The US government is using the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin as a weapon against Venezuela’s government.

“The US Treasury and Federal Reserve releases seized funds to the Guaidó government’s account at a US bank,” a Circle press release claims. “The Guaidó government then uses those funds to mint USDC. The USDC is then sent to Airtm.”

Decrypt claims supporters of Juan Guaidó use Airtm wallets to convert the USD Coins into AirUSD stablecoins. The Guaidó supporters distribute the AirUSD to healthcare workers in Venezuela.

Cryptocurrency Warfare

Juan Guaidó is one of two men who claim to be Venezuela’s president. Venezuela’s National Assembly declared Juan Guaidó president in 2019. However, Guaidó’s rival Nicolás Maduro still controls Venezuela’s government because he has military backing. …

Satellite builder Maxar Technologies Inc. (NYSE: MAXR) has become a stock to watch. In 2020, Maxar’s share price grew from $16.60 on 2 January to $27.25 on 23 November.

I think all the publicity about SpaceX and Blue Origin’s launches drives interest in space stocks. For instance, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon just took four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Moreover, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket landed on a barge in the ocean.

Moreover, Blue Origin has several contracts with NASA, including an effort to develop a space-robot operating system, Techcrunch reports. Blue Origin is also developing the Integrated Lander Vehicle, a next generation moon lander and part of NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) program, a press release indicates. …

The older you get the more bad advice you will get. Sadly, they will package most bad advice and helpful hints or success messaging.

Fortunately, most of the bad advice is so terrible you can see through it. Unfortunately, the worse the advice is the better marketing it will have.

Some of the horrendous advice that will fuck up your life includes:

1. Money does not matter. This advice sounds good until you walk into the supermarket and realize they do not give food away. Sorry folks, money matters get used to it.
2. Follow your passion. This advice worked great for Osama bin Laden, Adolph Hitler, and Charles Manson. If you plan to follow in those murderous madmen’s footsteps following your passion is a great idea. If you want to live in the real world it makes no sense. …

As America nears the end of a terrible year; 2020, in its history, I have to wonder what other eras in history that resemble our own.

Being a history buff, I have a few thoughts on this matter. Unfortunately, some historical parallels to our age are frightening.

Frightening parallels to our era in history include:

Late 1930s Britain

Disturbingly, modern America resembles Late 1930s Great Britain. In the late 1930s, Britain was a declining nation split by terrible economic inequality that considered itself a global superpower.

During the 1930s, Britain’s elite suffered from the delusion that the British Empire still ruled the world. Moreover, in 1930s Britain, nostalgia for past golden ages drove national thought and politics. Political leaders and ordinary people pretended the year was 1900, Queen Victoria was still on the throne, and the British Empire was all-powerful. …

America’s dysfunctional parties cause many of the problems afflicting the United States. You can blame gridlock, failure to address social problems, income inequality, racial division, and growing political polarization on dysfunctional political parties.

I think the Anna Karenina principle applies to political parties. In his classic Anna Karenina, the great Leo Tolstoy wrote: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

In modern parlance, “All functional families are alike. Each dysfunctional family is dysfunctional in its own way.” For example, the Smiths are dysfunctional because Mr. and Mrs. Smith are alcoholics. However, the Martinez family is dysfunctional because Mr. …

Macy’s (M) and department stores are dying before our eyes. The retail legend plans to close 125 stores and kill 2,000 jobs in the next three years, USA Today reports.

I think Macy’s (NYSE: M) will close more stores and kill more jobs because CEO CEO Jeff Gennette says he wants to trim expenses by $2.1 billion by the end of 2022. USA Today estimates the planned closings will save $1.5 billion.

Hence, Macy’s will need to cut another $600 million from its budget. I think that means more jobs and department stores will die.

Macy’s Collapses

Macy’s (M) is collapsing fast. In 2020, Macy’s share price fell from $16.52 on 2 January to $9.05 on 20 November. Macy’s share price hit a high of $18.10 …

The coronavirus could finally do something good. The pandemic and stay-at-home orders could make this year’s holiday the best Thanksgiving ever.

Millions, perhaps tens of millions, of Americans could finally enjoy Thanksgiving because of coronavirus. Strangely, the pandemic could transform Thanksgiving from a tedious and stressful battle with your family to a relaxing day at home.

Reasons Coronavirus makes Thanksgiving better include:

1. You will only spend time around the relatives you actually like, your spouse and kids rather than the in-laws, siblings, parents, grandparents, cousins, etc.
2. You will only have to speak to your relatives for a few minutes over Zoom.
3. You will not spend several hours driving on crowded highways in winter storms to reach a Thanksgiving dinner you don’t want to eat. …

Democracy was the real loser in the 2020 electoral cycle. Critics such as Vox’s Ezra Klein observe that an increasingly authoritarian Republican Party has a stranglehold on political power in the United States.

Democratic Party leaders fear a growing gap between their party’s popularity and its political power, the Associated Press (AP) reports. President-Elect Joe Biden (D-Delaware) won election with the largest popular vote in US history (77.5 million votes) and a five million vote lead over President Donald J. Trump (R-Florida).

Republicans could lock in gerrymandering, which can give them more influence in the US House of Representatives for a decade, The AP speculates. To explain, Republicans still control enough state legislatures to draw House Districts to give their party more representation. …