Tag: taxes

NPR: We’re Not Covering Biden Laptop Scandal Because It’s ‘Not Really’ A Story, ‘Pure Distractions’

Taxpayer-funded NPR announced Thursday on Twitter that it is not covering the Hunter Biden laptop scandal because it’s not really a story, which prompted widespread backlash online.

“Why haven’t you seen any stories from NPR about the NY Post’s Hunter Biden story?” NPR wrote on Twitter.

NPR then answered the question, writing: “We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions.”

Almost instantly, the tweet sparked accusations of bias, which comes after one of Hunter Biden’s former business partners said in a statement on Thursday that Hunter Biden allegedly asked his father, Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden, to “sign-off” on his business deals. The statement contradicts Joe Biden’s public statements that he never spoke to his son about his son’s overseas business dealings.

Top political and media figures responded immediately to the tweet, expressing shock and disgust.

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Pentagon estimates cost of new nuclear missiles at $95.8B

The Pentagon has raised to $95.8 billion the estimated cost of fielding a new fleet of land-based nuclear missiles to replace the Minuteman 3 arsenal that has operated continuously for 50 years, officials said Monday.

The estimate is up about $10 billion from four years ago.

The weapons, known as intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, are intended as part of a near-total replacement of the American nuclear force over the next few decades at a total cost of more than $1.2 trillion.

Some, including former Defense Secretary William J. Perry, argue that U.S. national security can be ensured without ICBMs, but the Pentagon says they are vital to deterring war. The Trump administration affirmed its commitment to fielding a new generation of ICBMs in a 2018 review of nuclear policy.

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San Francisco Will Pay Artists $1,000 a Month in Universal Basic Income

San Francisco will become the latest city to experiment with a universal basic income (UBI). Sort of.

In an effort to assist the city’s struggling arts community in bouncing back from the pandemic, Mayor London Breed announced last week that she’d be rolling out a cash transfer program for artists.

Under the mayor’s plan, 130 artists in the city will receive a $1,000 monthly cash stipend for a period of six months starting early next year.  It’s one of several arts-themed policies sourced from the city’s Economic Recovery Task Force final report released last Thursday, which also includes funding for “artists to paint murals with a public health theme on boarded-up businesses and deploy performance artists to promote COVID-safe behaviors in high foot traffic areas.”

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