Welcome to America’s Newsletter from Tag The Flag, the best morning newsletter on the internet, bringing you nonpartisan news and every view of the Red, White, and Blue. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
📌 BULLETIN BOARD
General Awareness: Don’t forget that there’s a lot of good stuff going on in our country. This is just one example….
U.S. NEWS
Federal prosecutors said on Wednesday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s office was subject to a Russian disinformation campaign that intended to discredit his investigation into the Kremlin’s meddling in the 2016 election. The Kremlin-backed campaign failed to gain any traction, however, as the contents of a fake trove of the special counsel’s files were immediately dismissed as largely fabricated by the reporter and researcher who received them. – NBC News / Fox News
Bye polar vortex, hello spring? Weekend will be 75 degrees warmer
Temperatures Wednesday morning plunged to their lowest levels in decades over huge parts of the Midwest, shutting down entire cities and bringing businesses and government to a standstill. AccuWeather said the most extreme cold recorded was at Thief River Falls, Minnesota at -77 degrees, and according to this tweet “Hell actually froze over.” But get this: The bitter cold will be a distant memory by the weekend. Minneapolis should enjoy a 75-degree rise in temperature from its Thursday morning low to its Sunday afternoon high, the National Weather Service said. Chicago will swing about 60 degrees. It’s still winter though, the cold will be back. – USA Today / Accuweather
Millennials: the ‘brokest’ and the ‘richest’ generation ever
Reports often paint millennials as financially reckless but others say the generation is better off than previous age groups when it comes to money. So which description is true? Well according to experts, both are. Many millennials are working to catch up to other generations since they entered the workforce during the Great Recession, but they may make out in the long run thanks to better saving habits, a booming economy and inheritance from their parents. – Business Insider / Federal Reserve
WORLD NEWS
EU rejects Theresa May’s plans to change Brexit deal
There was skepticism in Europe yesterday about Theresa May’s pledge to renegotiate her Brexit agreement, and particularly its ideas for avoiding a hard border in Ireland. Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, and Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said there was no possibility of amending the deal. Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said leaders should “prepare for the worst”. Food For Thought: This “captivity”, for lack of better words, is what U.K. leave-campaigners used to generate anti-EU sentiment in the lead up to the Brexit vote in 2016. Right nowthe options appear to be either a hard crash out of the European Union or acknowledging that the EU still calls the shots. – The Economist / Al Jazeera
Canada confirms 14th case of diplomat falling mysteriously ill in Cuba
Canada has confirmed a 14th case of unusual health symptoms experienced by diplomatic staff in Havana, Cuba, and is now limiting the number of diplomats at the Canadian embassy from 16 to eight. Remember: In April, Canada pulled all nonessential staff and diplomats’ family members, after testing concluded that they also suffered from mystery symptoms that included dizziness, ringing in the ears and memory loss. – CNN
Six people died each day attempting to cross Mediterranean in 2018
On average six migrants died every day in 2018 attempting to cross the Mediterranean into Europe, according to a report released by the United Nations. Some 2,275 died in total. Big Picture: Although the number of migrants trying to reach the continent fell, the proportion of those dying increased significantly, in part because there are fewer search-and-rescue missions. – United Nations
Noteworthy
+ Russian lawmaker arrested on parliament floor in murder probe
+ ISIS calls for attack on Mariah Carey concert in Saudi Arabia
BUSINESS
Fed Signals Possible End to Recent String Of Rate Increases
The Federal Reserve indicated that it was done raising interest rates for now, delivering an about-face from its policy stance six weeks earlier. Stocks extended their gains on the news. Officials also issued a separate statement addressing the balance sheet, saying they expect to operate with “an ample supply” of bank reserves. Be smart: This is exactly what the market wanted to hear. – CNBC
SPORTS
Ex-Oklahoma State coach pleads guilty in bribery case
A former Oklahoma State assistant basketball coach pleaded guilty Wednesday to taking bribes from business advisers to steer them to star college athletes expected to turn pro. Lamont Evans admitted receiving $22,000 to steer the players at the University of South Carolina and Oklahoma State University to certain financial advisers and business managers. Why it matters: Evans is the third former NCAA assistant coach to plead guilty in the case. The prosecution has revealed how well-connected mentors sometimes paid family members of top-tier athletes to steer the NBA-destined youngsters to schools or managers. – AP
TECHNOLOGY
Facebook Got Caught Paying teens to install VPN that spies on them for $20
Facebook has been caught paying people $20 a month to spy on their phones and data. Tech news website TechCrunch discovered the social network was asking some users to give them deep access to their phones and install virtual private networks in exchange for cash. Facebook has defended the program, but it raises questions about the social network’s approach to user privacy, even in the wake of its string of scandals. On the business front Facebook posted record profit in the fourth quarter yesterday. Maybe they were paying a lot of people $20 to spy on their phones during the Christmas season? (Joking) – Business Insider / Tech Crunch / Reuters
WATERCOOLER
+ Meet the Man Behind a Third of What’s on Wikipedia
+ How to Solve the World’s Plastics Problem: Bring Back the Milk Man
+ The Best Way to Use Social Media Is to Act like a 19th-Century Parisian
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
1950: Truman announces development of H-bomb
U.S. President Harry S. Truman publicly announces his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb, a weapon theorized to be hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II.
Not many people know this,but years later in 1968 the US lost an H-Bomb in a crash off the coast of Greenland. KEEP READING →
TRIVIA
How much does a 30-second ad spot cost for the Super Bowl this year?
COVER PHOTO
Photo by Josh Johnson on Unsplash
