The Trump administration is escalating the United States’ growing trade war with China, with hobby gaming now caught in the crossfire. A new document published by the Office of the United States Trade Representative lists thousands of goods categories that could be receiving new or revised tariffs in the amount of 25%.

On the list, buried between billiards and Christmas ornaments are a number of categories related to gaming, including video game consoles and machines, coin-operated arcade machines, and parts related to the operation of coin-operated arcade games.

The video game industry has already suffered a 10% tariff that impacts graphics card makers AMD and Nvidia. The Entertainment Software Agency (the lobbying body representing the video game industry) never weighed in publicly on the situation. Since then, the ESA has undergone leadership change, with Stanley Pierre-Louis taking over the president and CEO role after serving in that position on a temporary basis after previous head Mike Gallagher stepped down.

“The video game industry boasts a trade surplus for the American economy,” the organization told GameDaily via email. “Tariffs will hurt the American economy, its industries, and its consumers.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-25-percent-tariff-200300879.html?

The Trump administration is escalating the United States’ growing trade war with China, with hobby gaming now caught in the crossfire. A new document published by the Office of the United States Trade Representative lists thousands of goods categories that could be receiving new or revised tariffs in the amount of 25%.

On the list, buried between billiards and Christmas ornaments are a number of categories related to gaming, including video game consoles and machines, coin-operated arcade machines, and parts related to the operation of coin-operated arcade games.

The video game industry has already suffered a 10% tariff that impacts graphics card makers AMD and Nvidia. The Entertainment Software Agency (the lobbying body representing the video game industry) never weighed in publicly on the situation. Since then, the ESA has undergone leadership change, with Stanley Pierre-Louis taking over the president and CEO role after serving in that position on a temporary basis after previous head Mike Gallagher stepped down.

“The video game industry boasts a trade surplus for the American economy,” the organization told GameDaily via email. “Tariffs will hurt the American economy, its industries, and its consumers.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-25-percent-tariff-200300879.html?

The battle over abortion rights in Missouri spilled from the courtroom into city streets on Thursday as hundreds of people gathered near the St. Louis Arch to demand state officials stop trying to limit access to abortion.

Carrying signs that read “I Stand With Planned Parenthood” and “Protect Safe, Legal Abortion,” they were there to protest the state’s efforts to limit access to abortion and the potential closing of the state’s only abortion provider.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and Planned Parenthood have been in a standoff over the clinic’s license, and today its future is in the hands of St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Michael Stelzer.

The judge is expected to rule soon on Planned Parenthood’s request for a temporary restraining order barring the state from delaying a renewal of the clinic’s license, which expires at midnight. Without it, Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region would close.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/tensions-high-missouri-awaits-decision-missouris-sole-abortion-clinic

Financial markets have grown dramatically over the past decades. Speculation in them has also led to bubbles that, when popped, caused untold damage to the world’s economy.

In order to raise revenue while also stymying some of the rampant speculation that can lead to financial collapse, a financial transaction tax should be levied on financial trades. This has been adopted by other countries quite successfully.

"Investing has been transformed into speculation by computer-generated algorithms and trading platforms. The average holding time of a stock is now only 4 months. There is no real value being generated, just individual firms trying to squeeze value out of the system, often at the expense of the public."

"Propose a 0.1% financial transaction tax that would raise as much as $50 billion per year that will be used to help fund Universal Basic Income."

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/financial-transaction-tax/

Financial markets have grown dramatically over the past decades. Speculation in them has also led to bubbles that, when popped, caused untold damage to the world’s economy.

In order to raise revenue while also stymying some of the rampant speculation that can lead to financial collapse, a financial transaction tax should be levied on financial trades. This has been adopted by other countries quite successfully.

"Investing has been transformed into speculation by computer-generated algorithms and trading platforms. The average holding time of a stock is now only 4 months. There is no real value being generated, just individual firms trying to squeeze value out of the system, often at the expense of the public."

"Propose a 0.1% financial transaction tax that would raise as much as $50 billion per year that will be used to help fund Universal Basic Income."

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/financial-transaction-tax/

ACLU of Missouri
Dear Member,

Earlier this week, we submitted a referendum petition with the Missouri Secretary of State to bring Missouri’s anti-abortion law before the voters.

This is a bold first step. The referendum will need to be certified for circulation and then over 100,000 signatures will need to be gathered to place the issue on the ballot. Once the signatures are submitted, the law cannot go into effect until a statewide vote has been made. A simple majority vote will veto the law.

Once the petition is certified and made available, we will be asking you to sign and help us gather signatures. In the meantime, here are 3 ways you can take action today:

Sign up to volunteer. We’re going to need all the help we can get to collect 100,000 signatures.
File a public comment with the Missouri Secretary of State. The secretary of state is reviewing our referendum petition. We need his approval before we can begin to collect signatures. Tell him that restricting access to abortion after eight weeks, before some people even know they are pregnant, is both dangerous and unconstitutional. This is a decision that should be left to the people of Missouri.
Ask your friends to join the fight. Share the message on Facebook and Twitter.
Remember: the ACLU was made for moments like these. We are here to fight.

Thanks for sticking with us,

Sara Baker
Legislative and Policy Director, ACLU of Missouri

At the beginning of each year, Americans dread the coming of tax season. The specter of needing to figure out the complex rules of the tax code hangs over each of us for the first third of the year, and most of us rush during April to come in under the deadline.

75% of Americans receive refunds. For those Americans, they’ve been (essentially) giving the US Government an interest-free loan through most of the year. They’d be better off having access to that money at the time they earn it. For the other 25% of Americans, needing to find the money to pay their tax balance adds unnecessary stress to their lives.

After taxes are filed, many Americans then spend weeks dreading an audit, hoping that the IRS doesn’t randomly select them. That process itself can add cost to the tax process, as most people don’t have the required expertise to deal with the IRS’s auditors.

This doesn’t have to be the case. The IRS has almost all the information they need to calculate your taxes within a fair degree of accuracy. They can do this automatically, guaranteeing that you hold on to more of your money throughout the year and will never need to spend money on expensive tax-preparation services or audit-protection insurance.

"Right now most of us dread paying taxes for good reason. None of us has time to figure out where the receipts are and what we owe, and we’re constantly stressed that we’re screwing things up or leaving money on the table. Turning us into a nation of tax experts is a ridiculous waste of citizen time and energy. The IRS should be able to tell us how much we owe and automatically file our taxes for us. Every time we do something that we think is tax-relevant, we should just forward it to a particular email address or account and it gets added in. Taxes are a perfect candidate for automation and artificial intelligence because there are clear rules to follow. Let's use technology to simplify all of our lives and focus on more important things."

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/filing-income-taxes/

At the beginning of each year, Americans dread the coming of tax season. The specter of needing to figure out the complex rules of the tax code hangs over each of us for the first third of the year, and most of us rush during April to come in under the deadline.

75% of Americans receive refunds. For those Americans, they’ve been (essentially) giving the US Government an interest-free loan through most of the year. They’d be better off having access to that money at the time they earn it. For the other 25% of Americans, needing to find the money to pay their tax balance adds unnecessary stress to their lives.

After taxes are filed, many Americans then spend weeks dreading an audit, hoping that the IRS doesn’t randomly select them. That process itself can add cost to the tax process, as most people don’t have the required expertise to deal with the IRS’s auditors.

This doesn’t have to be the case. The IRS has almost all the information they need to calculate your taxes within a fair degree of accuracy. They can do this automatically, guaranteeing that you hold on to more of your money throughout the year and will never need to spend money on expensive tax-preparation services or audit-protection insurance.

"Right now most of us dread paying taxes for good reason. None of us has time to figure out where the receipts are and what we owe, and we’re constantly stressed that we’re screwing things up or leaving money on the table. Turning us into a nation of tax experts is a ridiculous waste of citizen time and energy. The IRS should be able to tell us how much we owe and automatically file our taxes for us. Every time we do something that we think is tax-relevant, we should just forward it to a particular email address or account and it gets added in. Taxes are a perfect candidate for automation and artificial intelligence because there are clear rules to follow. Let's use technology to simplify all of our lives and focus on more important things."

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/filing-income-taxes/

The 2019 St. Louis Norm Congress gave an opportunity to rising players to earn international master (IM) and grandmaster (GM) norms in two events. The fields were very diverse, and 10 different chess federations were represented, including Burundi, Denmark, and Peru.

Eleven out of the 20 participants represented the U.S., although most of the field currently resides in America. Five players were under 18, and everyone was under 35, making it an exceptionally youthful event.

Each section is required to have three players who have already achieved either the IM or GM title, which the other players are hoping to achieve. They are generally more highly rated than the rest of the field and serve as gatekeepers for the coveted norms.

Indeed, the gatekeepers did their job very well, as they finished at the top of their fields and none of the aspiring players managed to come out with a norm. Despite that, the tournament was anything but disappointing as it was full of fighting chess and young players gathered valuable experience for their next attempt at title norms.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/chess-norm-tournament-brings-players-around-world-st-louis-compete
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The 2019 St. Louis Norm Congress gave an opportunity to rising players to earn international master (IM) and grandmaster (GM) norms in two events. The fields were very diverse, and 10 different chess federations were represented, including Burundi, Denmark, and Peru.

Eleven out of the 20 participants represented the U.S., although most of the field currently resides in America. Five players were under 18, and everyone was under 35, making it an exceptionally youthful event.

Each section is required to have three players who have already achieved either the IM or GM title, which the other players are hoping to achieve. They are generally more highly rated than the rest of the field and serve as gatekeepers for the coveted norms.

Indeed, the gatekeepers did their job very well, as they finished at the top of their fields and none of the aspiring players managed to come out with a norm. Despite that, the tournament was anything but disappointing as it was full of fighting chess and young players gathered valuable experience for their next attempt at title norms.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/chess-norm-tournament-brings-players-around-world-st-louis-compete