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The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been plagued with issues since its inception. So when a new report was released from Congress last week on the fraudulent activity surrounding the PPP, it was not a surprise to see that it covered 130 pages. Yet what was a surprise, was the title that the Congressional Committee used for the report: “We Are Not the Fraud Police”: How Fintechs Facilitated Fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been plagued with issues since its inception. So when a new report was released from Congress last week on the fraudulent activity surrounding the PPP, it was not a surprise to see that it covered 130 pages. Yet what was a surprise, was the title that the Congressional Committee used for the report: “We Are Not the Fraud Police”: How Fintechs Facilitated Fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program. The report’s title suggests that the fintech industry facilitated fraud in the PPP, but the report itself tells a very different story. Of the twelve fintech companies mentioned in the report, only four fintech companies are described as sources of fraud and discussed at length: Womply, Blueacorn, Kabbage, and Bluevine (Figure 1). And yet, the report’s chief recommendation on page seven is for Congress and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to consider carefully whether to work with fintech firms at all. Considering an estimated 2,700 fintech firms have been founded in the United States over the last decade, it seems to be a bold leap to say the performance of these four firms should decide the fate of so many others. This phrasing is most concerning because it is likely that this recommendation will extend far beyond the PPP or other government benefit programs. Policymakers and the general public will likely see—with the help of banking lobbyists, no doubt—“fintechs facilitated fraud” and look no further. The report will be cited to justify putting more roadblocks before the fintech industry and more protections for the legacy banking system, neither of which is warranted. Were this issue not enough on its own, the report largely glosses over the fact that Congress and the SBA deliberately removed upfront controls and safeguards to rush the $800 billion program out the door. For example, in April 2020, the SBA told lenders: The lender does not need to conduct any verification if the borrower submits documentation supporting its request for loan forgiveness and attests that it has accurately verified the payments for eligible costs. The Administrator will hold harmless any lender that relies on such borrower documents and attestation from a borrower. (Emphasis added) It took 18 months for Congress to put this report together, but the problems were evident from day one. Rather than use the misconduct of four companies to lash out at an entire industry, Congress should acknowledge how the government itself facilitated fraud in the PPP. link: https://www.aier.org/article/who-committed-ppp-fraud/1 point
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Are your adult children not leaving home? Orcas suffer from this too (CNN) -- It's no secret that parenthood can be demanding and sacrifices are often made for the sake of offspring. But for female orcas, the role can be especially difficult. New research suggests that female killer whales may be giving up further offspring for their male offspring, even as adults. The research, published Wednesday in the journal Current Biology, focused on a group of killer whales known as the "southern resident" po[CENSORED]tion, off the coast of Washington state and British Columbia. The Whale Research Center, which participated in the study, has been observing the group since 1976. Two killer whales chase white sharks off the coast of South Africa This is an unusual species, as males and females remain with their mothers for their entire lives. However, the "cost" of caring for the mother is higher in the case of sons. Michael N. Weiss, director of research at the center and a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Exeter, said in a press release: "We have known for over a decade that adult male killer whales depend on their mothers to stay alive, but it's never been clear whether mothers pay a price for it." The data revealed "a strong negative correlation between the number of surviving weanlings of females and their annual probability of producing a viable calf," according to a news release. And the result remained the same regardless of the age of the son. "The magnitude of the cost that females take on to care for their weaned children was truly staggering," Weiss said. "Although there is some uncertainty, our best estimate is that each additional surviving pup reduces the chances of a female having a new calf in any given year by more than 50%. This is a huge cost to care for [adult] pups. ". orcas calves According to experts, female whales reduce the probability of having more calves to care for their adult children. Credit: Whale Research Center Share the food The researchers don't know why female killer whales are less likely to reproduce in these cases, but they suspect that sharing food with their adult offspring may mean the mothers have to survive on less. Sam Ellis, a researcher in animal behavior at the University of Exeter and a co-author on the paper, told CNN on Thursday that the nature of the mother's care largely revolves around her diet of Chinook salmon. "Really the key to this form of care is sharing food," he explained. "We think a lot of caregiving is physically providing food for your adult children," he said, though they also lead them to the source of nutrition. "Having a daughter doesn't affect her chances of reproducing, but having a son of any age has a negative impact on the mother's chances of reproduction," Ellis said. Scientists record killer whales for the first time hunting and killing an adult blue whale According to the team, this finding is very rare. "It's further evidence of how special (and perhaps unique) the mother-infant bond is in killer whales," Weiss said. Ellis added: "There are many examples [in mammals] of maternal care and maternal investment in young pups. But in all the examples that have been studied so far, once the pup reaches maturity, that investment seems to stop." "We know that children whose mothers die have a really high probability of dying the following year," he said, adding that while female orcas can live to be 80 years old, males are "very lucky to make it to 40." Southern residents are critically endangered, so the study could have important implications, according to the researchers. Ellis noted that the team wants to further study the long-term effects the findings could have on orca po[CENSORED]tions. Luke Rendell, a professor of biology at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, told CNN that the study, in which he was not involved, was "fascinating." "It opens a new window... [to] how the evolutionary dance between the interests of individuals and genes constantly interacts with ecology and sociality." "Many will smile at the jokes about children in need, but also, I hope, will ponder whether the parallels run deeper in this long-lived and highly social mammal. Such insights are only possible through dedicated, long-term studies, often underappreciated by the funders of the investigation". link: https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2023/02/09/orcas-crias-hijos-adultos-trax/1 point
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Vinto offers its own GS in the Asian country: the 525 is a medium trail with a Loncin engine, single-sided swingarm and the option of aluminum panniers. Vinto Motor is a motorcycle brand that belongs to the Chinese automobile group Chongqing Sokon Industry Group. So far, the manufacturer offers very few two-wheeled models and its goal is to achieve a product that attracts a demanding customer in terms of displacement, performance and quality. The strategy that has been decided to adopt consists of consolidating itself first in the gigantic domestic market before attempting the adventure of conquering the world with its motorcycles. It may interest you Voge 2023 news: 900 trail and 500 scrambler You can't miss New Honda 2023: C500 for A2, Forza 125-350 and electric The Vinto GS 525 would have to change its name in order to be sold abroad because BMW did not think it would allow the acronym GS (Gelände/Strasse - Campo/Carretera) to be used that defines its trail models, especially the almighty R 1250 GS in which the Vinto GS 525 is not only inspired by the name. Chinese Trail with 54 CV for 4900 euros: the Vinto GS 525 Vinto GS 525: 54 CV for 4900 euros The small trail uses a 494 cc inline twin-cylinder engine and, according to the manufacturer, its aesthetics have been inspired by the wings of birds, while on the front we find the classic duck beak typical of the BMW GS and or the Suzuki V-Strom. The Vinto GS 525 mounts spoked wheels fitted with tubeless tires (tubeless) in the typical measurements of this type of motorcycle: 110/80-19 in front and 150/70-17 in the rear. To which must be added country-style suspensions, an inverted fork with 180 mm of travel has been mounted on the front train. A monoshock is responsible for keeping the rear of the bike in order. The steel frame has a bolted subframe and there is no lack of a single-sided aluminum swingarm. The secondary transmission is by chain (no cardan in this case). To stop the beast are two 300mm front discs supported by a 240mm rear and dual-channel ABS. Vinto declares a weight of 205 kg with a 21 liter tank full of fuel. Which gives the model a range of more than 500 km. The engine is a classic in-line twin, inspired by that of the Honda CB500 and it is curious that it is manufactured by Loncin, a Chinese gear that has a close business relationship with BMW. Claimed power is 54 PS (39.6 kW) at 8,500 rpm, with peak torque of 44.5 Nm at 7,000 rpm. In the event that the Vinto GS 525 arrived in Europe, it would do so with a 48 CV version aimed at A2 card holders. In China it is sold for 35,980 yuan (about 4,900 euros). If you choose to mount the suitcases and the upper trunk, the price goes up to 5,500 euros. Once the brand is established in its domestic market, the next step should be international expansion... link: https://www.moto1pro.com/actualidad/trail-china-con-54-cv-por-4900-euros-la-vinto-gs-5251 point
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A new transcription function would allow this to be achieved. Voice notes have become a widely used option in the WhatsApp messaging application. But this does not mean that it is to everyone's taste. If you are not very convinced, the company is close to launching a new tool that is perfect for you. We tell you what it is about. Some time ago it was detected that one of the options being considered for the application was to include an option that would allow voice notes to be transcribed into text, which fits much better with WhatsApp history. The fact is that there were some screens where you could see exactly this, but now it has gone a step further and included it in the latest test version for the iOS operating system. Therefore, it was quite serious with the development of the tool in question. What will the transcription that will arrive on WhatsApp be like? Well, the truth is that from the source of the information it is made very clear that everything will be really simple, since, with the arrival message of the voice note, a button will be included that, when used, will carry out the transcription work. It will all be that simple. Of course, so that there are no doubts about what has been converted, a new tab will be opened in which you can see the result obtained. It seems pretty well thought out. WhatsApp transcription tool WBetainfo On the other hand, it has also been verified that, in the case of not being able to make a quality transcription (in cases such as if there is a lot of background noise or if the person speaks in an intelligible way), a message will be displayed in which this is stated. And, in addition, the reasons that exist for it. Therefore, WhatsApp has thought of everything. Obviously, the resulting text can be used regularly, so it will be possible to copy it, for example. Good news with privacy This is something that could be worrisome at first, since it is believed that WhatsApp's first intention was to send the audio to Apple's servers to be transcribed. But, in the end, this points out that it will not be the case, and not even the company owned by Meta will have a copy. Therefore, what will be done is download language packs together with the tool so that it works locally. It will be necessary to see if this increases what occupies the application in a disproportionate way. For now, as we have indicated before, this option is only in the trial version of WhatsApp. But it is expected to be quickly tested so that its arrival is as fast as possible for all users. The reason is none other than to take advantage of the fact that this function, for the moment, does not have any of its rivals... such as Telegram. link: https://cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2023/02/10/lifestyle/1676042266_095369.html1 point
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According to the Financial Superintendency of Colombia (SFC), the Market Representative Rate (TRM) for today is $4,742. This Friday, January 10, the dollar in Colombia closed up at $4,801, compared to the closing of the last day, which was $4,737, an increase of $64 is evident. On this Friday, February 10, the manager of Banco de la República, Leonardo Villar, announced that the Colombian peso has devalued 20% this year. Meanwhile, it was learned that the Central Bank of Peru maintained the interest rate at 7.75%. In turn, the United Kingdom reported that in 2022 the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of that country expanded to 4%, which presented a slowdown compared to that reported in 2021, which was 7.6%. According to the Financial Superintendency of Colombia (SFC), the Market Representative Rate (TRM) for today is $4,742. Recommended: dollar in Colombia February 10: opened higher and is trading close to $4,750 Currently, the price of a barrel of Brent oil is trading with an upward trend, reaching US$86.06, in the case of WTI the trend is similar and is at US$79.40. The average price at which the dollar was traded in Colombia on the day was $4,777. The maximum price that the dollar reached in Colombia on this Friday, February 10, was $4,802 and the minimum value it reached was $4,745. Closure of TES in Colombia: The 2024 TES closed at 11.080%, while the previous closing was 11.212%. The 2026 TES closed at 11.810%, while the previous closing was 11.530%. The 2028 TES ended at 11,900% while the previous data had been 11,700%. The TES of 2032 closed at 12.170% and the previous day they had closed at 11.870%. This is how the dollar behaves in Colombia: link: https://www.valoraanalitik.com/2023/02/10/dolar-en-colombia-10-de-febrero-cerro-la-semana-con-fuerte-alza-sobre-los-4-800/1 point
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hello every one i made this video to help players for making admin accounts links in description also i hope @Roselina ♣ flowers @myCro ? to put the link in /admin command (on the sv)1 point