"I drive it all the time‚ so fun." Continue reading…

When she warns her ex with‚ "Don't say come over‚ don't swear that you're different / You made your bed and I ain't sleeping in it‚" you want to give out high fives. Continue reading…

South Korea plans to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot program in 2024‚ including 100‚000 selected citizens for the trial in the year’s 4th quarter. The Bank of Korea (BOK) and financial authorities will jointly operate the pilot. “The BOK‚ Financial Services Commission (FSC) and Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced the plans‚ following the visit of Agustin Carstens‚ general manager of the Bank for International Settlements‚ to the BOK on Thursday‚” The Korea Times wrote. “The plans are a developed version of their earlier announcement made in October‚ that disclosed the central bank’s intention to take real-world experiments on CBDC‚” the outlet added. Korea to pilot digital currency with 100‚000 citizens next year https://t.co/4Bbhzd6kmb pic.twitter.com/PSPZLsASGH — Camus (@newstart_2024) December 14‚ 2023 More from The Korea Times: Under the pilot project‚ 100‚000 selected individuals can purchase goods with deposit tokens issued by commercial banks in the form of CBDC‚ similar to using a voucher at the store. Selected commercial banks will recruit participants around September to October of the following year‚ and will continue the project for three months. The BOK explained that the digital currencies have the potential to significantly address challenges with existing voucher systems‚ such as special grants during COVID-19 and childcare grants offered by the government. The challenges include high transaction fees‚ slow settlement processes‚ limitations of post-transaction verification and concerns over fraudulent claims. However‚ participants will be restricted to using the currency solely for its designated purpose of payment. Other uses‚ including personal remittance‚ will not be permitted at this time. Additionally‚ technological experiments will be conducted to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of issuing and distributing these new forms of financial products. For instance‚ the BOK will collaborate with the Korea Exchange to integrate the CBDC into a simulation system for carbon emissions trading. This will include testing the feasibility of delivery versus payment transactions between carbon emissions rights and the payment tokens. “Following consultations with relevant organizations and a review of related laws‚ the pilot project will be conducted first in the fourth quarter of 2024. The possibility of conducting separate pilots will be considered as well if banks propose new individual projects‚” an official from the BOK said. Daily CBDC Update The Bank of Korea (BoK) announced plans for a wholesale CBDC pilot in collaboration with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS); The concept of a "Tokenized voucher" is introduced‚ which restricts digital currency usage for specific purposes… — Hotep Jesus (@HotepJesus) October 4‚ 2023 “Last month‚ South Korea’s central bank outlined its wholesale CBDC pilot plan to support tokenized deposits in commercial banks and explore new forms of financial products‚” TechCrunch noted. According to the outlet‚ Samsung will collaborate with the Bank of Korea on the CBDC pilot. Samsung to collaborate with Bank of Korea on CBDC https://t.co/QQekJfSyGd — ASADAL (@hwamool) December 10‚ 2023 TechCrunch reports: The central bank is currently discussing selecting a city from the three potential city candidates in South Korea — Jeju‚ Busan and Incheon — as a test bed for piloting the CBDC‚ per a local media report released in August. Seoul‚ the capital of South Korea‚ is not included on the list. South Korea’s central bank‚ which has been working on CBDC pilots since 2020‚ completed two phases of pilot tests in 2021 and 2022 for its retail CBDC. It also ran simulations from July to November 2022‚ along with Korea Financial Telecommunications &; Clearings Institute (KFTC) and 14 commercial banks. The Korean central bank partnered with a host of technology partners for the simulation projects‚ including Samsung Electronics‚ Ground X (a web3 subsidiary of Korea’s tech firm Kakao)‚ ConsenSys‚ KPMG‚ Kakao Bank‚ Kakao Pay and more. After the simulation‚ Samsung signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bank of Korea this May to conduct some research on digital currencies — these digital currencies could work with Samsung’s Galaxy phones and watches. Samsung’s offline CBDC technology‚ which uses near-field communication (NFC)‚ allows contactless payments between devices when both sender and recipient are disconnected from the internet.

The U.S. Supreme Court tossed three cases challenging the Biden administration’s now-rescinded COVID-19 jab mandates for federal government employees and military members. Before the high court reviewed the cases‚ the Biden administration scrapped the mandates. Instead of reviewing decisions from the lower courts‚ the Supreme Court gave instructions to dismiss the cases as “moot.” “In this instance‚ ‘moot’ refers to a case involving an issue (COVID-19 vaccine mandates) that did exist‚ but was resolved by some means other than the court ruling in favor of one side or the other‚” The Defender reports. Children’s Health Defense (CHD) staff attorney Ray Flores told the outlet the Supreme Court’s move prevents a lower court’s decision from setting case precedent. In other words‚ the high court left the door open for future vaccine mandates. “Erasing a ruling erases case precedent‚” Flores told The Defender. “When the next mandates come‚ and they will‚ it’s back to square one‚” he added. Supreme Court Tosses Cases Challenging Federal COVID Vaccine Mandates “Erasing a ruling erases case precedent. When the next mandates come‚ and they will‚ it’s back to square one.” — Ray Flores‚ attorney https://t.co/5JY0DwaeVS — Children’s Health Defense (@ChildrensHD) December 13‚ 2023 The Defender provided background on the three cases challenging the COVID-19 jab mandates: Feds for Freedom — a nonprofit representing more than 8‚500 federal workers — sued the Biden administration and several federal agencies in December 2021 after Biden introduced Executive Order 14043 in September 2021. That order required more than 3.5 million federal executive branch workers to undergo COVID-19 vaccination unless they secured approved medical or religious exemptions. The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in March upheld a preliminary injunction in that case‚ issued in January 2022 by a federal judge. The 5th Circuit ruled that the federal courts — and not an administrative venue like the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB)‚ as the administration alleged — had jurisdiction over the case The court ruled the mandate should be suspended as the case proceeded through the courts. In a second case challenging the federal employee mandate‚ Navy civilian employee Jason Payne alleged the vaccine mandate was unconstitutional and exceeded the administration’s authority. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit came to the opposite decision in that case‚ ruling in March that the MSPB and not the courts had jurisdiction over the case. The Biden administration in May rescinded the vaccine mandate along with the COVID-19 public health emergency. The mandates had “saved millions of lives” it claimed in a press release‚ but “we are now in a different phase of our response when these measures are no longer necessary.” The administration argued that the cases are no longer relevant because it revoked the mandate. In the third case‚ the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in December 2022 unanimously ruled that the U.S. Air Force had wrongly denied the requests of over 10‚000 unvaccinated Air Force members who requested a religious exemption. The court ordered the Air Force to stop all disciplinary action against them. In that decision‚ the court held that the Air Force had a “uniform policy” of denying religious exemptions to anyone who wanted to remain in the service. “The Supreme Court on Dec. 11 threw out three cases involving federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates‚ handing a win to President Joe Biden and his administration. In unsigned rulings‚ the justices said that rulings against mandates imposed by President Biden and the U.S. military… pic.twitter.com/MwUfC4jzYN — Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) December 13‚ 2023 Chief Nerd writes: “The Supreme Court on Dec. 11 threw out three cases involving federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates‚ handing a win to President Joe Biden and his administration. In unsigned rulings‚ the justices said that rulings against mandates imposed by President Biden and the U.S. military have been vacated. They also remanded the cases back to lower courts with instructions for the courts to vacate preliminary injunctions that had been in place against the administration as moot. The decisions mean that the rulings won’t act as precedent in future vaccine mandate cases.” “We believe the United States Constitution clearly does not permit the federal government to force federal workers—or any law abiding citizen—to inject their bodies with something against their will. In fact‚ the freedom to control your own body and your own medical information is so basic that‚ without those liberties‚ it is impossible to truly be ‘free’ at all‚” Marcus Thornton‚ president of Feds for Freedom‚ said in a statement‚ according to The Epoch Times. “We are disappointed that the Supreme Court dodged these important Constitutional arguments and instead chose to vacate our case on technicalities‚” he added. “In federal and state courts‚ the government strategy has largely been to try to moot problematic vaccine rulings‚ and vacate the lower court rulings‚ in what appears to be open gamesmanship. It is disappointing that the Supreme Court issued these rulings yesterday‚ as this will only encourage that tactic going forward‚” Sujata Gibson‚ a civil rights attorney representing plaintiffs in several New York cases challenging COVID-19 jab mandates‚ told The Defender. Supreme Court wipes out rulings on federal vaccine mandates | Just The News https://t.co/e93YB83pKU — John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) December 11‚ 2023 From The Epoch Times: The government was asking the Supreme Court to endorse a “heads we win‚ tails you get vacated” version of a previous court decision‚ United States v. Munsingwear‚ lawyers for the federal workers wrote in one brief. If granted‚ the government would be able to “litigate to the hilt in both district and circuit court and—only if they lose—then decline to seek substantive review from this court and instead moot the case and ask this court to erase the circuit court loss from the books‚” according to the brief. Lawyers for the military members noted that Congress forced the military to rescind its mandate‚ but that the legislation didn’t prevent the Department of Defense from issuing another mandate. Government lawyers said the mandates were rescinded because the pandemic situation had changed‚ not because they were challenged. They also argued that the mandates “cannot be reasonably expected to recur.” Lawyers for the military members said that the claim was “in serious tension” with the demand to vacate the rulings under the Munsingwear precedent‚ given that the purpose of such a move “is to clear the path for future re-litigation without res judicata concerns.” None of the Supreme Court justices except for Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson‚ who was appointed by President Biden‚ explained their decisions on the cases.

A Turkish lawmaker who collapsed onto the floor of Parliament and suffered cardiac arrest moments after saying Israel would “suffer the wrath of Allah” has passed away. “Hasan Bitmez‚ 53‚ fell to the ground behind the podium while addressing the Grand Assembly of the Turkish National Assembly‚” 100 Percent Fed Up noted Tuesday. [WATCH] Turkish Lawmaker Collapses And Goes Into Cardiac Arrest After Saying Israel Would “Suffer The Wrath Of Allah” Collin Rugg writes: Turkish lawmaker Hasan Bitmez collapses from a heart attack just seconds after saying Israel would “suffer the wrath of Allah.” The 53-year old lawmaker collapsed after giving his speech in the General Assembly Hall in Ankara‚ the Capital of Turkey. “We can perhaps hide from our conscience but not from history… Israel will suffer the wrath of Allah‚” he said seconds before collapsing. Bitmez is reportedly in “critical condition” after he became “disturbed” during his speech. WATCH: NEW: Turkish lawmaker Hasan Bitmez collapses from a heart attack just seconds after saying Israel would "suffer the wrath of Allah." The 53-year old lawmaker collapsed after giving his speech in the General Assembly Hall in Ankara‚ the Capital of Turkey. "We can perhaps hide… pic.twitter.com/OpoXO2g1z2 — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 12‚ 2023 Reuters reports: An opposition Turkish lawmaker died on Thursday‚ two days after suffering a heart attack and collapsing in front of parliament as he finished a speech criticising the government’s policy toward Israel. Hasan Bitmez‚ 54‚ a member of parliament from the opposition Felicity (Saadet) Party‚ died in Ankara City Hospital‚ Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told reporters in televised remarks. A graduate of Cairo’s Al Azhar University‚ Bitmez was the chairman of the Centre for Islamic Union Research and had previously worked for Islamic non-governmental organisations‚ his parliament biography shows. He was married and a father of one. Parliament’s official broadcast showed Bitmez collapsing to the floor after having been standing at the podium before the general assembly on Tuesday. He had been criticising President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party (AKP) over Turkey’s ongoing trade with Israel despite the war in Gaza‚ and despite the government’s sharp rhetorical criticism of Israel’s military bombardment.

The President’s son defied a Congressional subpoena Wednesday. Will he face prison time like former Trump advisor Steve Bannon?