Newsletter May 24, 2021

Battle-weary Israelis and Palestinians were finally able to come out from their shelters over the weekend amid a fragile truce and piles of rubble.

3 Things

Pause for peace: The fragile U.N. ceasefire between Israel and Hamas largely held over the weekend, raising hopes for a prolonged period of peace. But the task of picking up the pieces and putting them back together appears a daunting one after 11 days of conflict.
U.N. observers toured the bomb-torn territories around the Gaza Strip and other embattled neighborhoods where Palestinians who were fortunate enough to avoid Israeli bombs were left homeless.
In Israel, citizens who have been hunkered down during an intense Hamas rocket campaign ventured outside with one eye on the sky. It was the longest stretch of fighting since 2014, and perhaps worse.
"(Seven years ago) we had humanitarian pauses, where people were able to get out," one U.N. observer recalled. "That really speaks to the amount of trauma that was experienced this time, where there was absolutely no pause for people to breathe."
World leaders how the breath of fresh air (smoke-free for the first time in a fortnight) will lead to a more lasting ceasefire agreement.
FIND OUT WHAT'S NEXT IN THE QUEST FOR MIDEAST PEACE

Greene screen: There are false equivalencies, and then there's this apples-to-oranges gem from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene comparing the House's mask mandate to the Holocaust: You be the judge.
â€œYou know, we can look back at a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second-class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany," Greene declared. "And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about.â€
Just to set the record straight, Pelosi ordered the mask mandate stay in place until more members have been vaccinated. Greene defiantly took the floor mask-free, daring Democrats to take action against her. Mask or not, someone needs to explain to her the difference between the murder of 6 million people and an attempt to save lives.
SEE WHAT ELSE GREENE HAD TO SAY ABOUT DEMOCRATS

Four-month checkup: The honeymoon might be over, but President Joe Biden's relationship with the American people is holding strong.
The latest Gallop poll shows Biden's approval rating holding steady at 54% and his disapproval rating dipping to 40% -- a net-positive of 14%. In fact, five other polls showed even higher double-digit net positives. Perhaps most impressive was his +6 in the traditionally conservative Rasmussen poll, a rare positive score for a Democrat.
Biden scored his highest marks for his work on vaccinations, pandemic relief and racial inequality while taken some shots for his foreign policy in the Middle East and his administration's struggles with securing the southern border. Despite the divisive issues facing his administration, most Americans have his back -- at least for now..
SEE HOW BIDEN STACKS UP AGAINST RECENT PRESIDENTS

Markets

DJIA	34,207.84	0.36%
S&P 500	4,155.86	-0.08%
Nasdaq Composite	13,470.99	-0.48%
Japan: Nikkei 225	28,427.61	0.39%
UK: FTSE 100	7,018.05	-0.02%
Crude Oil Futures	63.96	0.60%
Gold Futures	1,885.60	0.47%
Yen	108.93	-0.02%
Euro	1.22	0.03%
* As of market close

Crypto Keeper

For aggressive investors trying to cash in on cryptocurrency, one of the big selling points over traditional stocks is that trading never closes. In the wake of last week's crypto correction/crash, that's not such a good thing.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continued to take a beating over the weekend at a time when the emerging blockchain technology probably could have benefited from a cooling-off period. Major cryptos across the board saw plummeting prices last week, and their numbers kept falling.

Bitcoin took the brunt of the decline after plunging by 30% Wednesday. It tumbled another 12% overnight on Sunday, trading at $31,803. Other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Dogecoin also took serious hits.

The freefall was caused by a series of factors that raised questions about the exploding prices of crypto in recent months. The IRS announced that traders are required to report transitions over $10,000, China came out against crypto as currency, and Tesla balked at accepting it as payment.

SEE WHAT ANALYSTS SAY ABOUT THE FUTURE OF CRYPTO

Bizarro warning

Who was your first grade teacher? Where did your parents meet? What was your first pet's name? If you've been combing your brain for such personal information, you've probably been updating your cyber security.

Smart move because cyber criminals across the worldwide web are cranking up their efforts. Following reports that the criminal hacking enterprise DarkSide got away with over $90 million for its latest series of hit-and-run attacks that included shutting down the Colonial Pipeline, experts say to expect more groups looking for a quick, easy score.

One word of warning: the groups now appear to be going after individuals and financial institutions as well as the recently targeted corporations and government agencies. One malware gaining momentum called "Bizarro" is spreading quickly and Americans are warned to be on high alert.

Bizarro is targeting online banking and financial institutions by hacking into personal log-on information and cleaning out accounts of both cash and cryptocurrency. The most common method is via email phishing, so keep your spam folder clean and update those passwords just in case.

FIND OUT HOW TO AVOID BEING A VICTIM OF BIZARRO MALWARE

Un-cool

Sporting a mullet and a Mickey Mouse t-shirt in the U.S. might get you some funny looks and perhaps a citation from the fashion police. But in North Korea, that same look will land you in trouble with the secret police.

North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un issued a series of new laws designed to reject the "capitalist lifestyle" that has become prevalent on the worldwide web and just across the DMZ. South Korea's export of pop culture (like K-pop, TikTok and BTS) is considered a national security threat by Kim.

â€œWe must be wary of even the slightest sign of the capitalistic lifestyle and fight to get rid of them,â€ said Kim, whose trademark high-and-tight hairdo was once "a thing". â€œHistory teaches us a crucial lesson that a country can become vulnerable and eventually collapse like a damp wall regardless of its economic and defense power if we do not hold on to our own lifestyle.â€

Among the items on the no-no list is dyed or spiked hair, nose and ear piercings, ripped or skinny jeans, and shirts featuring logos or phrases inspired by the capitalist ideals in an effort to keep his nation in the dark. It must be working or they would know mullets went out of style in the '80s.

FIND OUT WHAT KIM HOPES TO ACHIEVE FROM THE NEW LAWS