Note: I was technically supposed to post this earlier this week, but noticed that no one was signed up for today (plus I was super busy earlier), so I'm posting a bit late, under a throwaway account! Fair warning: I'm VERY verbose, so this will be long!
Section One: Assets and Debt
As I mentioned above, I make $56k per year as an administrator in higher education. My husband (K) just got a raise to making $155k per year. He works as a lawyer, has been in the workforce for about 12 years. I won't get into too many details but he works for a small boutique firm, not Biglaw. He also sometimes gets a yearly bonus of around $10k-20k but it's not guaranteed or anything like that. K and I have totally combined finances, so the below numbers are for both of us. I have a humanities PhD but I decided to leave academia and find an alt-ac job. My current position has good work-life balance (I never work past 5 pm), but pays terribly and my university is very badly run. I'm hoping to leave higher education all together in the future and am currently enrolled in a certificate program to try to make a career transition to instructional design.
The big elephant in the room is that my husband, K, makes a lot more money than me. When we first met, he was paying off massive amounts of student loans and making much less, and I was debt free with a lot of savings, so we both spent about the same amount. Now he makes 3x what I make and we are both debt-free, so the difference is much more noticeable. We do argue about money sometimes (more in the past), but the reality is that I have a humanities PhD and will likely never out earn him, and he knew that when I married him, lol. Because of all the labor I do around the house and in our lives to support him as he works a much more intense job, I was very clear that I believed we should split our finances equally as soon as we got married. We don't have separate accounts and we generally check in with one another whenever we are planning to spend more than $100. This system works for us for now.
I also want to address the question about parental or family support. Although I technically paid all of my own bills since I got my Bachelor's degree, my parents supported me a lot by paying for my flights home to visit at Christmas or in the summer as Xmas presents/birthday presents. My parents also paid for my undergraduate degree (and K's parents paid for his undergraduate degree as well). They also gave us about $15k to pay for our wedding.
Finally, my parents recently gave me $20k as an "early inheritance." They told me they plan to do this every year (depending on the stock market). We put this money into a brokerage. I don't consider my parents rich, as they both worked hourly jobs in health care my entire life (as a nurse and respiratory therapist - both with only associate's degrees). We never owned a new car, when we went on vacation we stayed in hostels , and shopped almost exclusively at Goodwill. But they scrimped and saved and now they have over $1 million in a retirement account. So I want to acknowledge my financial privilege in that I came from this kind of background. K's parents are similar.
Retirement Balance: $186k (combination of 401k, 403b, 457, 2 Roth IRAs, and taxable brokerage account).
Equity: None, we rent.
Savings account balance: Approximately $45k.
Checking account balance: Right now, around 8k.
Credit card debt: Right now, around $3k. But we pay it off each month with our checking account balance.
Student loan debt: $0. We finally paid off my husband’s law school loans (around $130k), last year. I didn’t have any student loans from undergrad (parents paid) and my MA & PhD were fully funded.
Section Two: Income
Income Progression: I’ve been working in my current field for 3 years. I started off making about $53k and got tiny 2% “merit increases” twice. Then in July my payroll title was changed, which triggered a required raise of about $2k. (I am dramatically underpaid).
Before my current position, I was in academia. I worked as a visiting assistant professor for one year at my alma mater (made $50k for 9 months of work) and before that I was a graduate student for 7 years. I was paid $18k-21k in stipends each year and my tuition & benefits were covered. Luckily, I lived in a very low cost of living area and this was enough for me to live on without going into debt. I got my PhD in 2017. Before I was a graduate student, I taught English in Japan for three years and made around $36k per year. In high school and college, I had random jobs that provided grocery/spending money, but I was lucky enough to have parents that paid my tuition and my rent in college.
I’m currently trying to make a career change (as you will see in my diary) and enrolled in a certificate program which runs from Autumn 2020 to Spring 2021 in order to help with that.
Main Job Monthly Take Home: $7,634. This probably seems low relative to our joint income, but we max out our 401k (K) and 403b (me). I work for the state government, which means I’m also eligible for something called a Deferred Compensation Plan (457b). This is basically the same as a 401k but you can withdraw contributions and gains from the account at any age without penalty (of course, you still have to pay taxes). I also max this out, and the limit is the same as a 401k/403b - $19.5k. Also this number is before K’s raise is accounted for. It won’t increase until his end of February paycheck.
Other deductions - I have health insurance taken out (about $80 a month for me, K’s firm covers his premiums) and taxes. WA has no state taxes, so it’s only federal taxes. I used to have to pay $50 / month for a bus pass (K's was free), but I don’t pay any longer because I’m working from home during COVID.
Final note - the sum I mentioned in the headline includes a variable bonus my husband gets. My base pay is $56k and his is $155k (as of February 1). This year he also got a bonus of $20k, which is set up a bit strangely. About $4k of this was structured as a 3% matching contribution to his 401k and the rest was taxable income. In small law firms, it’s unusual to get any 401k match so this was nice.
Side Gig Monthly Take Home: None.
Any Other Monthly Income Here: We get some interest from our savings account… like $25 a month.
Section Three: Expenses
Rent: Rent comes to approximately $2,050 total for a one-bedroom apartment. Rent itself is $1886, then we have pet rent ($25 per month), bicycle parking ($15 a month) and water / sewage / gas, which is usually $120-150 (variable cost).
Renters insurance: $157.76, paid annually. $13 a month.
Retirement contribution: In addition to the 401k, 403b, and 457, which all come out before taxes, we max out our Roth IRAs. That means $500 each per month per person (for a yearly total of $6k each). As I noted up top, we match out our 401k and 403b (19,500 each) and our 457. My employee also offers a 7.5% match. K's employee offers a 3% match but it is included in his yearly bonus so it's not guaranteed (confusing).
Savings contribution: We put $500 per month into our emergency fund. We also put about $860 a month into our “sinking fund,” which covers large and small annual or sporadic purchases such as vacations, gifts, Amazon Prime renewal, car insurance and renters insurance, etc.
Investment contribution: $875 per month into a taxable brokerage at Vanguard.
In total, we save about 47% of our gross income. We can do this because we keep our housing cost low relative to our high income, we don’t have any debt remaining, we don’t have any kids or parents who need financial support, and we’re very privileged in a lot of ways. We are hoping to FIRE within 10 years.
Debt payments: None.
Donations: We budget $100 per month for donations, which includes one-time donations as well as some reoccurring donations. My husband does pro bono work as well. I would like to increase this by quite a bit, but I still have a hard time budgeting for donations because I spent 7 years living on approximately $20k a year. To go from that to making more than 10x that amount within 3-4 years is obviously something that I am very privileged for, but it is still hard for me emotionally to comprehend at times.
Electric: ~$50-100 (billed every other month)
Wifi/Cable/Landline: An extortionate $87.12 for slow internet that only works for Zoom calls about half the time. Do I really live in one of the tech cities of the future?
Cellphone: $170 (This includes both service and paying off two new iPhones. We could have paid them off up front, but it was actually cheaper by like $50 to go on a payment plan.)
Subscriptions: BritBox ($7.70), Spotify ($16.50), HBOMax ($16.50), We Hate Movies Patreon (my favorite podcast - $8.81). My parents pay for Netflix and my sister pays for Hulu, and we all share.
Gym membership: None. K and I both run and do yoga with YouTube videos. Before the pandemic, we went to yoga classes pretty frequently in person. I’d like to do some online synchronous yoga classes but find it hard to make time.
Pet expenses: Varies, but I budget $50 per month and also include an emergency fund for my cat’s vet bills in our sinking fund. She’s 11 years old and probably asthmatic, so I know her vet bills are going to increase over time.
Car payment / insurance: We own our car outright. Insurance billed yearly is $2,097, about $174 per month.
Regular therapy: $0
Paid hobbies: Nothing regular, sporadic language classes and art supplies.
Other expenses: Right now I’m doing a certificate to hopefully help with a career change. The total cost for tuition is about $5k and we already saved it up (included in our 'sinking fund') basically through spending less during the pandemic. I’ve paid two quarters so far, and the last quarter (due in March) will be a bit more - about $2.3k.
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Day 1
Morning: I wake up at 5:30 am. Ever since the pandemic, my sleep schedule has been shot. At first, I was so happy not to have to leave the house at 7:15 for my 45 minute bus commute and I slept in a lot. But the stress (and maybe getting old?) has made me an early riser, no matter how much I try to sleep in. I do value my early mornings with just me, my cat, and my coffee, though.
I start work at 8 am and begin by triaging my emails. I have a bunch of deadlines this week, so it’s busier than usual. My job tends to be very seasonal, and sometimes I have a ton of work and sometimes I have none and can work on other longer-term projects. I have a piece of toast for breakfast and place a Whole Foods delivery order for the following day at 10:30 am. We made a meal plan and put everything in the cart the day before ($117.36, including tip).
Afternoon: I have my lunch break from noon to 1 pm. It doesn’t really matter when I take my lunch break, since I’m salaried, but the others in my office are hourly so in the before times we used to always close our office during the same time. I have a piece of leftover delivery pizza and some spinach risotto that I made a few days earlier. I also have half a brownie – the last one from a batch I made a few days ago (K gets the other half). He also has leftovers for lunch.
I should say at this point that both K and I are lucky enough to have been working almost entirely from home since early March. An area near Seattle was one of the first places to get hit by COVID-19, and my state and both of our employers have been taking it very seriously ever since. Working from home hasn’t always been easy since we live in a 600-square foot apartment. Also, there is a three-story townhouse being built directly next door to us and I can hear the pounding in my dreams at this point.
Around 2 pm, I go for a 2-mile run. I feel like some money diarists tend to toss off things like “oh, I went for an easy 7 mile run,” at the drop of a hat, so I want to be clear – running for 2 miles isn’t easy for me; it’s exhausting, annoying, sweaty, and generally gross. Also I am very slow. But it has kept me sane during quarantine.
Meanwhile, my husband goes to our local pet store to get an enzymatic cleaner (our cat peed in one of our suitcases… I think it’s probably a lost cause, but it was basically brand new, so worth a try) and special weight-loss cat food. Our cat is an 11-year-old rescue from the Humane Society and she is a chonky girl. We had to sign a waiver when we adopted her, saying that we understood that she was very overweight, lol. Our vet recommended a special diet food, rather than just restricting her intake as we have been doing, so we will give it a try ($78). My husband also stops buy our local wine store and picks up two bottles. We’ve been doing a dry January, so this will be our first drink for a while ($27.53).
I have a phone interview scheduled for 4 pm – just a preliminary interview with an internal recruiter. It’s the first ‘corporate’ job interview I’ve ever had, since I’ve been in academia my entire life. I’m trying to make a pivot into instructional design / training and development. I’m just excited to get an interview. It seems to go pretty well, but who knows. They tell me they will probably get back to me by the end of this week.
Evening: My husband whips up a random meal of fridge remnants – pesto pasta with sausage and a fridge salad with feta and bell peppers. It’s pretty tasty with a little Sauvignon Blanc. During dinner, we play a card game we call gin rummy, although it bears no resemblance to the actual game. After dinner, I make a chocolate cake with orange buttercream frosting and we watch Cobra Kai.
Daily total: $222.89
Day 2
Morning: Up early again, a piece of toast for breakfast (very exciting). We’re out of eggs until our Whole Foods order arrives. I’m working on creating some tedious but necessary spreadsheets this morning.
Noon: Our Whole Foods order arrives around noon. Excitement! They’ve given us a half-rotten bag of romaine lettuce and substituted pecans for hazelnuts. I should probably just double mask and go to Trader Joe’s myself (our regular spot, only a 5-minute walk from my apartment). I’m just getting anxious about these new variants.
I have leftover meatloaf and spinach risotto again for lunch. Lots of meetings and more organizing spreadsheets in the afternoon. Around 3 pm, I go for my daily ritual - a 20-minute walk around my neighborhood. It’s still raining slightly but I need to get out. Halfway through the walk, I get an email from my apartment manager telling me the apartment will no longer accept debit card payments, direct deposit, or credit card payments for paying rent. In other words, only checks or money orders (?!). Ugh. Our lease is up in 4 months and we will not be renewing our lease. Our last apartment manager was a gambling addict who may have been stealing people’s identities, but by God, he kept things working. Ever since they fired him, this place has been going downhill.
Evening: I check my bank statements to update my budget spreadsheet and realize that I have been billed the wrong amount of rent. They actually charged me less than they should have. I don’t trust my apartment manager not to start charging me a late fee or something for this, so I call them up. They are baffled by how to fix this, which you would think would be the one thing you would want to get right, if you’re renting out apartments.
K cooks dinner – steak with a Roquefort sauce and glazed brussels sprouts. It’s from a French cookbook we recently bought and it is delicious. I work on classwork for my certificate program while he cooks. After dinner, I do the dishes and buy the 13th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I watch the first episode – lots of shocking twists and turns! I’m planning to watch the rest of the episodes together with my younger sister, M ($22.01).
Daily total: $22.01
Day 3
Morning: K has an 8 am dentist appointment, so he takes off early. He already paid for the work last month, so there’s no charge. I have a piece of toast for breakfast and get to work checking my emails. It’s 8:20 am and the construction crew building a townhouse next door is blasting mariachi music. I’m glad someone is having fun. At least the sun is coming out.
Someone at work has made a critical error, but it wasn’t me, thank God. I was the one who found out about it, but it’s still going to cause a big old headache for me. I’m ready to be done with this job. K and I go for a run so that I can exhaust myself enough to no longer be furious about said careless error.
Noon: I have leftover spinach risotto and meatloaf again – exciting. I’m busy at work but frankly, not a lot going on other than that. Still no word about fixing my rent payments. I’m not really willing to pursue this any further at this point.
Evening: I start making chili (Turkey Chili from the NY Times) and cornbread (from my new cookbook, Jubilee). K is doing some work on our investments when he announces that, somehow, a transfer was scheduled from our checking account to our savings account of $55k (?!) We obviously don’t have $55k in our checking account, so we start frantically trying to figure out what’s going on. Numerous phone calls later, we still don’t know if that was a hack, if my husband somehow mistakenly scheduled the transfer himself, or if the bank messed it up. Either way, it doesn’t seem like any harm was done since the bank with our checking account just declined the transaction. But it seems really strange and worrisome. We get to work changing the passwords on all of our accounts, just in case it was some kind of hack.
After dinner (and chocolate cake), I have a Zoom happy hour with a local friend. We occasionally see each other outside but it’s nice to have a longer chat from the comfort of our living rooms. We both love murder mysteries, so we signed up for a service where a company sends us letters with clues and we try to solve the mystery together. It’s a fun way to stay connected and look forward to something during the pandemic. The service costs about $15 per month, but I paid for it in lump sum for 3 months, so it’s not included in my budget above. I drink some wine and we vent about work (we work at the same place) before getting started on the puzzle.
Daily total: $0
Day 4
Morning: I sleep in a bit, which is nice. Get up around 7 am. My parents are both getting their 2nd vaccine today – they’re both in their 70s and I am so relieved. I send my mom a “congratulations on being vaccinated!” text and we chat for a bit. I have leftover cornbread with honey and butter for breakfast – soooo good.
Work is not particularly exciting today, but someone sends me a last-minute request for something that does not need to be so urgent. I feel annoyed. Still no word from the interviewers on Monday, and I’m beginning to suspect I wasn’t selected to move forward. Too bad. K pays for a Wordpress website for the year (it’s a work-related website, but sadly his work doesn’t reimburse him). It costs $92.48.
Noon: The mariachi music is particularly loud today. I stand out on my balcony in the sun for a while and watch the workers. It’s been interesting seeing a house go up next door in real time, especially since I’m at home all the time. The workers are balancing on the top of the third story wall without, as far as I can see, anything like a safety line. It seems unsafe, but I presume they know what they’re doing.
We booked a cabin for the upcoming weekend in the Hood Canal region of Washington to do some hiking and birdwatching. I want to be as safe as possible and not go to any grocery stores or risk spreading COVID in any way while I’m there, so I place another grocery order with Whole Foods just for some special treats for the weekend. The cabin has a small kitchen and a grill, so we’re planning to make a fancy steak salad on Saturday. I order chips and hummus, some fancy cheese and meats, Tate’s cookies (I’ve heard a lot of good things about these), a baguette, and the ingredients for the steak salad. I also order a few staples I forgot in our last order, like sweet potatoes, more coffee, and half and half. It comes to $87.41, including tip, but that does include like $30 worth of steak. For some reason, I can’t order a small amount of steak online, so I’m planning to freeze half of it for later. (I include this purchase in our vacation fund budget, rather than under our regular grocery budget).
Around 2 pm, K makes a quick trip to our local wine store to buy an Oregon pinot noir and some port to enjoy at the cabin ($59.45). This store has an outdoor walk-up counter where you can tell the owner what you’re looking for, and he brings you some options (the store is way too small to allow customers to enter during Covid). It’s fun to chat with another human being, even briefly.
Evening: After work, we spend a little time rebalancing our investing and retirement accounts. We decide to put more money into bonds and a little bit into REIT’s as a hedge against a potential crash or recession in the future. Then I start making dinner – Broken Eggs (Huevas Rotas) from the NY Times cooking site. You basically cook the potatoes in a skillet in water, spices, and olive oil, and then sauté them to crisp them up once the water evaporates. Then you add onion, lots of garlic, and finally some eggs. It is delicious. I eat it with leftover cornbread while watching RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 with my sister – we watch the first two episodes. It’s full of twists and turns. A note about this – we have an elaborate procedure for watching shows together developed during quarantine whereby we start the show at the same with an earbud in one ear, while FaceTiming. I also have chocolate cake, of course.
Later, I get an email that I’ve signed up for HBO on Amazon Prime. I definitely have not. I text my mom, who shares my account, and she tells me she signed up by mistake. I cancel right away and luckily they won’t charge us for it.
Meanwhile, K is doing an online Japanese language class over Zoom. He’s been interested in learning ever since we went to Japan last January. I lived in Japan for 3 years so I was able to take us around to a lot of more obscure places and he really enjoyed the trip – it was a blast.
K starts a YouTube yoga class (from Do Yoga With Me – my favorite channel) and I join him for part of it before bed around 10 pm.
Daily total: $239.34
Day 5
Morning: I get up around 7 am and we go for a run first thing. I prefer running early in the morning because there are fewer people to avoid during COVID. We do a different route today – it’s longer (3 miles) but has fewer hills. It’s a slog, as always, but I feel good when I get back right around 8 am. I jump straight onto my computer to start checking work emails and my husband makes us avocado and egg toast for breakfast - it is absolutely delicious.
We talk about how our bathroom smells distinctly mildewy (yay for being a grown-up because I guess this is what we talk about now) and we buy two big buckets of DampRid on Amazon ($26.60). I’ve found this to be a necessity in Seattle. Mid-morning, I take a break from work and start packing for our trip to the cabin.
Noon: I have leftover potatoes and cornbread for lunch, and my husband has the leftover chili. We finish getting ready to leave and head out right after lunch, taking a half day. The only problem is that I have attend a meeting at 3:30 pm, so we head out hoping to get there in time. Our cabin is near Quilcene in the Hood Canal region of Washington, about a 2 hour drive or a 2 hour ferry ride + drive. We are initially planning to take the ferry both ways, but realize that we mistimed the ferry departure, so we drive the whole way instead. Luckily, there’s little traffic mid-day, and we arrive at our Airbnb around 3:00 pm.
The Airbnb is beautiful! It’s a small cabin handmade by the owner, whose house is next door. It’s very rural, with a beautiful view. It’s tiny, but has a little kitchen and a waterfall-style shower with river rocks on the floor. It’s a great place to get away for a short time. Luckily, it also has good reception and I’m able to sit in on my meeting with no problems. My husband also does a little work, and then at 5 pm we’re free!
In our planning, we decided to get takeout on Friday night, since the little kitchen isn’t designed for any serious cooking. We call ahead to a local restaurant to order burgers (one of only 2 restaurants in the whole town). It’s around 5:30 pm and the place is deserted. It’s a microbrewery, but they tell us they haven’t been making beer since COVID-19 hit. None of the workers are wearing masks when I walk in, but they put them on when they see I’m wearing one. I pick up our order - a few bottled beers and burgers and fries ($49.52 including tip).
Back at our Airbnb, we watch Big Trouble in Little China and enjoy our very messy, but delicious, burgers (it costs $4.39 to rent). The movie is very campy but fun. I love silly action movies, as you will see with my other viewing choices. We wrap up the night in a very exciting fashion, eating chocolate cake and watching old episodes of the original Star Trek.
Daily total: $80.51
Day 6
Morning & noon: When we wake up around 8 am, the weather is looking thankfully clear and even sunny! We were expecting rain, so we’re really glad. We decide to go hiking today, and we head out before even having breakfast, with snacks and lunches packed. Our first destination is a hike called Mt. Zion, but unfortunately, we run into enough snow 2 miles before the trailhead that we decide to turn back. We don’t have any traction for our Subaru and don’t want to risk getting stuck on a very narrow mountain road. Instead, we drive another hour or so to the Lena Lake trailhead, a very popular and less strenuous trail. It’s about 7.5 miles roundtrip with 1200 feet of elevation gain.
By this time, it’s around 11:30, but luckily there is still parking. It’s a great hike up, and we run into relatively few people. We always mask up whenever we pass anyone, as does about 50% of the people we meet. The others… not so much. Around a mile from the lake, we start to run into snow. It’s turned into a beautiful sunny day, and I’m loving seeing all this snow! It’s a bit slippery, but not too bad. We make it to the lake mid-day, and it’s super jammed – there’s only a small viewpoint accessible, so everyone is crowded in there. I feel a bit uneasy with all the unmasked people, but we manage to find a spot away from the crowd and sit down to eat our lunch of apples, chips, and energy bars. There are a ton of robber jays there (Canada Jays) which try to eat our chips. It is fun watching them, but I’m annoyed to see some kids feeding them – it’ll just make them that much more aggressive. Bad trail manners.
On our way back down, we get stuck behind a group of 5 unmasked adults, who refuse to cede the narrow trail to faster hikers. I’m a slow hiker myself, so, to be clear, I’m not angry at slower walkers being on the trail but have some self-awareness and let people pass! especially if you’re going to go hiking in a big group during a pandemic! We finally get back down and head back to our Airbnb.
Evening: Back home, we explore some of the trails our Airbnb host has set up around his extensive property, and then relax on the deck. The sun is breaking through the clouds and it feels wonderful to sit out in nature and feel the sun on my back. We open up a bottle of wine and have a few pre-dinner snacks (more chips and hummus). For this night, we brought ingredients to make a steak salad. Our Airbnb host has kindly set up a charcoal grill for us, so we grilled the steak and toast some bread on the side.
We eat dinner while watching the truly terrible Jean Claude Van Damme movie Bloodsport and finish up the very last of my chocolate cake. It’s amazing that anyone ever let Van Damme act… or should I say ‘act.’ I also have a Tate’s chocolate chip cookie or two, accompanied by a little port. My husband and I are truly very old people at heart, so we finish up the night watching a few episodes of Columbo.
Daily total: $0
Day 7
Morning: Unfortunately, K had insomnia last night, so he sleeps in pretty late. I drink coffee in bed and enjoy looking at the view out our big windows. Once he’s up, we get packed up and write a thank you note for our host. It was a great stay.
One of my big hobbies is birding and K enjoys wildlife photography, so we go out to look for some lifers! (The first time you see a new species of bird). Did I mention we are very old people in (relatively) young bodies? We first go to Dosewallips State Park and see some bald eagles, great blue herons, lots of various ducks, and a flock of Canada Geese, which, strangely, includes a domesticated gray goose. He’s much larger than the Canada Geese and seems to be watching over them. It’s kind of cute. Unfortunately, a lot of the birds are too far from shore to be seen clearly.
Our next stop is Point No Point (I love all the sad & disappointed names that early Westerner explorers gave places in the Washington/Oregon coast), a popular birding spot. We see a ton of birds here, and I can understand why it’s so well-known - Red-Breasted Mergansers, Western Grebes, Common Goldeneyes, Pacific Loons, and a few others I can’t identify yet. Most excitingly though, we see a whole pile of otters! They’re lounging around together on a rock just offshore and a ton of people are watching. We watch as they all slip off the rock and go hunting in the shore. It’s my first otter sighting in the wild, and it’s so cool! We also see some seals and possibly a sea lion. It’s a great spot for wildlife. We eat some snacks (hummus, chips, some sliced meat & cheese) before we head out.
I really want to come back to this area another time and explore further, but K has decided that we need to get back home in time for the Big Game. We take the 3:00 pm ferry back to Seattle ($16.40) and get home around 3:45 pm. I veg out at home while my husband watches football. He’s a Patriots fan but he still loves Tom Brady (??) so he’s happy to see Florida win. I don’t understand sports team loyalties at all, but whatever, I’m glad he’s happy. We order from a new Indian place called Spice Box and get vindaloo, roganjosh, and vegetables pakora – so tasty ($53.96). Happily, there’s enough left over for lunch the next day, since I have no plans for what we will eat yet!
I’m really dreading work the next day, as I know that it will be obnoxious. I want to get out of my job so badly, but it doesn’t look like I’m going on to the next interview stage for the job I interviewed no back on Monday. I’m feeling kind of down about it. I try to stay positive and promise that I’ll apply for at least 2-3 new jobs next week. I bake up some frozen cookie dough I had in the freezer and feel sorry for myself. We end the night by watching another episode of Columbo.
Daily total: 70.36
Food + Drink: $395.23
Fun / Entertainment: $26.40
Home + Health: $26.60
Clothes + Beauty: $0
Transport: $16.40
Other: $170.48
Grand Total: $635.11
I think this week was pretty normal for us. Obviously we spent a bit more than usual due to the weekend cabin trip, but nothing outrageous. Our largest consumer spending category is definitely food and drink – we live in a very busy area of Seattle with tons of restaurants and bars so believe it or not, we actually used to spend even more on eating out. We still try to support our local places by getting takeout or delivery during the pandemic and even occasionally getting a few drinks outside. I spent more than usual on groceries due to stocking up for the weekend away.

To start, this should be a single player game. If Bethesda/Obsidian/MS can make it so I can play with 1 or 2 friends, I want that but understand it's not that simple.
So why it should be picked:
First, NY has an amazing history when it comes to Pre-Revolution, Revolution, the Civil War, and beyond. Major events like the battle at Saratoga (which is considered the turning point of the Revolution), the 1980 Miracle on Ice, and Woodstock (along with a whole lot more) all took place in upstate NY. So the rich history of the area is ripe for pro American stylizing and propaganda that gives FO it's unique take on American Atom-punk.
That along with more modern history of things like the Native Americans (The Oneidas) actually taking back their land and forming their own sovereign nation (basically they have their own gov. Pay no state taxes, and self govern with police, fire, and allow gambling which NY does not). So their modern government would not only be some great lore, but I honestly believe could be a basis for the main quest line. Things like their unique tribal leadership, philosophy, and gambling (hello 10 luck) could bring a very grey area to fallout that was kind of missed in FO3 + 4. Plus their mythology would make for a great weird scene that fallout has at least 1 of every game.
Also, for those who don't know, upstate NY is very country with major cities pocketed about. (Utica, Albany, Syracuse, etc). So if you liked NV style of wandering the wastes, or 3s style of city wandering, we've got both. Also, we've got two mountains areas, one in the Adirondacks and the Catskills are the other.
That said, one of the most important parts of fallout are the locations. Where can we go? For that I have a list:
Major locations:
Lake Placid Winter Olympics training facility - the winter olympics world be held in 2078 and if they still exist by then and to play into the game, LP could be the location of those games. Again, the miracle on ice where American Amateurs bested the Communist Russian Pros, was held there. The "Better dead than Red" sentiment would be full force. Not to mention one of a few great locations for a possible vault (80, in this case to house winter olympians). Plus, the weapons could be cool too. Hockey sticks, hockey skate blades on gloves, a goalie mask for armor, you name it.
Cooperstown Baseball HOF - Now when you think Americana, Baseball is one of your first thoughts, don't lie. Cooperstown is baseball central and very pretty. Another great place for pro-american styles and fun gear like baseball base mines, softball helmets (because fuck you "A League of Their Own" style pro-baseball league in FO sounds awesome), and of course bats and baseball grenades. Also a baseball Vault (Vault 4, 5, 7, or 9). Not my idea, but in this vault, there's 32 teams of mens and 32 teams of womens baseball (or coed teams, idk), all of whom are pro players. Vault tec test is simple, winner gets food and drinks, loser gets steroid infused food and drink (but they don't know it has steroids obviously). The idea is, test how good at baseball people can be if given monster amounts of steroids for generations. I'll make a separate post about this in detail if desired.
Canastota Boxing HOF - Another unique area for America. Canastota is pretty boring and empty, but for those of you old enough to remember Rocky when it came out, it basically revived Boxing as a major sport and also had a moment where America bested the Red Menace (Rocky IV). Maybe a spot for a vault or to learn unique unarmed moves. Pugilism Illustrated anyone?
Albany - NYs capital and an easy big city area along the Hudson. A great location for corporate greed, governmental corruption, and side quests. Can't say it'll be the focal point of the game since its very near the eastern border of it, but a good location for exploring and lore.
Buffalo/Niagara Falls - Ya ever gone over the falls in a barrel? Do ya want to? I think using Niagara Falls (which has an American and Canadian side, Canadas is the U-shaped famous one) as Fallouts first "Non-American" location would be fun. First, the falls are beautiful and are a major source of hydroelectric power. Second, in FO, America annexed canada, so it's technically still America! Third, right across the "border" are casinos! More gambling! Third and a half, it's another big city and buffalo is where the buffalo wing was invented (God bless buffalo wings). Besides the cool lore opportunity about the annexation and the city location, the falls could be a major location for the story if the main conflict was about powering the area, similar to NV.
Syracuse - NYs (literal) center city. The Salt City as it was formally known is a big city with some great old and new style. Again, not much about the city to say, but a great opportunity for corporate BS. The main attraction would be the Syracuse Dome (formerly the Carrier Dome). Due to its location and style, it's perfect as a central trading hub for the major cities and people. Think of Great Green Jewel style, people living, bars, shops, etc. BUT the really interesting part is what's right next to the Dome. SUNY ESF (Environmental Science and Forestry). This college is special because (A. I went there) it has very unique programs and with some future tech thrown in, could be a great location for a Fallout 3 Harold or NV vault 22-esq quest. The college already does experiments with major chemicals, evolution (FEV anyone?) and breeding plants for unique purposes. Again, I have a really cool idea for this area, but that can be a different post. Fun fact, ESF is actually working to bring back the North America Chestnut that went (nearly) extinct! Also, some asshole releases the fruit flies the genetics lab work with every year and it sucks.
NYC (Empire, 9/11 memorial, Statue of Liberty) - Yeah yeah, you can't have NY without the City, but frankly there's so much here to explore and deal with, I'd leave it to the pros to really do it justice.
Turning Stone Casino - Gambling, a hotel/restaurants like in NV, and a good spot for the main quest line.
Fort Stanwix - A real revolutionary war fort. HQ or major area for raiders. Safe, well protected and with plenty of history.
Fort Drum and Griffis Air Force Base: Two major bases that could be packed with guns, nukes, and power armor. Heavily guarded by turrets, robots, and security gates.
Main Quest:
Without too much detail, I figure your character will be hired to figure out the future of NY.
You'll be brought to the Turning Stone which is currently the HQ of the Oneida tribe. Your job would be to either work with the other tribes in the former Iroquois Confederation (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora [added later]). (Quick note: in my AU, some time after the bombs fell, the IC came to power because of their knowledge of living off the land and attempted to rebuild society. After some time rebuilding and establishing a post-war society, the tribes do the thing all humans do and bicker. Around 2200 the IC broke apart but the tribes retained power in their areas. They fight, trade, yadda yadda but no one is in control of everything.
Throughout your quest, it turns out that what is holding everyone back is a lack of power for things like lights and running water. Your job will be to determine where to get that power (Nuclear power plant in Oswego or the falls in Niagara?) And where to give it (one tribe? A few? Or all?). But that's not all, the tribes can't decide who should be in charge. One tribe wants to remain independent, don't help the outsiders and rebuild society in their image within NY, another wants to help others but would need to sacrifice their own people's safety and seclusion. Maybe another wants to be imperialist and expand their borders throughout America through way of force and fear while another agrees with taking land but wants it done through offers of protection for taxes. And each tribe has its own opinion on bringing the IC back together, staying separate, or taking over the tribes for themselves.
It's up to you character to decide who to help. Do you work hard to try and bring all tribes together under one banner or choose a side and execute their will as a paid mercenary/ambassador?
Other choices would be chaos by siding with raiders, or maybe a BOS path to take out all the tribes, idk, haven't thought it all out. Again, not a writer.
Mechanics:
So personally, I like the idea that if you choose to go with a single faction, there would a battle/war mechanic where you and an army (or alone if you really wanna try) take over and lay claim to areas similar to Nuka World where you fly the gangs flag. Nothing complicated, normal fallout fights, don't die and kill the leadehis troops to win.
Karma is back. You will garner good or bad rep with each tribe depending on what you do. I'd like an armor system like in NV but I can live without it.
There is an ending. Once you beat the game you can continue doing side quests for armoexperience/ammo but only for the tribes left in power. Occasional rebellions will rise up as random events that need to be put down.
Settlements are limited. Like skyrim, but a plot and build. No need to build one everywhere and you don't even need to do it if you don't want to.
Radio host? Gimme a Mr. New Vegas type guy. I don't want an eccentric 3-dog, I want a smoothed voiced person wishing me lady like luck.
Also, smarter AI.
Otherwise, typical FO mechanics. Weapons degrade, can upgrade weapons and armor, etc.
Main problems with NY:
No real borders to the south. Invisible walls would like be necessary which is stupid. Same to the East, but the Hudson could theoretically be used as a border if you put crazy strong mirelurks or something to kill the player if they tried to cross (or more invisible walls)
Don't want to disrespect the tribes. This is an issue with using each tribe as a possible faction. You're bound to piss off or disrespect one. So it'll be a task to make sure it's as limited as possible.
What to do with the city? It's a huge area that can be used for so much, but as a part of NY it's actually pretty seperated. It's a commercial hub now, but there's nothing there that would really be a reason to go down there. So do you make it one or do we just make it a glowing sea type area that's completely decimated from the bombs? That's my personal choice honestly, but it's a tough one to please as many as possible.
Conclusion: NY is rad.
I'll be taking questions as long as they do not involve Canadian trivia. Thank you.

Your 11-minute Tuesday report in 2562 words.

gas prices could rise due to currency fluctuations

Russian gas price (at the border) had increased from $150 to $165 per 1000m³ in 2019. Although the Russian currency Ruble was devaluing against the Dollar, Armenia was/is paying for gas with Dollars.
Since 2019, the Pashinyan administration has been trying to convince Russia to implement a different gas payment mechanism within the EAEU trade bloc. Making payments in Rubles instead of Dollars was one of the priorities:
"We are constantly talking about high dollarization within the EAEU, but we still pay for Russian gas in dollars. Our proposal was that it would be more correct if we paid for gas in rubles, because I think it is more logical, also within the EAEU," said Pashinyan in early 2020.
This idea was also shared by Vladimir Putin's personal adviser back in October 2018. It appears the EAEU has been working towards this goal lately.
But meanwhile, Armenia has to pay for Russian gas in Dollars. With Armenian Dram devaluing against the Dollar, the pricing for consumers will likely be revised. Consumers pay 139 Drams per cubic meter. This was calculated in 2020 when $1 was 480 Drams. Today $1 = 520 Drams.
Large consumers pay in Dollars and have their rates adjusted periodically, while small consumers (general public) pays in Drams.
Armenia imports 2.2 billion m³ gas from Russia annually, at the price of $165 per 1000m^3. 0.7 billion of it is consumed by the general public.
Dram was devalued by 6.6% since November. This could prompt the internal gas company to raise the prices, including for the general public.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039886.html
http://www.armbanks.am/en/2020/04/07/128024/
https://neftegaz.ru/en/news/energy/406887-armenia-should-pay-for-russian-gas-in-rubles/

Public Council meets drone and robotics industry

The Public Council (linked to PM's office) held a meeting with engineers from the drone, robotics, AI, and nano-tech industries. They discussed ways to help the state to develop the military-industrial complex, drone production, aviation, and to bring their quality to international standards.
https://factor.am/327477.html

former PACE MP sentenced to 4 years for taking bribes from Azerbaijan

An Italian court has concluded that Italian PACE representative Luca Volonte, who is the former head of the European People's Party, took €2.4 million in bribes from the Aliyev regime in 2012-2013.
The bribe was handed over by Azerbaijan's PACE delegation leader Suleymanov. The scheme was coordinated by an Azeri lobbying firm based in Brussels. In return, the MP gave Azerbaijan favors during PACE and Italian Parliament sessions.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039927.html
Tags: #caviar

POWs and searches

The search crews in Artsakh discovered bodies of 10 soldiers and 1 civilian in Jabrayil, Hadrut, and Sgnakh regions. The civilian has already been identified by his relatives. The cause of death is being investigated.
Many bodies under the possession of the Armenian side are yet to be identified, while more bodies will likely be found during daily searches for the foreseeable future. Overall, 575 calls have been made by families who are looking for missing relatives, says the Russian humanitarian envoy in Artsakh.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039900.html , https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/289293/
Human Rights Ombudsman Tatoyan once again criticized Azerbaijan for intentionally politicizing and delaying the POW swap mission. "It is against international laws to file felony cases and arrest POWs because that's a form of a prohibited punishment. Azerbaijan is also hiding the true number of POWs."
The Ombudsman has noted that Armenian residents in Tegh, Vorotan, and several other bordering villages have lost access to 2500 hectares of farming lands due to border changes. (some lands that were internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan were given to Azerbaijan after the war).
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039933.html , https://factor.am/327226.html , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/204175

POW discussions: general prosecutor meets Azeri counterpart

Chief prosecutor Arthur Davtyan and his Azeri counterpart were invited to Russia. The three sides held a conversation about the establishment of future contacts in the field of international law and other related topics. Prosecutor Davtyan mentioned the importance of implementing the November 9th statement about the return of POWs, "which will serve as an assurance for implementation of other [trade unblocking] issues."
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039953.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039972.html

how much will a new railway network cost?

Azeri economists believe it will cost around $430 million to build a railway network connecting Kars(TR)-Nakhijevan(AZ)-Meghri(AM)-Zangelan(AZ)-Baku(AZ). Overall, if you add Gyumri between Kars and Nakhijevan, it could cost about $434 million.
Economists believe Armenia can use this network to connect with Russia via two directions: Gyumri-Nakhijevan-Meghri-Baku (southern trip), or Ijevan-Ghazakh-Baku (northern trip).
https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/289313/

rumors & rebuttals: traitors are not selling Azeri juice in Armenia

Telegram channel Mediaport circulated rumors that "Azeri Sandora juice is being sold in Armenia". The misinformation was picked up by several outlets and caused confusion among the buyers.
Fact-checkers contacted Sandora's local importer who said the producer is a Ukrainian company that sells its product in multiple post-Soviet republics, so they have one unified tag that contains information both in Armenian and Azeri languages.
https://fip.am/14469

4 Dutch MPs receive medals for friendship

Among them is ethnic Kurdish MP Sadet Karabulutu, who publicly criticized the Turkish-Azeri aggression during the war.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/204216

food prices in Artsakh

Pricing for 43 commonly-consumed items was examined by the consumer protection agency in Artsakh. 12 became more expensive, 5 cheaper, 26 remained the same.
Onion +25%, cottege cheese +6%, milk +6%, gloves +5%, ..., pear -12%, rice -1%, eggs -1%, butter -1%.
Several dairy product prices went up, and since Artsakh has dairy companies that own dominant market share, the consumer agency will launch an investigation to see if there was price-fixing.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039946.html

seismic resistance assessment for old buildings

A significant portion of Armenia's large apartment complex buildings were built half a century ago. They may not be seismically safe, considering Armenia's geolocation. After the 1988 earthquake, some buildings remain populated despite being deemed highly unsafe. Many other buildings have safety irregularities.
It is necessary to assess the situation, so the Urban Development Committee has drafted a bill "Methodology for assessing the priority of increasing the seismic resistance of buildings and structures".
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039887.html

IRS will closely monitor gambling industry / RFID chips & servers

IRS press release: gambling facilities and online betting services will be more closely monitored. We worked with international experts to digitize the gambling industry and bring it on par with international standards.
All gambling machines and platforms operating in Armenia will be connected to one server which will be connected to a monitoring Center. All betting and winning transactions will be recorded.
The Center will also install RFID microchips in casinos to monitor the movement of chips, the chips purchased or won by players, in real-time.
The government's Digital Council has approved the bill, which is yet to be discussed and voted in the Parliament. The goal is to be able to monitor the financial flows in this sector and to estimate the actual revenues. It will combat money laundering. (BHK skipping a Parliament session due to "COVID" in 3, 2, 1, ... /joke)
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039915.html

new "public council" will advise Nature Ministry

Nature Minister Romanos met several environmental organizations and environmentalists and discussed the creation of a new Council, which will advise him on nature protection issues, help draft bills and roadmaps, work with other environmental organizations and NGOs. The Council is accepting applications.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039896.html

large quantities of illegally-cut trees were busted

... by Ijevan policemen during a routine patrol on Sunday. Three cargo trucks were filled with wood.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039960.html

rammed through the gates

The police have arrested the father of a missing soldier who used his Vaz 21 vehicle to ram through the Defense Ministry's entrance gate before smashing it into a building on Sunday.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039957.html , https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/289315/

"turn off the camera"

Context: An incident happened last week between parents of drafted soldiers and military officials at a military unit. The parents wanted assurances that their sons would be safe after being deployed on Artsakh borders. The parents wanted to know why Armenian soldiers are still being sent to Artsakh "despite the November 9th statement saying Armenians should withdraw from Artsakh."
During the confrontation, an incident happened between a military official and a journalist. The official struck the camera and instructed it to be turned off. Several media outlets released a message condemning the officer for hindering the journalist's work.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039973.html

infrastructure upgrades

Four settlements in Kotayk province (Yeghvard, Nor Gegh, Aragel, Zovuni) have a newly renovated irrigation pipeline as part of a govt subsidy program.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/204202

today in history

1932: First Yerevan tramway began operating in Yerevan
1951: The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was implemented.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039885.html

get your free colonoscopy today

The National Center for Oncology has purchased the latest generation tools and will perform a free and enjoyable colonoscopy for residents over the age of 45, for the next 6 months.
The goal is to detect suspicious growths at an early stage. It's the third most common cancer among adults in the world. It has become more common in Armenia in the past decade. When detected early, it can be fully treated.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039911.html

COVID stats

+1885 tested. +355 infected. +729 healed. +5 deaths. 8393 active.
The death rate has been 1.8%. The infection reproduction rate was 0.84 in the past two weeks, down from 1.43.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039906.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039943.html

COVID numbers have declined, so what do we do?

... we lift some of the restrictions!
"Aye, aye, Captain!"
"I can't hear you!"
"The rule that limits attendance to non-commercial gatherings to no more than 60 people has been removed. All other safety requirements remain in place," said a Healthcare official. "You can enter Armenia via air or land by presenting negative COVID test results that were taken within the past 3 days. If you don't, you will be tested at the airport and will need to self-isolate until the results arrive."
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039931.html

Armenia will soon import COVID vaccines

Healthcare Ministry: we are negotiating with multiple entities. The first batch of vaccines will arrive between late-January and mid-February. We are negotiating with producers whose vaccines have passed the necessary tests: Sputnik V, Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca. In the first phase, the vaccines will be given to the most vulnerable 10% of the population.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039921.html

Sputnik V vaccine has already been tested in Armenia

Healthcare Ministry: no complications were reported by the 15 patients, including Minister Torosyan. The often-discussed "skin redness" in the injection area has not been observed, either.
The first injection gave a 91.4% efficiency. The second increased it to 94%. Even if the vaccine doesn't fully prevent the infection, it can save the patient's life by making the case mild (is that right??).
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039925.html

the new COVID strain: good news, bad news

Doctor Davit Melik-Nubaryan: the version of COVID that mutated in the UK will eventually reach Armenia. Preliminary data shows that those who have already been infected and gained immunity from the original COVID will be immune to this new strain. It is believed that the immunity will last 6-12 months for the majority.
The good news is that the new strain isn't more deadly and doesn't result in heavier cases. The bad news is that it spreads a lot faster. The Healthcare system could be overloaded again.
The vaccines against the original strain will likely work against the new one. Pharmaceutical companies may have to modify the vaccines, but it will only take weeks.
Closing borders with the UK won't be helpful to prevent it. We may already have the new strain. We need to develop a new strategy from the ground up.
Viruses mutate all the time. It's part of the evolution. Sometimes they cause more severe symptoms, sometimes lesser. From the evolutionary and survival standpoint, viruses want to cause less severe symptoms for the host so they can have a chance to spread wider.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039856.html

Armenian scientists will study the COVID strain

CDC chief Bakunts: Armenia will have the ability to study the genetic mutations of the coronavirus. Active work is underway to invest in research resources. Meanwhile, we can submit a virus sample to a WHO laboratory to conduct a study for us.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039962.html

families with newborn children receive mortgage subsidy

450 families have so far taken advantage of a government subsidy program that helps with purchasing apartments. ֏526 million will be paid as part of this 2020-2023 program. It is part of a recent initiative to boost the birthrate.
Two other aid programs went into effect in mid-2020. Provincial families received a downpayment subsidy equalling 5% of the total price. Another one subsidizes insurance payments.
The same family can apply for all three programs, and there is no age limit for parents.
https://factor.am/327385.html

diaspora-government cooperation expands: iGorts

iGorts is a program that recently recruited 48 highly skilled diasporan Armenians to visit Armenia and work at 19 various government agencies. Three more volunteers have arrived today to begin their work: Shila Palyan from Canada, Zaven Ayvazyan from Russia, and Anahit Mikaelyan from Cyprus.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/204211

Yerevan to install 32 more elevators in apartment complexes

Arabkir district is the next recipient. Hundreds of units were installed in 2020. They replace the decades-old elevators that have become dangerous and poopy. The new elevators come equipped with running water and flush so you can drain your crap /s.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039954.html

have you been buying stuff right and left lately?

...because trade turnover increased by +34%, and the number of printed receipts by +7%, during this year's New Year's holidays.
֏91 billion was spent between December 29-31, which is ֏23 billion more.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/204195

would your majesty be pleased to take a salt bath?

Nerqin Getashen will have a halotherapy "salt bath" center to help alleviate certain conditions. It's the first in Gegharquniq province. There will also be rooms for aromatherapy (oils), ogyxenotherapy (oxygen cocktails), and massage.
The owner claims it helps boost immunity and alleviates breathing, allergy, and insomnia issues (take the claim with a bath of salt).
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039974.html

first Yezidi theater to open in Armenia

"шəp' y əBин" or "war and love" will be the first performance in a newly opened Yezidi theater in Ejmiatsin. It's part of a «Եզդիների կողքին» cultural initiative. The crew had planned a major performance about Yezidi national legend but the 44-day war began and some were drafted.
The crew ended up performing the "шəp' y əBин" during the war. It's about the importance of Yezidis in Armenia, and their love for the country. The January 17th performance will be dedicated to Yezidis who died fighting.
The performers aren't professional actors but they received acting training on-the-fly. "It seems to work because their enthusiasm is great. A very good team has been formed," said the producer.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039941.html

Aram Khachaturian House-Museum will resume "Musical Thursdays"

This year's first classical concert is dedicated to Ruben Babayan, "the BFF of Armenian musicians."
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039916.html

Netherlands college will donate large quantities of school supplies

Several thousands of desks, chairs, furniture pieces, computers, lockers, etc. are being loaded in containers to be shipped to Armenia.
The Hermann Wesselink college is renovating its building with new items so they decided to donate the old stuff to Armenian kids. This will be enough to equip 15 provincial schools.
https://factor.am/327135.html

donations to Artsakh & recovering soldiers

www.1000plus.am (recovering soldiers & their families)
www.HimnaDram.org (for Artsakh & Armenia)
www.ArmeniaFund.org (U.S. tax-deductible)

archive of older posts

Armeniapedia's archive of my daily news threads:
http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/Daily_Anti-Corruption_Reports

disclaimer

All the accused are considered innocent unless proven guilty in the court of law, even if they "sound" or "appear" guilty.

First time posting here, super nervous but hoping I can use this as a lesson and a springboard to sort my life out and get advice on how best to achieve my goals instead of making more mistakes. I will accept the criticism and embarrassment that I expect I will receive.
:Problem: Over the last few years I’ve been sucked into an online game by a group of “friends” which at the time felt like great fun, especially being part of the group. Unfortunately this group of friends also encourage and endorse paying real world money to purchase in game currency - this wasn’t a problem in the first year, we just got some good stuff and had a bit of fun. However, from there this developed into a far darker and deeper seated issue in my life. In the game there’s essentially a place you can go to “gamble” against other players - I didn’t think of this as gambling at first, we were just having fun with pixels, it isn’t real. Now I look back the game was just a way to disassociate currency from real world money, so I was just gambling away potential savings. Long story short I’ve spent >£5K in the last year on this game through poor personal management - I know I should be ashamed, I am. I wasn’t aware It was so much and only sat down to crunch the numbers this weekend. I’m pretty devastated and scared to discover the magnitude of the issue. The prompt to looking into this was discovering one of the others was part of a larger known group that manipulate people into doing this for their own personal gain.
:Current standing:
• I’m 25 years old • I have a business degree • I’m work in the project sector • I have been with my partner for 3 years now • I have recently started a grad role with around £29k salary, it’s pretty stable for now but I’m really not happy there - I think I can stick it out a year or two though as it’s great for professional development. • My partner is unaware of the issue, however knows I don’t have much £ saved. • Currently I have £2000 in a help to buy • Currently I have £1000 outstanding on credit cards (I’ll pay this back Jan, but this will absorb most of my spare income.) • My Rent/Bills is about £850 a month • I see about £1850 a month after tax, pension and shares contributions • My credit score is around 375/1000, this was destroyed by Plusnet after getting a temp sim (when I cancelled it the CS team claimed I raised a “STAC” request, I didn’t I have another number so literally that wouldn’t make any sense. They didn’t contact me for a year and I only found out when I had an Apple phone plan rejected recently (settled now but is there any way to get this repaired?)
:Personal Goals I want UKPF’s help to achieve:
• Comfortable living, I do not want to deprive my partner of dates, the occasional (reasonable) gift etc due to my own foolish behaviour these past few years. • >5k savings to allow us to move to Canada for a year, working and in 12-18 months or so • Upon return to the UK I’d like to get onto the housing ladder • To carve gambling out from my life and be more diligent in clocking my own behaviour in future • Identify any “easy wins”, I’ve seen a few people post about account switches and surveys you can do for some money?
I welcome all the advice I can get!

We all love to read stories about big wins and imagine ourselves in the shoes of those winners. But, have you ever thought about what happens at that very moment after successfully beating the slot machine? Usually, the slot machine locks up and, in most cases, you hear the music and see the flashing lights on top of the machine. But one of the first questions every player asks is whether they have to pay taxes on casino winnings? Well, you’re about to find out!

Taxes on Slot Machine Winnings in USA

In the USA, when a lucky player hits a jackpot, there’s the option of receiving the winnings in cash or check. In case it’s a large sum, it’s usually paid by check. However, the IRS only obliges the casinos to report winnings that are larger than $1,200.
Of course, all winners are obliged to show a proper identification— a valid ID or passport. When the casino checks for your identification they also look at your age to make sure you are officially and legally old enough to play. As the minimum legal age for gambling varies from state to state, be sure to check it out before you decide to play.

Do I Have to Report All Winnings?

All gambling winnings received from slot machines are subject to federal taxes, and both cash and non-cash winnings (like a car or a vacation) are fully taxable. Apart from slot machines, the same applies to winnings from lottery, bingo, keno, poker or other games of chance. So, if the amount won on a slot machine is higher than $1200, the casino is required to report it. In other words, all your gambling winnings have to be reported on your tax return as "other income" on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8.

Slot Machine Winnings in W-2G Form

In case it happens to you and you snag that big win (which we hope one day you will), it’s useful to know that casino or other payer must give you a W-2G Form, listing your name, address and Social Security number. So, if the winnings are reported through a W-2G Form, federal taxes will be withheld at a rate of 25%.
If, however, you didn’t provide your Social Security number (or your Tax Identification Number), in that case the withholding will be 28%. Either way, a copy of your Form W-2G should be issued, showing the amount you won alongside the amount of tax withheld. One copy needs to go to the IRS, as well.
Aside from slot winnings, Form W-2G is issued to winners of the following types of gambling activities like:

• bingo (for players who win $1,200 or more),
• keno (for at least $1,500 worth wins)
• poker tournament players (for the $5,000 win or more).
• a horse track (if the winnings are 300x your bet)

However, not all gambling winnings are subject to IRS Form W2-G. For instance, W2-G forms are not required for winnings from table games like blackjack, baccarat, and roulette, whatever the amount. You’d still have to report your winnings to the IRS, it’s just you won’t need to do it through W-2G Form.

Are My Slot Losses Deductible?

The good news is that you can deduct your slot losses (line 28 of Schedule A, Form 1040), while the bad news is gambling losses are deductible only up to the amount of your wins. In other words, you can use your losses to compensate for your winnings. So, let’s say you won $200 on one bet, but you lost $400 on one or a few others, you can only deduct the first $200 of losses. Meaning if you didn’t win anything for a year, you won’t be able to deduct any of your gambling losses.
In order to prove your losses, you need to keep good records and have suitable documents. So, whenever you lose, keep those losing tickets, cancelled checks and credit slips. Your documentation must include the amount you won or lost, a date and time, type of wager, type of your gambling activity, name of each casino/address of each casino you visited and the location of their gambling business. You may as well list the people who were with you.

Do State and Local Taxes Apply Separately?

Yes, you are required to pay your state or local taxes on your gambling winnings. In case you travel to another state, and snag some huge winning combo there, that other state would want to tax your winnings too. But don’t worry, you won't be taxed twice, as the state where you reside needs to give you a tax credit for the taxes you pay to that other state.
Keep in mind though that some states like Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Ohio don't allow gambling losses.

Online Slot Taxes

Whether you usually spin the reels of your favourite casino games in land-based casinos in the US, overseas casinos, or online casinos, all income for the citizens of the US is taxable. As a US citizen, you are required to send Form W2G for all winnings from a slot machine (not reduced by the wager) that equals to or is more than $1,200.

Taxes on Slot Machine Winnings in UK

As a resident of the United Kingdom, your gambling winnings won’t be taxed. Unlike the USA mentioned above, you’ll be allowed to keep whatever it is that you have won and earned in Britain, even in case you are a poker pro. Then again, you won’t be able to deduct any losses you might collect.
It doesn’t really matter if you win £5 or £5 million playing online slots, your winnings will be tax-free as long as you reside anywhere in the UK, be that in England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland.

Taxes on Slot Machine Winnings in Canada

If you are a recreational player who lives in Canada, we have good news for you. When it comes to gambling, you don't have to pay taxes as your winnings are totally tax free. According to laws in Canada, gambling activities don’t fall under the category of constant source of income, therefore your winnings will not be taxed.
Canadians don't even pay taxes on their lottery winnings. The only exception here are professional gamblers who make a living from betting and are, therefore, obliged to pay taxes. Keep in mind though, this is the current situation - laws in Canada change frequently, which may also include tax laws.

Taxes on Slot Machine Winnings in Australia

In case you reside in Australia and like to visit casinos from time to time, you’ll be happy to find out that your winnings in Australia will not taxed and here are 3 core reasons for that:

• Gambling is not treated a profession (it's treated as a hobby)
• The government doesn’t see profits from gambling activities as income, but as a result of good luck
• The Australian government taxes casino operators and lottery organisers instead.

Of course, taxation varies from state to state.

Taxes on Slot Machine Winnings in New Zealand

Unlike in Australia, where even professional players can claim they are recreational, in New Zealand slot machine winnings (and any other winnings from casino games) are considered taxable income, in case the player has little income from other resources.
But, apart from professional gambling, it is very unusual for winnings to be taxed in New Zealand. Most often, gambling is considered recreational and not income, so players can enjoy their gameplay as they do not have to pay taxes on their winnings.

Here’s my background:
-male, 34 years old living in Canada since 2014 and PR since 2017-18
-born and brought up in Philippines
-while doing my bachelors in my home country, I used to play a lot of online pokeblackjack and won in the neighbourhood of high 5 figures (USD) but wasn’t sure if I could withdraw it there without problems because of gambling being a grey area
-moved to Canada in 2014 to do my masters that I finished in 2015
-also managed to withdraw above money to my Canadian bank accounts in small increments during this period
During my masters, I started playing live at casinos here and really fell in love with the lifestyle and the freedom to visit my home country every year for a few months to look after my ailing mother, to the extent I never bothered finding a 9 to 5 after getting my 3 year work permit (2015-2018).
However, I did work part-time for around 6 months in 2017 and got my PR in 2018. I also worked part time for around 5-6 months in 2019. With salary around $6-8k each in both years.
I also played a lot of poker and blackjack at the casino during all these years during which I made:
2015-$8k
2016-$5k
2017-$35k
2018-$49k
2019-$35k
I started filing my taxes around 2018, and consulted with a few tax professionals, all of whom suggested that the above qualifies as casual gambling income (not conducted as a business), and to report only my part-time job income as per T4 slips. They did mention that it is a very grey area whether the activity is taken for the pursuit of profit or not and hence taxable or not, but the CRA would consider the amounts too small and the topic too controversial to litigate as taxing gambling profits could mean allowing gambling deductions for everyone. And at worst, I could be asked to pay taxes on these winnings in the future. Besides, I live a very basic life (no cahouse) and my only expenses are rent ($1k) and groceries. I also intend to find another job once COVID ends.
Over these years, I’ve never bothered to invest my money (that has been lying in a zero interest savings account) which I’ve realized has been a big mistake since I’ve seen my bank balance stay stagnant or trickle down. However, I still do have the high 5 figures (thanks to the money I won prior to moving to Canada) that I wish to start investing now, using something like Wealthsimple.
I came across something called TFSA and was advised to start with that (since my total contribution room accumulated over the years would be almost $50k) but since that is an account registered with the CRA, I’m not sure if it would be prudent to put a large sum of money into that?
Can the CRA come up to me and ask where I got the 50k from since it doesn’t reflect in my tax returns? I don’t have a problem even if that happened, but just curious if they indeed monitor TFSAs and match it with your income or not.
If so, should I consider investing in non-TFSA related funds?
Thank you for the suggestions in advance.

President Trump says he is announcing today that the U.S. will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, and he will sign a memo to reinstate the highest levels of sanctions against Iran, and any nation who supports Iran will be sanctioned by the U.S.

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The following is quoted from this article.

Just a little less than three years ago, I wrote on this blog that we may be on the verge of a permanent bear market in fossil fuels. In it I predicted that the recent financial woes in the coal, oil, and gas industries would likely only continue as the costs of switching to renewable energy were becoming exponentially more economical

Though highly volatile as always, the price of crude oil has failed to keep up with inflation over the past three years. Natural gas and coal prices have fallen in absolute terms. Lower fuel prices could also just be a matter of more efficient extraction, however, so how are the actual producers of these commodities doing?
While the aggregate stock market has continued its decade-plus long bull market mostly unabated over this period, investors in traditional energy resources have lost money – a lot of money. Meanwhile, the solar energy industry (and the clean energy industry in general) has continued to gain ground, delivering outsized returns to investors.
Three major forces are at play right now in the energy market: the accelerating improvements in renewable energy efficiency, the move towards sustainability among institutional investors, and the adoption of public policies aimed at mitigating climate change and other environmental concerns. These forces are now mutually reinforcing and will work to shift our society away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy

Renewable Revolution

For decades, the cost effectiveness of solar power (and to a lesser extent, wind power) technology has been increasing exponentially.
But in recent years costs have fallen to the point where they are now often lower than power from coal or gas-fired plants and falling further still. In my 2017 article I pointed to news from September 2016 in which Abu Dhabi ditched plans to build a gas-fired electric power plant and instead built a solar power plant that would deliver electricity at a world-record low price of 2.42 cents per kilowatt-hour, about half what they estimated natural gas would have cost them. Not to be outdone by their UAE neighbor, last October Dubai announced they were building a new world-record breaking solar power plant that will deliver electricity at just 1.7 cents per kilowatt-hour, a 30% cost reduction in three years.
Closer to home, Los Angeles’ utility commission recently approved a new solar plant that will deliver 300 megawatts of energy at 3.962¢/kWh (by comparison, electric power from natural gas usually costs about 8¢/kWh in the US). Importantly, that price tag includes energy storage as well, meaning the plant will be able to deliver energy to LA residents day and night. This solution overcomes one of the last remaining obstacles to switching to renewable energy: reliability. The sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow, but if the combined cost of generation and storage is cheap enough, that doesn’t matter, renewables will be able to undercut fossil fuels any time of the day or year.
As of 2018, solar and wind energy only account for 3% of global energy, with fossil fuels contributing over 84%, which is probably why most people don’t perceive the future of fossil fuels as changing very much and worry about the potentially devastating environmental consequences that may imply. But that 3% is a nearly ten-fold increase in the slice of the pie compared a decade before. Renewable energy today looks a lot like the internet did around 1995: an interesting curiosity but surely nothing of great consequence, right? But if renewables keep gaining ground against fossil fuels at the same rate they have been so far this century, then by the end of the decade they will constitute nearly one third of our energy budget and fossil fuel usage will be declining in absolute terms and at an accelerating pace.
As the cost of renewable energy falls lower and lower, it eventually makes economic sense to shut down a perfectly good coal-fired power plant and replace it with solar, or to scrap a perfectly good gas-powered car or truck and replace it with an electric one. We are just now approaching that tipping point. Last year, for example, PacifiCorp, a major electric power company operating in multiple western US states, announced that it would be closing 20 to 24 coal plants – some of them decades ahead of their scheduled retirement – and replacing them with 7 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity simply because it will save them money.

The Buck Stops Here

The speed with which the financial industry has turned its back on conventional energy assets is stunning.
The financial industry’s efforts to decarbonize itself takes two forms: engagement and divestment.
Engagement refers to efforts by financial actors to persuade or pressure the management of the companies they’re invested in to reduce their carbon footprint or otherwise adopt more environmentally friendly practices, often through their votes as shareholders. Engagement tries to use capital to change behavior.
Divestment refers to the practice of selling holdings in carbon-intensive assets – primarily the coal and oil & gas industries – and refusing to make further investments, seeking to starve the targets of capital and force them out of the market.
December 2017, Betty Yee, a board member of California’s public pension system CalPERS, launched Climate Action 100+, which has since become probably the largest and most ambitious investor engagement campaign ever created. The initiative was created to coordinate institutional investors’ actions to “ensure the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change. The initiative has since had over 370 institutional investors from around the world representing more than $35 trillion in assets under management sign up, including many of the biggest names in finance such as BlackRock, Fidelity, Invesco, PIMCO, UBS, Wells Fargo.
The Climate Action 100+ initiative has an extremely specific, action-oriented agenda to pressure major corporations into cleaning up their carbon footprint. The initiative created a list of 161 “focus companies” that together account for over 80% of global corporate greenhouse gas emissions to target their efforts towards. Many of these are the sort of oil & gas majors that you’d expect such as Exxon Mobil, BP, and Royal Dutch Shell, but they also include companies from transportation such as Ford, Toyota, and Boeing, consumer goods such as Nestle and Procter & Gamble, industrial goods manufacturers such as Dow and Caterpillar, and many others including 32 major electric utilities. For each industry, the initiative lays out a set of agenda items it wants its target companies to improve upon and a strategy for investors to get companies to comply, including by “voting for the removal of directors who have failed in their accountability of climate change risk.
For some investors, engagement isn’t enough, they don’t want to support the fossil fuel industry with their capital at all. Fossil fuel divestment campaigns have rapidly accelerated since 2017. As of December 2019, over 1,200 institutions representing more than $12 trillion have divested from fossil fuels, according to Wikipedia. Divestment scored its biggest win yet late last year with the announcement that Norway’s $1.1 trillion sovereign wealth fund will divest from oil & gas exploration & production companies.
This situation is getting to the point where it might be creating a runaway feedback loop, a “run on the bank” on fossil fuel assets where even investors who don’t give a damn about the environment or climate change shun coal, oil, and gas companies because everybody else is. Enter Jim Cramer, the (in)famous host of CNBC’s Mad Money, who just a couple of weeks ago declared there’s no more money to be made in oil and gas stocks. Cramer made my above point very explicitly:

“I am not here, though, to take political stands. My job is to help you try to make money. And the honest truth is I don’t think I can help you make money in the oil and gas stocks anymore… I’m done with fossil fuels … they’re just done."

Carbon Tax Man

As renewable energy becomes cheaper and cheaper, governments around the world are taking increasingly aggressive actions to make fossil fuels more expensive – by taxing them. At least 40 national and sub-national governments around the world now have a carbon tax or carbon cap-and-trade system in place, with several more scheduled to implement one or officially considering it.
And the pace has been picking up in recent years. Since 2017 China, Singapore, Canada, South Africa, Mexico, and Chile have rolled out carbon pricing policies, and several countries have expanded previously existing programs. 13 US states representing 38.8% of US GDP have already passed carbon pricing laws, with several more being considered in other state legislatures.
this I think spells out the endgame for fossil fuels. These three forces – cheapening renewable energy, sustainable investment campaigns, and government policy – have now formed a mutually reinforcing loop that forms a noose tightening around the fossil fuel industry’s neck. It goes like this: cheap renewable energy reduces the economic dependence its consumers have on conventional energy sources and insulates them from the economic effects of a carbon tax or similar policies – think of a person who drives a Tesla and has solar panels on her roof; she doesn’t care if the government raises carbon taxes; she knows she won’t pay them – this increases the proportion of the population that favors carbon-reduction policies and the propensity of the government to pass such laws.
These laws impose greater costs on fossil fuel companies, which hurts their returns to investors. Investors increasingly dump their holdings in the sector, raising the cost of capital for conventional energy companies – meanwhile, the institutional investors that are left are increasingly prohibiting the boards of these companies from even trying to lobby against such efforts. The higher cost of capital makes it even more difficult for coal, oil, and gas producers to stay competitive, so the relative attractiveness of renewables increases further still, and the cycle repeats itself.
This might already be happening to the coal industry right now. Coal stocks are down over 30% over the last year during a bull market in stocks and despite still-increasing demand from places like China and other developing regions. Coal miners are filing bankruptcy left and right in America and at this rate there soon won’t be any left (you might say they’re sinking like a rock). The oil & gas industry is much larger and can hold out longer, but it still only comprises about 5% of total world stock market capitalization; big – but not too big to fail. I don’t know when it might happen – maybe in a few years, maybe in a few months – but if the oil & gas industry gets caught in the same spiral we could see the entire multi-trillion dollar sector completely devastated in a matter of months, weeks, or days.
In such a scenario, the price of oil and gas might ironically increase in the short run due to supply-side effects, as companies are so broke they can’t even afford to drill. This would then make renewable energy then suddenly even more attractive. In a relatively short span of time we could see mass closures of gas-powered plants to be replaced with solar panels, and mass scraping of gas-powered vehicles to be replaced with battery-powered ones. I’m fairly confident that something like this will happen sometime this decade, and would estimate there is at least a 50% chance that by the end of the 2020s more than 50% of world energy production is generated from renewables (this is quite a bit higher than most people are forecasting, as nobody is really taking these feedback loops into account). If I’m wrong, take it up with me in 2030 and I’ll buy you a beer.

Key Points - Feel free to skip the rest of this post beyond this section
We have to make people question their many negative assumptions about Bernie, which they mostly got from the media. Here's how:

• The mainstream media is a private industry made up of corporations whose owners care more about profits than about us.
• Bernie wants to reverse tax cuts for the rich.
• To protect their profits, the mainstream media manufactures false narratives ("unelectable", "can't get things done", "toxic Bernie Bros", "too radical", etc), spins pro-Bernie news to be negative, and does everything to censodisparage him to turn voters away from him.
• When media personalities say "the economy will be ruined by these government programs", it's really just their bosses not wanting to pay their fair share of taxes. These talking heads would not be employed in these positions if their beliefs did not conform with the elites' views.
• We can continuously bomb middle eastern countries with billion-dollar weapons, give subsidies to fossil fuel companies, bail out Wall Street when their gambles fail, yet somehow we can't invest in the future of everyday Americans?
• Bernie's ideas are not radical at all. Take universal healthcare for example. Most Americans want it. Canada has it. The UK has it. Singapore has it. Japan has it. And yet somehow, we can't have it because it's "socialist"?
• That's what they want us to think because that way of thinking benefits them, not us.
• With the mainstream media mostly against Bernie, our campaign faces a massive disadvantage in terms of reach. The unprecedented grassroots organization and volunteer army behind him makes up for this disadvantage. We're growing everyday, but our strength has yet to match the absolute power of the media, in cahoots with big money groups and the political establishment (who collectively stand to make a bit less profit under a Sanders presidency).
• Therefore, we need to grow even faster than we're doing now. To do this, we need much stronger messaging that really gets through to people who are not already on-board.
• A good place to start is by exposing the anti-Bernie bias of the media, and explaining why they have that bias. See the above points for the explanation.
• It's not enough to point out that "the media, the establishment, the corporate elites don't want us to win." The why is more important.
• While anecdotal, this line of argumentation is extremely effective from my experience online. Post creative content on all major websites: Reddit, Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, etc. pointing this out. Bernie supporters and canvassers should tell this to the people they're trying to convince. Inform your friends, family, neighbors, classmates, coworkers. Bernie himself has to spell this out at some point. We need to spread it far and wide.
• Do not hesitate to bring this up to every person you can get. Especially to people who are "avoiding politics". We need to plant the seeds of doubt in the minds of everyone.
• This will make people question their assumptions about Bernie, and they can turn towards less biased sources of information. The more they find out about him, the more they will like him. His record of integrity, courage, and compassion spanning decades speaks for itself.
• The mainstream media won't explicitly contrast Biden's record with Bernie's fantastic record over the decades. They will not show Biden's record on busing, Glass-Steagall, the Iraq War, DOMA, the bankruptcy bill, and the Patriot Act. They will not show his frequent gaffes and untoward behavior with girls. We have to do it ourselves.
• Perhaps more importantly, this will make people question their over-reliance on a few news sources. Diversifying our sources keeps us more informed. An informed populace is essential to a functioning democracy.
• Debunking the individual narratives manufactured by the corporate media is very important in further exposing their bias, and we will do that. I will write about them in later parts of this series (this is Part 1).
• The play would go as follows: Debunk media myth -> Explain that the myth is part of a larger pattern of anti-Bernie bias -> Explain why this bias exists -> Sway them to our cause
• We're onto them. We know their game. They're trying to trick us into voting against our own interests. But it won't work if we awaken everyone to this reality.
• This is how we win.

​

Introduction

I am not American, but I feel like I am part of this movement. Bernie is the most inspiring candidate in my lifetime and he has given me hope amidst my descent into cynicism. The past few years have been a quagmire of post-truth politics and authoritarianism and laughable incompetence and bigotry and cynicism and shameless disregard for the planet's future in favor of short-term profits.
I want to save the planet from further environmental exploitation, and I want to live in a kinder, more accepting, more compassionate world. With Bernie at the helm of the most powerful country, perhaps we can make that a reality. I've never looked forward to any election as much as this one, and I can' t even vote in it! (Again, not American) Don't mess this up please. The rest of the world is watching.
​
You can read the Key Points section and skip the rest.
The above Key Points section was initially supposed to be a TL;DR of what I wanted to say, but it can stand well enough on its own. For each part of this series that I intend to (hopefully) write, you can read the Key Points section and skip the rest. I don't want impenetrable walls of text and long paragraphs. We need solid talking points that get to the heart of issues -- ones that can successfully convince people.
The rest of these write-ups will expand on the key points and provide supplemental links and sources. I will adopt a language as though I were American so you can just copy-paste to reply to someone. Please do not hesitate to do so, and don't bother crediting me. Convincing people is the top priority right now, and as more primary contests loom in the horizon, we need to start as soon as we can. Participate in discussions and debates, online and offline. That is the only way we will beat the anti-Bernie airwaves.
​

The Role Of Mainstream Media - Manufacturing Consent

Six corporations own 90% of the media. This means that very few people control the information flow to and from the vast majority of Americans' minds. This allows them to control the broad public consensus on many important issues. Unsurprisingly, the consensus they try to push will always align with the interests of the rich who own them.
So many things make sense when we realize that corporate media serves not as an instrument of finding truth, but as a propaganda outlet subservient to the needs and interests of the elite.
In the 1988 book "Manufacturing Consent" by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky, the authors lay out a propaganda model that exposes the mechanism by which the media selectively favors and suppresses certain narratives. According to this model, there are five different "filters" that effectively constrain the narratives and stories the media is allowed to publish. The filters are as follows:

• Ownership: News stories that go against the interests and profits of the owners of news corporations are heavily suppressed.
• Advertising: The high expenses associated with running a mass media firm means that they need to please advertisers to be commercially viable.
• Sourcing or Media Elite: Media journalists must be careful to preserve their privileged access to the people in prominent institutions -- like government agencies and corporations -- who are generally regarded as "authorities" or "experts".
• Flak: Broadcasting that goes against the narrative favored by the elites will be subjected to "flak" in the form of letters, complaints, lawsuits, or legislative actions.
• Anti-Communism or more generally, the Common Enemy: Media will try to force a consensus by invoking fear and contempt for a "common enemy", and any positive portrayal of these entities will be avoided.

It's a phenomenally eye-opening book. I strongly recommend it if you have the time. If you don't, this video gives the gist of the propaganda model.
A notable example:
Remember the Iraq War of 2003? The media played a significant role in shaping public opinion to support the invasion. 71% of the coverage in American media was pro-war, and only 3% was against. The rest (26%) was neutral. They put forward false narratives about Weapons of Mass Destruction and Iraqi soldiers killing babies. They stoked the fires of patriotism and "bringing freedom". The consent of the American people was manufactured.
And who benefited from the war? Not the brave working class Americans who lost their limbs, their friends, and their lives. Certainly not the hundreds of thousands (some estimates reach millions) of innocent Iraqi civilians who got killed and millions more who were displaced. It's never the billionaires' children who die in wars. No, all they got was some good money from the weapons sales, the oil they appropriated, and significant boosts to tv ratings.
Meanwhile, this guy led the opposition to that war, bravely standing against all the corporate bloodlust. And guess what? Everyone is now retroactively in agreement with the position he championed. On the right side of history yet again.
​

Media Coverage Of Bernie 2020

Recent examples of anti-Bernie bias:
Bernie Gets Less MSNBC Coverage Than Klobuchar Despite Polling 7x Higher
"Accidentally" flipping the polling numbers so Bernie's not in the lead.
Who is this "Other", who seems to be in the lead?
Commentary on this phenomenon:
7 Ways The Media Sure Is Freaking Out About Bernie Sanders - SOME MORE NEWS
Bernie Sanders’ Rise Prompts Media Meltdown, Establishment Panic: A Closer Look
​
The subreddit BernieBlindness is a goldmine for Bernie censorship and hostile coverage by the media. When you see that many examples, it is impossible to conclude that they are mere "accidents". When these "innocent mistakes" always work against Bernie, it is only rational to think that there is a systemic institutional bias against him. The propaganda model perfectly explains that behavior.
The Five filters in action:

• Ownership: Bernie will tax the rich so corporate media will make sure they turn voters against him. Journalists working for these corporations either have views tolerable to the owners or are avoiding offending their bosses.
• Advertising: Similar to ownership. Greedy corporations would be opposed to Bernie for the exact same reason as above: reversing tax breaks. So they will avoid media firms that portray Bernie positively.
• Sourcing or Media Elite: Media journalists will make sure to mostly invite pundits and "experts" that have negative views of Bernie. They will invite just enough pro-Bernie guests to maintain the appearance of "neutrality", but they will nonetheless be heavily prejudiced against these guests' views. Prominent establishment members will say things like "nobody likes Bernie" even though he has the highest favorability ratings of all the candidates.
• Flak: Big Money groups like Big Pharma, the health insurance industry, the fossil fuel industry, the NRA, Facebook, the prison-industrial complex, the military-industrial complex, and multinational corporations, etc (goddamn our opposition is powerful) will fund SuperPACs to launch negative ads on tv and even full-blown disinformation campaigns on social media.
• Anti-Communism or more generally, the Common Enemy: This one's easy. "Bernie is a communist", "he's too radical", "he honeymooned in the Soviet Union", "he praised Fidel Castro", "he will turn us into Venezuela".

​
That is what we're up against. Our opposition seems overwhelming. All the powers that be are heavily invested in the status quo where millions are suffering while they're getting richer and richer.
We did not anticipate the degree to which they're willing to throw everything against us by having two decently strong candidates drop out just before Super Tuesday, then having the billionaire drop out as well to support the new centrist frontrunner. Meanwhile, the progressive vote continues to be split.
But consider what happened: they've shot their shot and yet it's still neck and neck. They threw everything they had, and that was not enough to stop us. We're not new to this. We were never gonna be a normal campaign. We are a movement. We organize and spread the word ourselves because the media won't do us any favors. And now, we can adopt more powerful rhetoric to spread the word and inoculate people against media bias. Let's do it!
Frontrunner status comes and goes as the race heats up. Over the past year, Bernie has beaten seemingly insurmountable odds as he gradually chipped away at the other candidates' leads and came out on top. He can do it again. The field has narrowed, the establishment has played its hand, while our movement is stronger than ever.

TSLA options
This is officially my first post to reddit. Long time reader, I also watch YouTube videos and don’t have an account so please forgive if my posting etiquette is off. Use to be a casual trader have a degree in economics with specialty in behavioral economics and minor in psychology. Also initially left college in my sophomore year (2010) to move to California and start a dispensary. I was going to McGill university in Montreal for those of you who don’t know of it(most Americans). FYI I am American myself and I’m Canada they call Harvard americas McGill (not bragging personally I still believe college is a tax on lower and middle class). I visited a friend on spring break and this is a time when a gram of weed would get you a night in jail and a misdemeanor and if you are lucky enough to live in Texas or Tennessee and be black either 1-10 in jail and at minimum they’d take your car or house or whatever expensive enclosed space you owned in which they found it or probably planted it. I could not believe what I was seeing when I went to see my friend (LA) and ultimately never returned from spring break. These were also the days when the laws in California were changing so fast that if you got a dispensary license in about 6 months you could sell the license for 10-100x what you paid for it (2k -7k if you used a lawyer or 500$ if you did all the paperwork yourself). I ended up starting the first 24hr delivery dispensary (legal) in California at that time probably the world. Needless to say it was very successful, after about a year I hired someone else to run the day to day and mostly became a semi professional gambler which many of you would consider yourselves. The difference is I was actually gambling in casinos. This is not a story in which I stupidly lose all my money at a craps table although there were some fear and loathing-esque weekends during this time that are noteworthy themselves. Also to note I decided to move with exactly 2$ to my name and my parents cutting me off because I was leaving college, luckily I also owned (or rather rented for free) a spot on my dear friends couch (who would later end up being an employee). Within 6 months I was worth about 50k within 12 I was making that much every week. This is the part where some of you may become disappointed because of all the interesting preamble that sounded like it was going to end in a crazy story where I used 50 lbs of weed to leverage a massive short on some stock because I had 24hrs to pay off the Armenian mafia or they would give me a Chinese haircut. Despite the fact that that did happen (with some minor liberties taken in the description although ones that make it actually less crazy of a story) it’s not what I am here writing about. I ended up starting my dispensary by winning 48k one night at the native casino near LA can’t remember the name but anyone from SoCal knows what it’s called. I was also a casual trader albeit very successful when I took it seriously. My dad is also a doctor so I essentially invested it all on ARNA before the fda approval of their new weight loss drug (at the time) I think it was called belviq. Anyway it was a killer, went from like 5 bucks to like 25 in a couple of days and I was looking good to start my business. Since then I’ve continued to dabble and did a lot of shorting but hated the risk, was unaware of options trading. After reading a couple articles online I started getting into it, fast forward to me studying economics (In which I didn’t learn much I didn’t already know except how to use programs to analyze massive amounts of data to find out trends that mostly my own intuition was good enough to tell me), but now atleast I’m a “respectable person” in the eyes of my parents and the business world. Ultimately since this is my first post I decided to go big and long with it because I just felt that would be proper and maybe someone would be entertained, and maybe in the future I will divulge the actual crazy shit that happened but wall street bets doesn’t seem like the right thread (?). I just wanted to introduce myself and say, when TSLA hit 964 two days ago how many thousands of wallstreeters and tens of thousands of thousands or hundreds or however many of you redditors that are trading options and know half a twats worth what you’re doing did jizz their pants and buy some puts. Personally I like to gamble only saw it once it had dipped down to 900$ before closing but was trending down already. I figured I’d buy something that had a really short execution period for cheap af at like 895$ and once it dipped to like 865 or something sell but ultimately I knew in my heart as most of u do that it was going to drop to maybe 700 or lower. Didn’t have the liquidity to do what I would have liked but called some of the rich people I know who did and they wanted to jerk me off at 11 am the next morning. The few who missed out were begging for what next. One particular who is a relative of mine and a VP at major software company (think top 3) argued that wouldn’t everyone be buying puts and isn’t that what drove the price up? Wouldn’t it be better to sell options on the tsla shares you own and then if it goes down you made some cash and buy more at the lower price. I’m sure many of you know why that is a much weaker play and has way less upside and at the same time limits your risk way less. When the morning came he and others who didn’t follow thru were dying they missed out and asking me what to do next. I hadn’t looked much but it seemed to be bottoming out at 7 and I assumed put buyers were starting to executing their contracts so I said buy calls near 700 and do it for the shortest period u can find in terms of days. By lunch time it’s at 750$ ofcourse and my suggestion of 10-20 contracts would be betting a nice 80-90k maybe more if u bought the ridiculously short term options. Most of them were able to cash out my relative who is an exec at (insert top software company here) still missed out. He had to go into a meeting and didn’t have enough time to execute and wanted to die as he watched the stock jump 50$ and the imaginary dollars that would have been piling up in his investment account disappearing for the second time in one day for the levels he trades and wanted to buy this would have been around 1m maybe he would have made. After his meeting he messages me “uhh I think I need you to manage part of my portfolio, can you do the options trading for me and manage my short term stocks? I don’t have enough time to watch the market because of meetings etc. and when I see what I’m missing out on I can’t pay attentions during the meetings and it’s fucking up my productivity.” - me : “ well I don’t want to have access to your password etc. and be responsible if some fucked shit happens in your portfolio I don’t want to be blamed. Also if I don’t know how I feel about making you millions and then accepting whatever tip you feel is appropriate. Obviously we could do like a percentage but I’d feel better about starting a separate fund and you can put in whatever you feel comfortable investing and we can see how it goes. I Send the same message to everyone in my thread. Looks like I may have inadvertently started a hedge fund let’s see how it goes. Depending on the funding I will repost with proof.

Hello all,

Ill try to be a brief and to the point, I've seen similar questions, but none with an answer for the predicament i'm in.
So, I have a bank who's lent 120-130 thousand (With Co-signee) with intentions of me taking over the full amount.
Once taking over the full amount, I'm then planning on letting the line of credit get sold to a collection agency for recovery.
( I heard "judgment" lasts anywhere between 7-10 years once its not being assessed anymore)
Now a few things to mention, while all this nonsense is happening. I'm hoping to have solidified other credit cards/ bank accounts in the hopes that any of the other separate banks history and agreements are undisturbed and the only thing tainted is my overall credit score relation with that institution.
(After talking with customer service for a couple hours I found out that by doing something like this, it'd be merely impossible to get any type of account re-opened with the same institution)
That being said, I wont have issues opening new credit cards or banks while my current credit score is being tarnished. (versus declaring bankruptcy/insolvency to absolve any debt including any relations to financial institutions even if not in debt with them)
So far so good? I do hope I'm explaining everything correctly, please let me know if i need to clarify anything below.
3 MAJOR POINTS if you've gotten this far ;)

1. I was a neutralized Canadian before 18 mo old. Meaning it wasn't possible to obtain my SIN at that time and i grew up in the states shortly after being of age to do so, since then its been long forgotten..

Until now...
2) I already have other bank accounts + credit account without a SIN. So im not in dire confusion wondering why this institution lent me money.. (also to mention i have other institutions as fallout's in case of coming across work, inheritance , lottery or maybe just a gamble payout.. Although when push comes to shove I'm sure whatever i accumulate in there the collection agency will try to grab if they sue me and win..
3) Lastly If you know your law, I cant apply for bankruptcy, due to having a SIN, you know.. to declare any taxes and get paid ;) Let alone work in Canada unless as an self made entrepreneur or under the table.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now devils advocate me any of this, like why not just apply for SIN and pay back the loan. Or apply for SIN and declare bankruptcy?
My belief regarding both of these two ideas i just brought up, is that why not try to get away with it? And regarding declaring bankruptcy, well yeah a more legally correct way of doing it. But i just don't want to get a SIN just yet honestly, I have other taxes i'm obliged to pay, and if i work in another country its defiantly 1.3 - 1.4x of a higher currency, meaning i'm stupid to look for work right away in Canada
So by trying this new method, I in theory may just lose out on anything i "own" here in Canada.. Well just to mention, all my savings here is maybe equivalent to a bag of peanuts. Anyways, I would fall back to my other citizenship right after the loan was transferred into my name and I'd just like to know if there are any repercussions after getting the loan in my name and not paying it back. Like could it affect the person i co signed with for example and somehow effective in the sense that the old contract would be re-validated ? I'm not worried about going to court with collection agency's, i know the loan was private and not federal so by not paying it back, or letting the agency win in court, I wont go to prison and wont lose out on much. So any thoughts or KIND philosophies regarding this are appreciated, If you have nothing nice to say.. Please don't say anything at all.
( Note I am fully capable with differentiating constructive criticism vs negativity, and i'm in no sense in denial. I'm only looking for thoughts, suggestions or strategies from similar minded people. Please not your opinions on why i may be going to hell or why its morally wrong)

Thanks for reading if you got all the way to this point, I'm sorry for this being much longer of a post than mentioned before.

Key Points

• The mainstream media is a private industry made up of corporations whose owners care more about profits than about us.
• Bernie wants to reverse tax cuts for the rich.
• Predictably, the mainstream media manufactures false narratives ("unelectable", "can't get things done", "toxic Bernie Bros", "too radical", etc), spins pro-Bernie news to be negative, and does everything to censodisparage Bernie to turn voters away from him, so they can protect their profits.
• When media personalities say "the economy will be ruined by these government programs", it's really just their bosses not wanting to pay their fair share of taxes. These talking heads would not be employed in these positions if their beliefs did not conform with the elites' views.
• We can continuously bomb middle eastern countries with billion-dollar weapons, give subsidies to fossil fuel companies, bail out Wall Street when their gambles fail, yet somehow we can't invest in the future of everyday Americans?
• Bernie's ideas are not radical at all. Take universal healthcare for example. Most Americans want it. Canada has it. The UK has it. Singapore has it. Japan has it. And yet somehow, we can't have it because it's "socialist"?
• That's what they want us to think because that way of thinking benefits them, not us.
• With the mainstream media mostly against Bernie, our campaign faces a massive disadvantage in terms of reach. The unprecedented grassroots organization and volunteer army behind him makes up for this disadvantage. We're growing everyday, but our strength has yet to match the absolute power of the media, in cahoots with big money groups and the political establishment (who collectively stand to make a bit less profit under a Sanders presidency).
• Therefore, we need to grow even faster than we're doing now. To do this, we need much stronger messaging that really gets through to people who are not already on-board.
• We can start by exposing the anti-Bernie bias of the media, and explaining why they have that bias. See the above points for the explanation.
• It's not enough to point out that "the media, the establishment, the corporate elites don't want us to win." The why is more important.
• While anecdotal, this line of argumentation is extremely effective from my experience online. Post creative content on all major websites: Reddit, Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, etc. pointing this out. Bernie supporters and canvassers should tell this to the people they're trying to convince. Inform your friends, family, neighbors, classmates, coworkers. Bernie himself has to spell this out at some point. We need to spread it far and wide.
• Do not hesitate to bring this up to every person you can get. Especially to people who are "avoiding politics". We need to plant the seeds of doubt in the minds of everyone.
• This will make people question their assumptions about Bernie, and they can turn towards less biased sources of information. The more they find out about him, the more they will like him. His record of integrity, courage, and compassion spanning decades speaks for itself.
• The mainstream media won't explicitly contrast Biden's record with Bernie's fantastic record over the decades. They will not show Biden's record on busing, Glass-Steagall, the Iraq War, DOMA, the bankruptcy bill, and the Patriot Act. They will not show his frequent gaffes and untoward behavior with girls. We have to do it ourselves.
• Perhaps more importantly, this will make people question their over-reliance on a few news sources. Diversifying our sources keeps us more informed. An informed populace is essential to a functioning democracy.
• Debunking the individual narratives manufactured by the corporate media is very important in further exposing their bias, and we will do that. I will write about them in later parts of this series (this is Part 1).
• The play would go as follows: Debunk media myth -> Expose media bias and disinformation campaigns -> Explain why this happens -> Sway them to our cause
• We're onto them. We know their game. They're trying to trick us into voting against our own interests. But it won't work if we awaken everyone to this reality.
• This is how we win.

Feel free to skip the rest of this post.
​

Introduction

I am not American, but I feel like I am part of this movement. Bernie is the most inspiring candidate in my lifetime and he has given me hope amidst my descent into cynicism. The past few years have been a quagmire of post-truth politics and authoritarianism and laughable incompetence and bigotry and cynicism and shameless disregard for the planet's future in favor of short-term profits.
I want to save the planet from further environmental exploitation, and I want to live in a kinder, more accepting, more compassionate world. With Bernie at the helm of the most powerful country, perhaps we can make that a reality. I've never looked forward to any election as much as this one, and I can' t even vote in it! (Again, not American) Don't mess this up please. The rest of the world is watching.
​
You can read the Key Points section and skip the rest.
The above Key Points section was initially supposed to be a TL;DR of what I wanted to say, but it can stand well enough on its own. For each part of this series that I intend to (hopefully) write, you can read the Key Points section and skip the rest. I don't want impenetrable walls of text and long paragraphs. We need solid talking points that get to the heart of issues -- ones that can successfully convince people.
The rest of these write-ups will expand on the key points and provide supplemental links and sources. I will adopt a language as though I were American so you can just copy-paste to reply to someone. Please do not hesitate to do so, and don't bother crediting me. Convincing people is the top priority right now, and as more primary contests loom in the horizon, we need to start as soon as we can. Participate in discussions and debates, online and offline. That is the only way we will beat the anti-Bernie airwaves.
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The Role Of Mainstream Media - Manufacturing Consent

Six corporations own 90% of the media. This means that very few people control the information flow to and from the vast majority of Americans' minds. This allows them to control the broad public consensus on many important issues. Unsurprisingly, the consensus they try to push will always align with the interests of the rich who own them.
So many things make sense when we realize that corporate media serves not as an instrument of finding truth, but as a propaganda outlet subservient to the needs and interests of the elite.
In the 1988 book "Manufacturing Consent" by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky, the authors lay out a propaganda model that exposes the mechanism by which the media selectively favors and suppresses certain narratives. According to this model, there are five different "filters" that effectively constrain the narratives and stories the media is allowed to publish. The filters are as follows:

• Ownership: News stories that go against the interests and profits of the owners of news corporations are heavily suppressed.
• Advertising: The high expenses associated with running a mass media firm means that they need to please advertisers to be commercially viable.
• Sourcing or Media Elite: Media journalists must be careful to preserve their privileged access to the people in prominent institutions -- like government agencies and corporations -- who are generally regarded as "authorities" or "experts".
• Flak: Broadcasting that goes against the narrative favored by the elites will be subjected to "flak" in the form of letters, complaints, lawsuits, or legislative actions.
• Anti-Communism or more generally, the Common Enemy: Media will try to force a consensus by invoking fear and contempt for a "common enemy", and any positive portrayal of these entities will be avoided.

It's a phenomenally eye-opening book. I strongly recommend it if you have the time. If you don't, this video gives the gist of the propaganda model.
A notable example:
Remember the Iraq War of 2003? The media played a significant role in shaping public opinion to support the invasion. 71% of the coverage in American media was pro-war, and only 3% was against. The rest (26%) was neutral. They put forward false narratives about Weapons of Mass Destruction and Iraqi soldiers killing babies. They stoked the fires of patriotism and "bringing freedom". The consent of the American people was manufactured.
And who benefited from the war? Not the brave working class Americans who lost their limbs, their friends, and their lives. Certainly not the hundreds of thousands (some estimates reach millions) of innocent Iraqi civilians who got killed and millions more who were displaced. It's never the billionaires' children who die in wars. No, all they got was some good money from the weapons sales, the oil they appropriated, and significant boosts to tv ratings.
Meanwhile, this guy led the opposition to that war, bravely standing against all the corporate bloodlust. And guess what? Everyone is now retroactively in agreement with the position he championed. On the right side of history yet again.
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Media Coverage Of Bernie 2020

Recent examples of anti-Bernie bias:
Bernie Gets Less MSNBC Coverage Than Klobuchar Despite Polling 7x Higher
"Accidentally" flipping the polling numbers so Bernie's not in the lead.
Who is this "Other", who seems to be in the lead?
Commentary on this phenomenon:
7 Ways The Media Sure Is Freaking Out About Bernie Sanders - SOME MORE NEWS
Bernie Sanders’ Rise Prompts Media Meltdown, Establishment Panic: A Closer Look
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The subreddit BernieBlindness is a goldmine for Bernie censorship and hostile coverage by the media. When you see that many examples, it is impossible to conclude that they are mere "accidents". When these "innocent mistakes" always work against Bernie, it is only rational to think that there is a systemic institutional bias against him. The propaganda model perfectly explains that behavior.
The Five filters in action:

• Ownership: Bernie will tax the rich so corporate media will make sure they turn voters against him. Journalists working for these corporations either have views tolerable to the owners or are avoiding offending their bosses.
• Advertising: Similar to ownership. Greedy corporations would be opposed to Bernie for the exact same reason as above: reversing tax breaks. So they will avoid media firms that portray Bernie positively.
• Sourcing or Media Elite: Media journalists will make sure to mostly invite pundits and "experts" that have negative views of Bernie. They will invite just enough pro-Bernie guests to maintain the appearance of "neutrality", but they will nonetheless be heavily prejudiced against these guests' views. Prominent establishment members will say things like "nobody likes Bernie" even though he has the highest favorability ratings of all the candidates.
• Flak: Big Money groups like Big Pharma, the health insurance industry, the fossil fuel industry, the NRA, Facebook, the prison-industrial complex, the military-industrial complex, and multinational corporations, etc (goddamn our opposition is powerful) will fund SuperPACs to launch negative ads on tv and even full-blown disinformation campaigns on social media.
• Anti-Communism or more generally, the Common Enemy: This one's easy. "Bernie is a communist", "he's too radical", "he honeymooned in the Soviet Union", "he praised Fidel Castro", "he will turn us into Venezuela".

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That is what we're up against. Our opposition seems overwhelming. All the powers that be are heavily invested in the status quo where millions are suffering while they're getting richer and richer.
We did not anticipate the degree to which they're willing to throw everything against us by having two decently strong candidates drop out just before Super Tuesday, then having the billionaire drop out as well to support the new centrist frontrunner. Meanwhile, the progressive vote continues to be split.
But consider what happened: they've shot their shot and yet it's still neck and neck. They threw everything they had, and that was not enough to stop us. We're not new to this. We were never gonna be a normal campaign. We are a movement. We organize and spread the word ourselves because the media won't do us any favors. And now, we can adopt more powerful rhetoric to spread the word and inoculate people against media bias. Let's do it!
Frontrunner status comes and goes as the race heats up. Over the past year, Bernie has beaten seemingly insurmountable odds as he gradually chipped away at the other candidates' leads and came out on top. He can do it again. The field has narrowed, the establishment has played its hand, while our movement is stronger than ever.