold out. (Washington Post)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Greg Davis, Chief Investment Officer of the Vanguard Group. Davis is responsible for the oversight of approximately $7 trillion managed by Vanguard fixed income, equity index, and quantitative equity groups. He also serves as a member of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee of the US Treasury Department.
Americans’ Declining Confidence in Institutions
Source: Brookings
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