Bfd
Bfd's JournalWalmart- "Collect shopper's personal data via Handles on their Shopping Cart"
Walmart just made an announcement that may make you never want to shop there againOct 9, 2018
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Walmart is interested in what's going on in your body while you shop.
They want to collect this data is a particularly creepy way: through the handles of their shopping carts.
The company recently submitted a patent to the U.S. Patent and Trademark office called System And Method For A Biometric Feedback Cart Handle, CBInsights reports.
These innovative shopping cart handles would collect your biometric data, meaning your stress level, your body temperature, and heart rate -- all while you're strolling through the aisles of your local store, filling your cart with Walmart's everyday low-priced items.
Walmart is wisely putting a positive spin on why they want to collect shoppers' biometric data.
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Say someone was unwell while shopping in one of their stores. Their pulse becomes erratic or their temperature drastically changes. The shopping cart handle would transmit this info real-time to a server, which would then notify a Walmart associate to go check on the person.
That sounds awfully altruistic for Walmart. It's probably not the only reason America's largest retailer wants to collect information about what's happening inside the minds and bodies of consumers while they shop.
How Walmart could spin this to their benefit
Internet retailers already excel at targeting us for products they know we want to buy based on our online shopping behavior. It's not so easy to gather data about your preferences while you shop in brick and mortar stores.
But what if Walmart could see if your heart rate increases when you pass a new display? What if they could see it drops when you walk by another? This technology would essentially monitor how customers are feeling while they shop.
Walmart could then use that data to optimize the design of their stores for ultimate feel-good vibes. Or to entice people to stay in their stores for a few minutes longer, which is the tried-and-true way to get people to spend more.
Though the creepy shopping cart handle doesn't exist yet, it's not hard to imagine it quickly coming to fruition if the patent is approved. Similar technology already exists on treadmills, which have sensors in handles that can gather your heart rate.
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https://www.aol.com/article/finance/2018/10/09/walmart-just-made-an-announcement-that-may-make-you-never-want-to-shop-there-again/23555831/
Taylor Swift registered 65,000 voters in 1 day.
No wonder the Gop Lost it: Taylor Swift registered 65,000 voters in 1 day
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.."she specifically condemned the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Taylor’s home state of Tennessee.
“I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love,” Swift stressed in her social media post."
After imploring fans to “go to vote.org,” the site landed 155,000 unique visitors in a 24-hour period, up from its normal daily traffic of 14,000. Of those visitors, 65,000 registered to vote.
That one-day total is more than the site registered for the entire month of August.
The conservative media movement is still aching from the development.
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https://shareblue.com/taylor-swift-65000-voters-republican-meltdown/
Ted Cruz Declines the CNN Debate ..😘 . BETO GETS THE WHOLE HOUR TO HIMSELF!!!
TED CRUZ DECLINES, SO CHALLENGER BETO O’ROURKE GETS AN HOUR ON NATIONAL TV BY HIMSELFAuthor: Anna M. Tinsley, Star Telegram
Published: 10/09/18
CNN is shining a light on three of the “most consequential races” in 2018 — including the Texas bid for U.S. Senate — through debates or town halls in the coming weeks.
But Texans won’t get to see incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso face off in this series.
The Cruz campaign did not immediately respond Tuesday afternoon to a request on why the senator will not participate.
The solo town hall will air at 9 a.m. Oct. 18 and be televised from the McAllen Performing Arts Center.
Cruz and O’Rourke, who did participate in a Sept. 21 debate at SMU, are expected to square off at least one more time in an Oct. 16 debate in San Antonio.
LINK
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wfaa.com/amp/article%3fsection=news&headline=ted-cruz-declines-so-challenger-beto-orourke-gets-an-hour-on-national-tv-by-himself&contentId=287-602522480
A ticking time bomb in China has global markets looking really shaky right now
A ticking time bomb in China has global markets looking really shaky right now
Oct. 9, 2018, 10:00 AM
Global markets are jittery in recent days as fears about growth in China take hold.
"The larger the stimulus used by China to offset the trade war impact, the bigger will its deficit likely be," Tao Wang, UBS's chief China economist, said in a report on Tuesday
Markets are also worried about the ongoing Italian debt crisis, and the rising price of oil.
Trouble is brewing in global markets. Look no further than China.
China's current account balance is down significantly from last year's 1.3% and will likely turn into a small deficit in 2019. If so that would be the first time in 24 years.
"The larger the stimulus used by China to offset the trade war impact, the bigger will its deficit likely be," UBS's Tao Wang, chief China economist, said in a report on Tuesday.
That may hurt confidence and hasten outflows, putting pressure on the nation's currency.
"Although CNY depreciation can partially offset trade war impact, a large depreciation will likely hurt domestic confidence, trigger panic outflows and risk financial stability," UBS said.
In the US stock market, Morgan Stanley says a bear market correction could arrive in 2019, sooner than markets currently expect.
After years of monetary stimulus and a short-term boost from the Trump administration’s tax cuts, more rate rises and lower bond prices will ultimately bring the US economy to a halt. But "before this occurs, it appears we will get a final spike higher," in yields, Morgan Stanley says.
The IMF lowered its outlook for the global economy, saying it will grow 3.7% this year, the same as in 2017 but down from the 3.9% it was forecasting for 2018 in July.
MORE
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/china-italy-oil-causing-stock-markets-to-fall-around-the-world-2018-10-1027601270
"If they don't have the barrels, they don't have the barrels': Oil could soar to $100
https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/news/oil-trump-iran-sanctions-could-cause-prices-to-soar-to-100-a-barrel-2018-10-1027602054'If they don't have the barrels, they don't have the barrels': Oil could soar to $100 as Trump shuts Iran out of the market
Oct. 9, 2018, 01:12 PM
*The State Department has ordered buyers to cut oil imports from Iran by November 4.
*Against a backdrop of falling output from other key OPEC countries, analysts say barrels could hit $100.
'If they don't have the barrels, they don't have the barrels': Oil could soar to $100 as Trump shuts Iran out of the market
Gina Heeb
Oct. 9, 2018, 01:12 PM
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Trump has repeatedly taken aim at OPEC for rising energy prices, even after it came to a rare agreement to ease production restrictions in June. The 15-member group has been coordinating output levels since 2016 in efforts to tackle a global oil glut.
"We protect the countries of the Middle East, they would not be safe for very long without us, and yet they continue to push for higher and higher oil prices!" the president said in a recent tweet. "We will remember. The OPEC monopoly must get prices down now!"
That strategy may have encouraged member countries to increase production in the past, Croft said, but will likely become less effective as the global oil cushion shrinks. Output from the 12 countries bound by the supply-cutting agreement actually fell by 70,000 barrels per day in September, a Reuters survey found.
"With Trump and these tweets, I think there are diminishing returns," she said. "In terms of going forward, we're looking at an ever-shrinking pool of OPEC barrels. You can yell at them. But if they don't have the barrels, they don't have the barrels."
While the administration has said it may grant sanction waivers to avoid supply shocks, a tactic used in the Obama era, it has still maintained an objective of sending Iranian oil exports to zero. The White House did not respond to an email requesting comment.
At $100 a barrel, the Bank of America economists said oil costs would dampen consumer demand not only for gasoline but also for other goods and services. That level of energy prices is expected to shave two basis points from global growth in 2019.
"This is not a major impact, but it isn’t trivial either," they said. "Moreover, with oil supplies so tight any further disruption could mean a major spike in oil prices, creating more nonlinear impacts on confidence and growth."
On Monday, the International Monetary Fund lowered its global economic growth forecast for this year and next.
The international lender cited in its report "rising trade barriers and a reversal of capital flows to emerging market economies with weaker fundamentals, and higher political risk."
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Trump demanding oil prices be kept low is bullshit.
He only wants them kept low until Nov 4th, so as not to affect the midterm election.
That is when his latest blow to reasonable oil prices will take effect.
He doesn't give a shit if the price of oil & gasoline bring the US or Global economy to a halt.
Those who were promised Oil Stock (Russia's Roseneft) for political loyalty will be rewarded.
Watch for RU Sanctions to be lifted ~so sorry Mr Magnitsky, your work will always be heroic
"They don't give a shit about people" ~ Tom Perez
McConnell's murmuring about another SC pick before 2020
Oh it's just chatter of maybe-if-the-opportunity-arises right now, but if he's talking about it at all, bets are that he's already got the playbook out for seating the next one.
They knew long ago that they had to own the SC.
However they had to do it.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/10/07/politics/mcconnell-scotus-2020-nominee-trump-senate/index.html
McConnell changes course after opposing SCOTUS nominees in presidential election year
Monday, Oct 8 2018-updated
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell left open the possibility of confirming a Supreme Court nominee in 2020 if Republicans still control the chamber and there's a vacancy on the court, marking a shift over how he treated then-President Barack Obama's nominee in 2016.
Speaking to both Fox News and CBS News on Sunday, McConnell would not rule out seeking to confirm a nominee if there is a Supreme Court vacancy in the final year of President Donald Trump's first term in 2020, assuming the GOP holds onto the Senate in this November's midterms. McConnell instead seemed to suggest that presidents don't get Supreme Court nominees confirmed in a presidential election year — if the Senate is controlled by the opposite political party.
"You have to go back to 1880 to find the last time a Senate controlled by a party different from the president filled a vacancy on the Supreme Court that was created in the middle of a presidential election year," McConnell said on Fox News. "That's been the history,"
Asked directly if he would allow a nominee to be confirmed in 2020, McConnell repeatedly sidestepped the question.
"The answer to your question is we will see if there's a vacancy in 2020," he said.
Thomas Daffron's long ties to Russia & Susan Collins' husband of convenience
Here's a handy reference to Collin's husband, Thomas Daffron.
This is very revealing & explains why Collins would never vote against Trump & the GOP.
They married in 2012, now it could have been for true love or it could have been a political maneuver on one or both sides.
A very good link to read through.
Twitter Thread Link
https://mobile.twitter.com/ericgarland/status/1038894217756598272?lang=en
https://twitter.com/ericgarland/status/1038894217756598272
Former FBI special agent: Kavanaugh probe Not 'Authentic Investigation'
https://shareblue.com/former-fbi-special-agent-kavanaugh-probe-not-authentic/Former FBI special agent: Kavanaugh probe not ‘authentic investigation’
By Caroline Orr - October 5, 2018
This does not fall under the definition of a real, authentic FBI investigation.'
A former FBI special agent confirmed on Thursday that the background probe into Brett Kavanaugh was not a “real, authentic investigation,” thanks to the restrictions imposed by the White House and Senate Republicans.
Speaking to MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson, former FBI supervisory special agent John Mindermann called it “very, very problematic” that the investigation was so severely limited in time and scope because it means that the bureau could not look at the full picture of Kavanaugh or the sexual allegations against him.
“It’s like taking the brush out of the hand of the painter midway through the portrait session,” Mindermann said in reference to the restrictions placed on the FBI investigation, which reportedly included limitations on who FBI agents could interview, what leads they could follow, what areas of Kavanaugh’s background they could look into, and how long they could keep the investigation open.
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Laurie Metcalf and John Lithgow to Star on Broadway in 'Hillary and Clinton'
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/laurie-metcalf-john-lithgow-star-broadway-hillary-clinton-1149081?via=newsletter&source=CSPMeditionLaurie Metcalf and John Lithgow to Star on Broadway in 'Hillary and Clinton'
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Lucas' play is that rare kind of blow-the-door-off-its-hinges new work that I will always respond to and want to present," Rudin told The Hollywood Reporter.
"It's a political play — but not in the way I think anybody will expect.
It treats the Clintons like Shakespeare treated real people in his history plays — it is both fundamentally truthful and also wildly imaginative.
It's not in any way a docudrama or a work of nonfiction but rather an exploration of power and how it works, not only in the canvas of a political campaign but inside an enduring marriage.
"It's funny and smart and intensely theatrical and, I think, very moving," added Rudin. "It has that particular kind of energy of the best backstage dramas — it's a deep dive into a pivotal moment we think we know a lot about, but that in fact we actually know very little about.
I found it both shrewd and, in its way, revelatory in the way it posits a behind-the-curtain look at how history might have occurred."
The play starts previews March 16 ahead of an April 18 opening at a Broadway theater to be announced, along with casting of the remaining roles. The production will be eligible for 2019 Tony Awards consideration, giving Metcalf a shot at three in a row.
Broadway writers take on "a pivotal moment we think we know a lot about, but that in fact we actually know very little about. "
Metcalf & Lithgow will play their roles with the emotion of what occurs in the privacy of a power couple when cameras aren't there.
Out of curiosity, & love for Broadway production, & of course Metcalf & Lithgow, I would love to see this Show.
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