ResidentialBusiness

Niels Troost’s lawyers argue EU may have been influenced by the trader’s estranged former business partner View the full article

Ex-spy Warnig’s plan to involve American investors shows breadth of Trump’s rapprochement with Russian presidentView the full article

US president’s actions have fuelled expectations in group that cases against Gautam Adani will collapseView the full article

Move raises fear that commodity will be next to be targeted for tariffs after levies on steel and aluminiumView the full article

The National Small Business Association (NSBA) released its 2025 Small Business Taxation Survey, highlighting the challenges small businesses face due to federal tax laws. The report underscores concerns about the expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which many small businesses fear will result in significant tax increases. According to the survey, 83% of small businesses are structured as pass-through entities, meaning they pay business taxes at the personal income level. This structure makes them particularly vulnerable to potential tax hikes if Congress does not extend expiring tax cuts. Other major findings include: More than 20 hours per year are spent dealing with federal tax compliance by most small-business owners, even though many hire external tax professionals. 90% of small businesses report that federal taxes impact their day-to-day operations, with one in three citing a significant impact. More than half of small-business owners say accessing needed information directly from the IRS is difficult. Tax administration and complexity—rather than financial cost—is cited as the largest burden. Among small businesses that outsource goods internationally, China is the most common country they purchase from. NSBA has long warned policymakers about the disruptions caused by sunsetting tax laws, emphasizing how these uncertainties place additional burdens on small businesses. The expiration of key tax provisions, including the 199A Qualified Business Income Deduction, remains a top concern. “Given that the majority of small-business owners pay business taxes at the personal income level—83 percent are pass-through entities—it’s no wonder small businesses are very concerned about potential and significant tax hikes if Congress fails to address the expiring tax cuts,” stated NSBA President and CEO Todd McCracken. The survey results come as small-business advocates urge Congress to prioritize tax stability and long-term relief. NSBA Board Chair Michael Canty, of Alloy Precision Technologies, emphasized the need for predictable tax policies that ensure small businesses are not disproportionately affected. “As Congress embarks on any tax extender or tax reform discussion, it is imperative that small businesses are afforded tax stability, predictability, and permanency, not to mention parity with larger businesses,” Canty stated. This article, "NSBA Survey Finds Tax Complexity a Major Burden for Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The National Small Business Association (NSBA) released its 2025 Small Business Taxation Survey, highlighting the challenges small businesses face due to federal tax laws. The report underscores concerns about the expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which many small businesses fear will result in significant tax increases. According to the survey, 83% of small businesses are structured as pass-through entities, meaning they pay business taxes at the personal income level. This structure makes them particularly vulnerable to potential tax hikes if Congress does not extend expiring tax cuts. Other major findings include: More than 20 hours per year are spent dealing with federal tax compliance by most small-business owners, even though many hire external tax professionals. 90% of small businesses report that federal taxes impact their day-to-day operations, with one in three citing a significant impact. More than half of small-business owners say accessing needed information directly from the IRS is difficult. Tax administration and complexity—rather than financial cost—is cited as the largest burden. Among small businesses that outsource goods internationally, China is the most common country they purchase from. NSBA has long warned policymakers about the disruptions caused by sunsetting tax laws, emphasizing how these uncertainties place additional burdens on small businesses. The expiration of key tax provisions, including the 199A Qualified Business Income Deduction, remains a top concern. “Given that the majority of small-business owners pay business taxes at the personal income level—83 percent are pass-through entities—it’s no wonder small businesses are very concerned about potential and significant tax hikes if Congress fails to address the expiring tax cuts,” stated NSBA President and CEO Todd McCracken. The survey results come as small-business advocates urge Congress to prioritize tax stability and long-term relief. NSBA Board Chair Michael Canty, of Alloy Precision Technologies, emphasized the need for predictable tax policies that ensure small businesses are not disproportionately affected. “As Congress embarks on any tax extender or tax reform discussion, it is imperative that small businesses are afforded tax stability, predictability, and permanency, not to mention parity with larger businesses,” Canty stated. This article, "NSBA Survey Finds Tax Complexity a Major Burden for Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Bid to boost Ukrainian president comes as UK prime minister prepares to host European leaders at vital Sunday summitView the full article

Community Bank & Trust has launched a Refund Anticipation Loan for the Sick Leave and Family Leave (SLFL) tax credit, also known as the Self-Employed Tax Credit (SETC), providing immediate financial relief to self-employed individuals. The loan offers an advance on tax refunds, allowing gig workers, independent contractors, and sole proprietors to access their funds without waiting for IRS processing. The SLFL program was established under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) to support self-employed individuals affected by COVID-19. Community Bank & Trust’s Refund Anticipation Loan eliminates long IRS wait times, providing instant access to funds at no cost to the applicant. Key benefits of the SLFL Refund Anticipation Loan include: Instant Access to Funds – Applicants receive their proceeds immediately instead of waiting months for the IRS. No Credit Check or Personal Guarantee – Eligibility is based solely on SLFL tax credit qualification. Zero Upfront Cost – The tax preparation processing fee is covered by the bank from the loan proceeds. Secure and Compliant – Backed by a federally regulated financial institution, ensuring full compliance with IRS and banking regulations. The SLFL (SETC) tax credit is a federally recognized tax benefit claimed directly on IRS Form 7202. Community Bank & Trust has conducted extensive due diligence to ensure all applications are IRS-compliant, providing a legitimate pathway for self-employed individuals to claim their entitled refunds. “Self-employed individuals are the backbone of the American economy, yet they often lack access to the financial support available to traditional employees,” said Steve Jeffries, President of Community Bank & Trust. “By offering a refund anticipation loan on the SLFL tax credit, we are giving self-employed individuals the financial flexibility they need without having to wait on extended government processing times.” Eligible self-employed individuals can apply for the SLFL refund anticipation loan through an approved processor working with Community Bank & Trust. The application process is fully online, fast, and secure, ensuring that funds are disbursed as quickly as possible. This article, "Community Bank & Trust Introduces Refund Anticipation Loan for Self-Employed Tax Credit" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Community Bank & Trust has launched a Refund Anticipation Loan for the Sick Leave and Family Leave (SLFL) tax credit, also known as the Self-Employed Tax Credit (SETC), providing immediate financial relief to self-employed individuals. The loan offers an advance on tax refunds, allowing gig workers, independent contractors, and sole proprietors to access their funds without waiting for IRS processing. The SLFL program was established under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) to support self-employed individuals affected by COVID-19. Community Bank & Trust’s Refund Anticipation Loan eliminates long IRS wait times, providing instant access to funds at no cost to the applicant. Key benefits of the SLFL Refund Anticipation Loan include: Instant Access to Funds – Applicants receive their proceeds immediately instead of waiting months for the IRS. No Credit Check or Personal Guarantee – Eligibility is based solely on SLFL tax credit qualification. Zero Upfront Cost – The tax preparation processing fee is covered by the bank from the loan proceeds. Secure and Compliant – Backed by a federally regulated financial institution, ensuring full compliance with IRS and banking regulations. The SLFL (SETC) tax credit is a federally recognized tax benefit claimed directly on IRS Form 7202. Community Bank & Trust has conducted extensive due diligence to ensure all applications are IRS-compliant, providing a legitimate pathway for self-employed individuals to claim their entitled refunds. “Self-employed individuals are the backbone of the American economy, yet they often lack access to the financial support available to traditional employees,” said Steve Jeffries, President of Community Bank & Trust. “By offering a refund anticipation loan on the SLFL tax credit, we are giving self-employed individuals the financial flexibility they need without having to wait on extended government processing times.” Eligible self-employed individuals can apply for the SLFL refund anticipation loan through an approved processor working with Community Bank & Trust. The application process is fully online, fast, and secure, ensuring that funds are disbursed as quickly as possible. This article, "Community Bank & Trust Introduces Refund Anticipation Loan for Self-Employed Tax Credit" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Adopting these tools will define future success in the profession. Accounting Influencers with Rob Brown Go PRO for members-only access to more Rob Brown. View the full article

Adopting these tools will define future success in the profession. Accounting Influencers with Rob Brown Go PRO for members-only access to more Rob Brown. View the full article

Innovation, AI, and next-gen leaders must successfully adapt to constantly changing landscapes. Accounting Influencers with Rob Brown Go PRO for members-only access to more Rob Brown. View the full article

Innovation, AI, and next-gen leaders must successfully adapt to constantly changing landscapes. Accounting Influencers with Rob Brown Go PRO for members-only access to more Rob Brown. View the full article

A typical RV has to plug in at a campground to run the power inside. But Airstream’s newest Basecamp 20Xe trailer is designed to power itself in remote locations: If you want to spend a week in the wilderness, you can theoretically use an induction stove, keep your laptop charged, turn on the air-conditioning, and have hot water for the shower—even if you’re nowhere near any utilities. [Photo: Airstream] “Over the past several years, we’ve seen a growing demand from our customers for what we call energy independence,” says Bob Wheeler, Airstream president and CEO. “The flexibility to not have to go to a campground with established power and energy supplies, to give them the freedom to camp anywhere they want. The phenomenon was really exposed during the pandemic—a significant shortage of campground and campsite availability.” A different electric Airstream model, the Trade Wind, has a smaller battery and works well for a weekend of use, but the company got feedback from customers who wanted to be able to stay off-grid longer. The new Basecamp has four times more power, with a 10.3-kilowatt lithium battery, 600 watts of rooftop solar, and the option to plug in an additional portable 300-watt solar panel if you’re parked under a tree and want to stretch the attachment into the sun. (The Basecamp will start at $76,900.) The flat solar panels on the roof, custom-made for Airstream, are also designed to work efficiently even in partial shade. [Photo: Airstream] All the plugs inside run directly off the battery, including the optional AC (in a small size, so it runs efficiently) and microwave. The heat and hot water also use the battery, though if someone wants to camp in cold winter weather, they might want to add an optional propane tank. How long the power lasts depends, of course, on how much power someone uses and how sunny it is outside. But “theoretically, if you’re using those larger capacities very infrequently, you could be out there indefinitely,” says Bryan Melton, vice president at Airstream. The bigger limiting factor is access to water, though the trailer is designed to use water efficiently. The shower recirculates water until it’s heated up, and the unit also has an option for a composting toilet. [Photo: Airstream] One thing the battery can’t do: help the vehicle in front of it tow the trailer when it moves (which would save gas, or conserve battery power if an EV is doing the towing). Although the company released a conceptual design in 2022 for a solar-and-battery-powered trailer that could propel itself, that version isn’t there yet. It’s likely to come later. “We’re watching for the right opportunity to do something that has at least some of those features,” Wheeler says. Lightship, a startup competitor with a luxury electric travel trailer, does offer that option. View the full article

An accepted fact of childhood: Monopoly is a slow game that requires consecutive snow days to successfully finish. And, by god, no matter what you do, do not end up as the banker, the most tedious and thankless of jobs. [Photo: Hasbro] Though they wouldn’t put it in those terms, the folks at Hasbro likely know that’s how a lot of players feel. So today the company is announcing a new set that bridges the gap between Monopoly Junior and the classic version for ages 8 and older—speeding things up by ditching the banker and paper currency entirely in favor of an app. “Kids don’t carry cash these days . . . [but] they probably do have a mobile device,” says Brian Baker, SVP of board games at Hasbro, who adds that children are also observing a lot of tap-to-pay in the world. That led the team to consider how they could combine modern technology with intuitive behavior “to completely reinvent the experience,” Baker says. [Photo: Hasbro] Banking on App Banking Monopoly turns 90 this year, and Monopoly App Banking officially hits stores in August. Though Hasbro has released a cashless version of the game before (the Monopoly Electronic Banking edition, which utilizes a calculator-looking device to help automate finances), this is the first time an app has been brought into the ecosystem. Here’s how it works: After downloading the app, players put a smartphone or tablet into a stand—dubbed the “phone throne” in-house at Hasbro—and it stays there all game. Baker says the idea was to keep the focus on the board, rather than having to pass the phone around. Whereas board games like Monopoly usually involve combing through a dense list of instructions before playing (and eventually arguing over them), this box contains just some quick-reference cards. The app kicks everything into gear quickly, directing players to select a token and its associated “credit card,” and snaps a photo of each player to indicate whose turn it is. Players roll physical dice, and then scan a QR code representing the space they’ve landed on. The app handles the property auctions and transactions and does all the basic accounting, speeding things up immensely—and provides a real-time leaderboard in a game whose player standings are often nebulous, lest everyone sit around and count money for five minutes. Is Monopoly App Banking reductive to kids learning basic accounting skills the way many of us no doubt did via the classic game? Maybe. But to Baker’s earlier point, it’s hands-down more reflective of the online banking ecosystem we’re all accustomed to today, which runs on apps. Another thing you’ll find in this version: an infusion of new life into old hubs like free parking, jail, and the railroads, thanks to built-in interactive mini games. “There are some spaces where, if you land on them, nothing really happens,” Baker says. “And if you’re an 8-year-old kid, you can get bored really, really quickly.” Take the railroads. When you land on one now, the app turns it into a high-speed train that brings the player on board; you tap your card to stop the train, and wherever it lands, that’s where you move. [Photo: Hasbro] Marvin Gardens vs. a Chocolate Factory To young players, the new elements will likely feel organic; they’re not just gimmicks for gimmicks’ sake. Baker says that’s thanks to FunLab, Habsro’s in-house testing center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The lab gives the company an opportunity to converse with players and their parents, as well as to observe how they interact with various concepts at the earliest stages of product development. To wit: “I remember watching a mother struggling to put together Hungry Hungry Hippos out of the box—it comes in nine parts—while her child was screaming,” Baker says. “And the painful part of it was, after she finally got it together and they got to play, she had to take it apart to put it back in the box. It doesn’t fit back in. So I’m happy to report that the new Hungry Hungry Hippos requires no assembly out of the box, and when you’re done playing, it fits back in.” In the case of Monopoly App Banking, Baker says the team needed to test and understand the role of the mobile device at the table—particularly because of the notion many people have that when a family is doing an activity together like playing a board game, smartphones should be put away. “We really wanted to make sure that we used FunLab as a way to kind of validate the idea that we can use technology for good and not evil, and there is a place for a mobile device at the table if thoughtfully integrated,” he says. Another place you can see FunLab’s work: the properties on the board. “If you asked a kid, ‘Hey, what property would you dream of owning?’ I guarantee you they’re not going to say Marvin Gardens, right? They’re going to be like, ‘I want a chocolate factory’ or ‘I want to buy a time machine,’” Baker says. “It was really fun to just kind of take the guardrails off and let the kids guide us in the creation of this product.” On the board you’ll find soccer fields and water parks, an infinite-pizza generator, and more. What you won’t find is anything an 8-year-old kid would deem too complicated, oversimplified, or unnecessary. Those kids, Baker says, “don’t pull any punches. They’ll tell you exactly what they think.” [Photo: Hasbro] The Sand Timer Test Are apps the future of Monopoly, if not board games at large? Baker says Hasbro has been trying to honor the boundary between tech that is intrusive and tech that is complementary. Take the standard board game sand timer. How many times have you nearly come to fisticuffs over someone cheating the clock with it? “There are easier ways to do that, and the best technology sometimes is in your pocket,” Baker says. “A part of our innovation road map at Hasbro when it comes to board games is exploring new technology and then thoughtfully applying it to the experience.” As for what the rest of this 90th-anniversary year holds for Monopoly, in January Hasbro announced expansion packs. And, according to Baker, the company plans to continue developing intellectual property partnerships, such as those that brought about the recent hit Pokémon and Harry Potter editions of the game. Monopoly is, after all, big business—and you wouldn’t want anyone getting bored with it. Especially younger kids. “The Monopoly game is the biggest product that Hasbro sells,” Baker confirms. “I can say confidently that this is by far the most innovative version of Monopoly we’ve ever created. . . . We’re super proud of that.” View the full article

Working Title among British groups to criticise proposals to weaken copyright laws View the full article

Hungarian prime minister tells EU Council president Costa that he will oppose any bloc-wide agreement View the full article

Frontline fighters, citizens and politicians fear Kyiv faces most perilous phase of war since early weeks of Moscow’s full-scale invasionView the full article

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Since the pandemic housing boom fizzled out, the number of unsold completed U.S. new single-family homes has been rising. Here’s a look at the recent historical numbers for January: January 2018: 63,000 January 2019: 76,000 January 2020: 76,000 January 2021: 40,000 January 2022: 32,000 January 2023: 68,000 January 2024: 83,000 January 2025: 115,000 The January figure (115,000 unsold completed new homes) that recently published is the highest level since July 2009 (126,000). Let’s take a closer look at the data to better understand what this could mean. To put the number of unsold completed new single-family homes into historic context, ResiClub created a new index: ResiClub’s Finished Homes Supply Index. The index is one simple calculation: The number of unsold completed U.S. new single-family homes divided by the annualized rate of U.S. single-family housing starts. A higher index score indicates a softer national new construction market with greater supply slack, while a lower index score signifies a tighter new construction market with less supply slack. Big picture: The index shows that there’s more new construction slack in the 2025 housing market as compared to the 2023 and 2024 markets; however, it’s still far less slack than the 2008 housing bust. In housing markets and builder communities where unsold completed inventory gets too high, local homebuilders could (and some already have) turn to get bigger affordability adjustments (i.e., bigger incentives or even outright price cuts). That raises the question: Where is this unsold new home inventory located? Where can buyers find deals? While the U.S. Census Bureau doesn’t specify the locations of unsold completed single-family new construction, it’s safe to assume that most of it is in the South, based on where total active housing inventory for sale is increasing and where homebuilders are completing the most homes (see chart below). As ResiClub has documented, both active resale and new homes for sale remain the most limited across huge swaths of the Midwest, Northeast, and Southern California. That’s likely where you’ll find the least unsold completed new construction—and where builders have greater pricing power. In contrast, active housing inventory for sale has grown the most in the Gulf region, including housing markets like Tampa, Punta Gorda, and San Antonio. These areas saw major price surges during the pandemic housing boom, with home price growth outpacing local income levels. As pandemic-driven migration slowed and mortgage rates rose, markets like Tampa and Austin faced challenges, relying on local income levels to support frothy home prices. This softening trend is further compounded by an abundance of new home supply in the Sun Belt. Builders are often willing to lower prices or offer affordability incentives to maintain sales, which also has a cooling effect on the resale market. Some buyers, who would have previously considered existing homes, are now opting for new homes with more favorable deals. “The number of builders’ unsold inventory homes remains above the seasonal norm,” wrote Dillan Krieg, a research analyst at John Burns Research and Consulting on LinkedIn. “We’ve been tracking this trend for a while as builders rely on speculative starts to capture buyers. However, some builders are facing pricing pressure—especially in key Florida and Texas markets, where resale supply is also well above pre-COVID norms.” View the full article

Americans across all political stripes were understandably concerned when news broke that Elon Musk, the unelected head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), had gained access to the U.S. Treasury Department’s payment systems. These payment systems are responsible for trillions of dollars in federal payments, including things like Social Security benefits and tax refunds. DOGE has felt fishy from the start, a blatant branding stunt that blurs the line between private investment and public interest by advertising Musk’s investment in Dogecoin. Knowing that Musk and his crew of DOGEbags are pursuing deep access to the Treasury Department and its troves of data has led to a number of questions (some, perhaps, a tad paranoid): What exactly do they plan to do with my private information? What personal data is stored in these systems and is any of it from my incognito browsing? Couldn’t the world’s richest man find better things to do with his time? Musk’s ability to access personally identifiable information (PII) from the Treasury Department and other federal agencies is in flux, with the courts weighing in on the legality of that access. That doesn’t mean your personal and financial information is necessarily safe—either from this current threat or from any data breaches in the future. Here’s what you can do to protect yourself and your finances from the prying eyes of DOGE. Know what information is vulnerable The U.S. Treasury’s payment system handles the outlay of federal funds, including federal grants, Social Security and Medicare payments, tax information, and payments to federal contractors. Anyone who has received any of these types of federal dollars (which is pretty much everyone) has their personal information stored on the database. Specifically, the database holds Social Security numbers, tax information, and bank account numbers (for direct deposit of tax refunds, Social Security payments, and other payments). To be clear, the U.S. Treasury Department’s payment system is not the only place where this kind of personal information is stored—so it’s prudent to protect yourself even if “no classified material was accessed without proper security clearances,” as the DOGE claimed on February 2, 2025. How to DOGE-proof your data There are several actions that will help keep you safe, even if any of your personal information falls into the wrong hands. Open a my Social Security account Most policy and financial experts are not worried about the possibility of a Social Security payment breach. If you are currently receiving Social Security benefits, there is no reason to believe your payments are in jeopardy due to DOGE access to the U.S. Treasury. However, a stolen Social Security number could allow an identity thief to open a my Social Security web account in your name and potentially steal your benefits. The my Social Security web portal allows you to check your earnings history, estimate future benefits, and manage current benefits (which includes setting up direct deposit). It’s not exactly easy for hackers to access your Social Security benefits, even if they have your Social Security number. The my Social Security web portal takes data safety seriously and uses various tools to verify your identity, including information from your credit reports. So an identity thief would need to have that information, in addition to your SSN, to open an account in your name. But it is still prudent (and helpful) to establish your account now, as it will ensure that no one else opens an account in your name. One important note: If you have already frozen your credit (more on that below), you will need to temporarily unfreeze it to establish your account. Set up an IRS.gov account Scammers with your personal information may also attempt to file a fraudulent tax return in your name to claim a refund. The IRS has identified this as a growing problem over the past few years, with over one million tax returns flagged as potentially fraudulent during the 2023 tax season. Setting up an online individual account with IRS.gov can help ensure that you are the only person filing taxes in your name. This kind of account can also allow you to access your tax records, manage payments, and get virtual assistance. For further security, you can also request an identity protection PIN (IP PIN) from the IRS. This is a six-digit number assigned to you at the beginning of the tax season that you may use to file your taxes instead of your Social Security number. The IP PIN is only shared with you, and you will need to provide it when filing your tax return to verify your identity. The IP PIN is also only valid for one calendar year, so you must request a new one each tax season. If you have your IRS.gov online individual account set up, there is a link to request an IP PIN through that portal. Freeze your credit Freezing your credit means that no one, not even you, can open new credit in your name. (The fact that you’re included in the freeze comes in handy when you’re tempted by impulse credit. You’ll actually be relieved when the cashier denies your Kohl’s credit card application, 20% discount be damned. Ask me how I know this.) With frozen credit, even if identity thieves have your personal information, they can’t open an account in your name. Credit freezes last indefinitely, which means you don’t have to worry about renewing the chill. However, you do need to unfreeze your credit anytime you want to open a new line of credit. The credit bureaus allow you to “thaw” your credit for a specific time frame, after which point the freeze goes back into effect. These time frames can be as short as a day. To freeze your credit, go to each of the three nationwide credit bureau websites and follow their prompts: Equifax Experian Transunion Practice good password hygiene If you’ve been using Bandit1993 as your password for everything, it’s time to change it—whether or not the U.S. Treasury Department has access to your bank account. Passwords that use pet names, important dates, your mother’s maiden name, or the name of your favorite Toad the Wet Sprocket album (Dulcinea, of course!) are just too easy to guess. And though reusing passwords may feel like a timesaver, it leaves all your accounts vulnerable to any sketchy characters lurking among real TtWS enthusiasts. Good password hygiene requires a unique, strong password for every account. Passwords made up of a random string of 16 or more characters are the most secure, but it would be literally impossible to remember such passwords for every account. Cybersecurity experts suggest creating passphrases—a memorable phrase made up of several unrelated words—to use as passwords. These can be especially secure if you replace some letters with numbers or symbols. For example, you might choose the words watch, mirror, eclair, and limb, and create the following passphrase: W@tchMirr0rEcl@irL!mb. If you want to hit the easy button on password security, you can ensure unique and strong passwords with a password manager. Just don’t use Bandit1993 as your master password for the manager. Death, taxes, and security breaches The particular security threat posed by DOGE may be novel, but it’s a good idea to remember that our information is always vulnerable in one way or another. Some proactive strategies can protect your Social Security number, tax information, and bank account from a variety of threats. Specifically, opening accounts with my Social Security and IRS.gov can prevent fraudsters from accessing benefits and tax refunds in your name, while requesting an identity protection PIN (IP PIN) from the IRS every tax season offers further protection from identity thieves. Freezing your credit prevents anyone—including you—from opening new credit in your name. The credit bureaus make it easy to freeze and unfreeze your credit on their websites. And using strong, unique passwords on all your accounts is the best way to keep your information secure. Since remembering random strings of characters is impossible, use a password manager to handle the recall for you. The fact that, via DOGE, an unelected billionaire has access to our sensitive data is rage-inducing, but we do have the power to protect ourselves. View the full article

When Leonard Foglia was invited to direct an opera based on Herman Melville’s masterpiece about a white whale, his first reaction was: “Moby-Dick. That’s great!” “Then I ran to a used bookstore and got the book,” he recalled, “and I thought: Oh my God, what am I in for here? It’s so daunting. I didn’t panic, but I thought, How do we do this?” How he and his collaborators did it will be on display at the Metropolitan Opera beginning March 3. The opera is composed by Jake Heggie to a libretto crafted by Gene Scheer. To begin with, Scheer had to whittle a novel of more than 600 pages down to a 64-page libretto. He kept as much of Melville’s language as possible, and estimates that 40% to 50% of his libretto can be found in the original text, though he often tweaked the phrasing to make it more singable. Heggie and his initial partner, Terrence McNally (who withdrew for health reasons), had already decided to lop off the opening chapters, which take place on land. They set the entire opera aboard the whale-hunting ship Pequod. Another crucial change was renaming the narrator, calling him Greenhorn to reflect his status as a novice aboard the ship. Now the book’s famous opening line, “Call me Ishmael,” is transposed to the very end of the opera when the character has matured. “In the novel, Ishmael is telling a story that happened many years ago,” Scheer said. “But in the theater, you want to see it happen in real time. . . . We’re watching him take in all the experiences so that when he says ‘Call me Ishmael,’ he’s ready to write the book. In essence, this opera is the education of Ishmael.” Tenor Stephen Costello, who is performing the role for the fifth time and is the lone cast holdover from the Dallas premiere in 2010, sees his character as “the only one who really has an arc.” “He goes on the Pequod because there was nothing for him on land,” Costello said. “So he’s either going to die at sea or figure out who he is.” In addition to Costello, the Met cast includes tenor Brandon Jovanovich as the vengeance-obsessed Captain Ahab. Pip, his cabin boy, is written as a “trousers role” (a male character portrayed by a woman) and will be sung by soprano Janai Brugger. Starbuck, the first mate, will be baritone Peter Mattei, and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green will sing the part of Queequeg. Karen Kamensek conducts the eight performances through March 29. The opera, commissioned to celebrate the opening of a new opera house in Dallas, has been a success from the beginning, drawing praise from audiences and critics—and even scholars. Bob Wallace, a professor at Northern Kentucky University and past president of the Melville Society, admired the opera so much that he wrote a book about its creation. “Scheer and Heggie did a brilliant job of shrinking the novel to make it fit the stage and yet preserve so much of the essence of it,” he said in an interview. As much as critics admired Scheer’s adaptation and Heggie’s tuneful, atmospheric, and at times gripping score, they lavished special praise on the physical production, with sets by Robert Brill and projections by Elaine J. McCarthy. The action, Steve Smith wrote in The New York Times, “played out against a multimedia-enriched staging that ranged from striking to near-miraculous.” Perhaps the most stunning effect is the way animated projections superimposed on a climbing wall that is curved a bit like a skateboard ramp create the illusion of the crew leaving the Pequod to board three whaling boats. “A lot of the excitement and thrill of watching this is due to the work of the production team,” Scheer said. “Lenny kept saying to me, ’You imagine it the way you want it, and let me figure out how to do it.’” That often involved imposing unusual physical demands on the singers. For instance, when Pip gets lost at sea, his character sings the equivalent of an operatic mad scene dangling high above the stage, with projections making it appear he’s treading water. “I said to Janai when we first rehearsed it,” Foglia recalled, “‘Okay, you can just get mad at me now, because you have to sing your hardest aria hanging from not even a full harness, just a single wire.’” In addition, Queequeg and Greenhorn climb up and down ladders to sing at the top of the mastheads. Ahab, who has lost a leg in a prior encounter with Moby-Dick, has to hobble on a wooden prosthesis. And Greenhorn—finally named Ishmael—ends the opera grabbing onto a whale hook from a passing ship that lifts him to safety. “I joke with them that everything opera singers count on in life—having both feet planted on the ground—I’ve taken away from them,” Foglia said. —By Mike Silverman, Associated Press This story was first published February 26, 2025. It was updated on February 28, 2025, to correct the name of Northern Kentucky University. View the full article

Inside a cavernous production plant in Spain, people from 62 nationalities work side by side to keep a food company humming as millions of legs of ham travel on hooks along conveyor belts. Foreign workers have helped to make Spain’s economy the envy of the industrialized world, even as anti-immigration sentiments grow elsewhere in Europe and in the United States. “BonÀrea would not be possible if it weren’t for the people from other countries who have come here to work. We should be eternally grateful to them,” the company’s head of human resources, Xavier Moreno, told the Associated Press during a recent visit. Tapping into foreign labor helped Spain’s economy grow by about 3% last year, smashing the eurozone average of 0.8%, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That also beat the U.S. growth rate of 2.8%, according to OECD projected figures, where President Donald Trump has pledged to close borders and deport immigrants who are in the country illegally. Spain’s ministry for social security and migration says 45% of all jobs created since 2022 have been filled by around half a million new foreign-born workers. Nearly 3 million foreigners now represent 13% of the country’s workforce. “We had two ways to deal with the challenge,” the minister, Elma Saiz, told the AP. “That Spain be a closed and poor country or an open and prosperous one.” Pedro Aznar, professor of economics with the Esade Business School in Barcelona, said the influx of foreign workers has helped Spain fare far better than Germany, the traditional motor of Europe’s economy, whose manufacturing industry is in crisis. Spain is driven by services, in particular its buoyant tourism sector. Foreigners do typically lower-wage jobs that many Spaniards don’t want. And while Spain takes in fewer asylum-seekers than other European countries, it’s in the rare position to attract millions of economic migrants from Latin America who swiftly incorporate into Spain’s job market and social fabric thanks to the common language. Practically all of Spain’s population growth since the COVID-19 pandemic is due to immigration, with 1.1 million people arriving in 2022, according to the Bank of Spain. It credits the newcomers with sustaining the aging country’s social security system—a challenge common in other European nations. The bank said 85% of the 433,000 people who found a job last year between January and September were foreign-born. Bucking the anti-migration trend Across Europe, the rise of anti-migrant sentiment has spurred far-right political parties. Spain also has seen the rise of anti-migration political forces that focus on unauthorized migration from Africa and Islamic countries, but they haven’t been able to impose their narrative as deeply. Mohamed Es-Saile, 38, arrived from Morocco illegally when he was 16, crossing into Spain’s north African exclave of Ceuta. He now works legally as an electrician and repairman at bonÀrea. “I don’t feel any hate toward migrants here,” Es-Saile said. “From my point of view, a person (from abroad) can adapt to situations in a new country, even sometimes better than people from that country.” Latin Americans have made up the bulk of immigrants who arrived legally. According to the most recent census, more than 4 million Latin American immigrants were living in Spain legally in 2023. Víctor Razuri was brought over by bonÀrea from Peru last year as a mechanic and electrician. The 41-year-old said he has had little problem adapting. “In Peru, you don’t see many people from other parts of the world. When I got here, I was working with people from Ukraine, from Morocco, and with a few other people from Latin America,” he said. “It was a little tough at first, but I think I have adapted.” To help integrate newcomers, bonÀrea offers classes in Spanish and Catalan, help with work permits, and finding homes and schools. Representatives of workers from different countries meet regularly to discuss issues related to cultural differences. “Our future prosperity” Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has defended legal migration, drawing attention to its economic benefits. Spain added an estimated 458,000 authorized immigrants last year, according to the National Statistics Institute. While 31% come from other EU countries, leading countries of origin also include Morocco, Colombia, Venezuela, China, Peru, and Ukraine. New arrivals often take service jobs, construction, farming, fishing, and home care and cleaning. “Welcoming those who come here looking for a better life is not just an obligation, it is also an essential step to guaranteeing our future prosperity,” Sánchez told Parliament in October. An aging Spain requires workers Social changes in Spain have opened the job market for newcomers without creating dramatic social tensions, despite chronic high unemployment at 10.6%. The Bank of Spain estimates that an aging Spain will need 30 million working-age immigrants over the next 30 years to sustain the balance between workers and retirees-plus-children. In Barcelona, café owner Jordi Ortiz said there is no way he could keep his business going without his staff of mostly Latin Americans. “It is basically 80% of people from abroad, 20% from here,” Ortiz said. “Spaniards just don’t want to work in the service sector.” Emily Soto, originally from the Dominican Republic, serves tables at the cafe. She and her family emigrated in 1998. Since then, things have changed. “When I got here there was nobody else from my country, I mean we could count them on our fingers,” Soto said. “But now they just keep coming.” Contractor Víctor Lisbona in Barcelona said fellow Spaniards no longer follow in their parents’ footsteps, and estimates that around 80% of the carpenters, electricians, and construction professionals he has worked with are foreigners. “Young Spaniards don’t want to do the hard jobs, the construction work, driving trucks, carpentry. They want to study to be lawyers, doctors,” Lisbona said. New work permits for migrants Spain has struggled with unauthorized migration across the Mediterranean Sea and has backed European Union deals with Morocco to try to stem flows. Meanwhile, the stream of migrant boats journeying from Africa’s west coast to Spain’s Canary Islands has created a humanitarian crisis. Countless die in the attempt. Sánchez toured Mauritania, Senegal, and Gambia last year to promote a temporary work scheme whereby African workers could get legal and safe passage to Spain. Results have yet to be seen. The government also aims to bring unauthorized migrants already in Spain into the system. In November, Sánchez’s left-wing coalition announced it would provide work permits and papers to some 900,000 foreigners already in the country illegally over the coming three years, with hopes they will work and pay taxes. BonÀrea will be waiting to give them jobs, Moreno with human resources said, with some 700 posts likely available. —By Joseph Wilson and Suman Naishadham, Associated Press View the full article

For many people, pets provide unconditional love, companionship, and a sense of security. But not all human-pet relationships are beneficial, and some may contribute to stress and anxiety rather than relief. Psychologists have been studying attachment theory for decades. This framework explains how people form emotional bonds, seek closeness, and manage separation. People with secure attachment tend to feel safe in relationships, while those with attachment anxiety may crave closeness but frequently worry about rejection or loss. Just like with human relationships, people form attachment bonds with pets. Some form secure attachments, finding comfort in their pet and viewing them as a reliable source of companionship. Others experience anxious attachment, feeling excessive worry, distress, and a heightened need for reassurance when separated from their pet. In our recently published research, my research team and I found that attachment anxiety is strongly linked to depression symptoms among owners. This suggests that well-being isn’t just about having a pet, but about the quality of your bond. Strong bonds aren’t always healthy bonds My team and I set out to explore whether the way people bond with their pets has a measurable effect on their mental well-being. We surveyed more than 1,000 pet owners in the U.S. about their closeness to their pets; how often they engaged in activities like playing, cuddling, or spending time together; and whether they felt secure or anxious in the relationship. We also measured symptoms of depression to examine how different characteristics of pet bonds might influence mental well-being. Our results revealed a clear pattern: Higher pet attachment anxiety was the strongest predictor of depression symptoms. In other words, people who felt overly dependent on their pets, constantly worrying about being apart from them, or whether their pet “loved” them back, were more likely to experience depression symptoms. Surprisingly, simply feeling emotionally close to a pet was not enough to predict better mental health. While some may assume that a stronger bond with a pet automatically leads to greater well-being, our findings suggest that the quality of the attachment matters more than its intensity. People with secure pet relationships reported better well-being, while those with higher attachment anxiety experienced greater distress. We also found that while frequent pet interactions were linked to stronger and more secure human-pet bonds, interaction frequency did not significantly predict mental health outcomes. This reinforces the idea that emotional security in the relationship, rather than just the frequency of interaction, is what truly matters for mental health. Interestingly, people who owned both a cat and a dog reported more depression symptoms than those with only one type of pet. While our study did not determine the cause, one possibility is that managing multiple pets can add stress or increase the burden of caregiving. How pet relationships shape your mental health Our findings highlight that pet ownership is not a one-size-fits-all solution for mental health. The way people bond with their pets—whether they feel emotionally secure or experience anxiety in the relationship—may be just as important as pet ownership itself in shaping well-being. This research also raises important questions about the role of emotional support animals and animal-assisted interventions. If pet ownership is going to be integrated into mental health care, it may not be enough to simply encourage pet companionship. Instead, the quality of the human-animal bond could be a key factor in whether pets provide comfort or contribute to emotional distress. This study does not suggest that people should stop seeking emotional support from pets. Instead, it highlights how the way people bond with their pets can influence well-being in ways they may not always realize. For those who rely on their pets for emotional support, recognizing these patterns may help foster a bond that feels reassuring rather than stressful. Pets can provide deep comfort, but caregiving comes with challenges, too. Reflecting on both the joys and responsibilities of pet ownership can help strengthen the human-animal bond, supporting the well-being of both pets and owners. Brian N. Chin is an assistant professor of psychology at Trinity College. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. View the full article

Most of us are used to using internet chatbots like ChatGPT and DeepSeek in one of two ways: via a web browser or via their dedicated smartphone apps. There are two drawbacks to this. First, their use requires an internet connection. Second, everything you type into the chatbot is sent to the companies’ servers, where it is analyzed and retained. In other words: the more you use the chatbot the more the company knows about you. This is a particular worry surrounding DeepSeek that American lawmakers have expressed. But thanks to a few innovative and easy-to-use desktop apps, LM Studio and GPT4All, you can bypass both these drawbacks. With the apps, you can run various LLM models on your computer directly. I’ve spent the last week playing around with these apps and thanks to each, I can now use DeepSeek without the privacy concerns. Here’s how you can, too. Run DeepSeek locally on your computer without an internet connection To get started, simply download LM Studio or GPT4All on your Mac, Windows PC, or Linux machine. Once the app is installed, you’ll download the LLM of your choice into it from an in-app menu. I chose to run DeepSeek’s R1 model, but the apps support myriad open-source LLMs. LM Studio can run DeepSeek’s reasoning model privately on your computer. Once you’ve done the above you’ve essentially turned your personal computer into an AI server capable of running numerous open-source LLMs, including ones from DeepSeek and Meta. Next, simply open a new chat window and type away just as you would when using an AI chatbot on the web. The best thing about both these apps is that they are free for general consumer use, you can run several open-source LLMs in them (you get to choose which and can swap between LLMs at will), and, if you already know how to use an AI chatbot in a web browser, you’ll know how to use the chatbot in these apps. But there are additional benefits to running LLM’s locally on your computer, too. The benefits of using an LLM locally I’ve been running DeepSeek’s reasoning model on my MacBook for the past week without so much as a hiccup in both LM Studio or GPT4All. One of the coolest things about interacting with DeepSeek in this way is that no internet is required. Since the LLM is hosted directly on your computer, you don’t need any kind of data connection to the outside world to use it. Running LLMs like DeepSeek in apps like GPT4All can help keep your data secure. Or as GPT4All’s lead developer, Adam Treat, puts it, “You can use it on an airplane or at the top of Mount Everest.” This is a major boon to business travelers stuck on long flights and those working in remote, rural areas. But if Treat had to sum up the biggest benefit of running DeepSeek locally on your computer, he would do it in one word: “Privacy.” “Every online LLM is hosted by a company that has access to whatever you input into the LLM. For personal, legal, and regulatory reasons this can be less than optimal or simply not possible,” Treat explains. While for individuals, this can present privacy risks, those who upload business or legal documents into an LLM to summarize could be putting their company and its data in jeopardy. “Uploading that [kind of data] to an online server risks your data in a way that using it with an offline LLM will not,” Treat notes. The reason an offline LLM running locally on your own computer doesn’t put your data at risk is because “Your data simply never leaves your machine,” says Treat. This means, for example, if you want to use DeepSeek to help you summarize that report you wrote, you can upload it into the DeepSeek model stored locally on your computer via GPT4All or LM Studio and rest assured the information in that report isn’t being sent to the LLM maker’s servers. The drawbacks of using an LLM locally However, there are drawbacks to running an LLM locally. The first is that you’re limited to using only the open-source models that are available, which may be less recent than the model that is available through the chatbot’s official website. And because only open-source models can be installed, that means you can’t use apps like GPT4All or LM Studio to run OpenAI’s ChatGPT locally on your computer. Another disadvantage is speed. “Because you are using your own hardware (your laptop or desktop) to power the AI, the speed of responses will be generally slower than an online server,” Treat says. And since AI models rely heavily on RAM to perform their computations, the amount of RAM you have in your computer can limit which models you can install in apps like GPT4All and LM Studio. “As online servers are usually powered by very high-end hardware they are generally going to be faster and have more memory allowing for very fast responses by very large models,” explains Treat. Still, in my testing of both LM Studio and GPT4All over the past week, I don’t think the reduced speediness of DeepSeek’s replies is a dealbreaker. When using DeepSeek’s R1 reasoning model on the web, the DeepSeek hosted on servers in China took 32 seconds to return an answer to the prompt “Can you teach me how to make a birthday cake?” When asking the local DeepSeek R1 model stored in LM Studio and GPT4All, the response time was 84 seconds and 82 seconds, respectively. I’ve found that the benefits of running DeepSeek locally on my device using LM Studio and GPT4All far outweigh the extra waiting time required to get a response. Without a doubt, being able to access a powerful AI model like DeepSeek’s R1 locally on my computer anywhere at any time without an internet connection—and knowing the data I enter into it remains private—is a trade-off worth making. View the full article

Healthy coastal ecosystems play crucial roles in the U.S. economy, from supporting multibillion-dollar fisheries and tourism industries to protecting coastlines from storms. They’re also difficult to manage, requiring specialized knowledge and technology. That’s why the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—the federal agency best known for collecting and analyzing the data that make weather forecasts and warnings possible—leads most of the government’s work on ocean and coastal health, as well as research into the growing risks posed by climate change. The government estimates that NOAA’s projects and services support more than one-third of the nation’s gross domestic product. Yet, this is one of the agencies that the Trump administration has targeted, with discussions of trying to privatize NOAA’s forecasting operations and disband its crucial climate change research. As a marine environmental historian who studies relationships among scientists, fishermen, and environmentalists, I have seen how NOAA’s work affects American livelihoods, coastal health, and the U.S. economy. Here are a few examples from just NOAA’s coastal work, and what it means to fishing industries and coastal states. Preventing fisheries from collapsing One of the oldest divisions within NOAA is the National Marine Fisheries Service, known as NOAA Fisheries. It dates to 1871, when Congress created the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries. At that time, the first generation of conservationists started to worry that America’s natural resources were finite. By conducting surveys and interviewing fishermen and seafood dealers, the fish commissioners discovered that freshwater and saltwater fisheries across the country were declining. Oil spills and raw sewage were polluting waterways. Fishermen were using high-tech gear, such as pound nets, to catch more and more of the most valuable fish. In some areas, overfishing was putting the future of the fisheries in jeopardy. One solution was to promote aquaculture, also known as fish or shellfish farming. Scientists and entrepreneurs reared baby fish in hatcheries and transferred them to rivers, lakes, or bays. The Fish Commission even used refrigerated railroad cars to ship fish eggs across the country. Today, U.S. aquaculture is a US$1.5 billion industry and the world’s fastest-growing food sector. Much of the salmon you see in grocery stores started as farm-raised hatchlings. NOAA provides training, grants, and regional data to support the industry. NOAA Fisheries also helps to regulate commercial and recreational fishing to keep fish populations healthy and prevent them from crashing. The 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and other laws implemented catch limits to prevent overfishing. To develop fair regulations and combat illegal practices, NOAA and its predecessors have worked with fishing organizations through regional fishery management councils for decades. These industries generate $321 billion in sales and support 2.3 million jobs. Restoring coral reefs to help marine life thrive NOAA also benefits U.S. coastal communities by restoring coral reefs. Corals build up reefs over centuries, creating “cities of the sea.” When they’re healthy, they provide nurseries that protect valuable fish species, like snapper, from predators. Reefs also attract tourism and protect coastlines by breaking up waves that cause storm-driven flooding and erosion. The corals of Hawaii, Florida, Puerto Rico, and other tropical areas provide over $3 billion a year in benefits— from sustaining marine ecosystems to recreation, including sport fishing. However, reefs are vulnerable to pollution, acidification, heat stress, and other damage. Warming water can cause coral bleaching events, as the world saw in 2023 and 2024. NOAA monitors reef health. It also works with innovative restoration strategies, such as breeding strains of coral that resist bleaching, so reefs have a better chance of surviving as the planet warms. Battling invasive species in the Great Lakes A third important aspect of NOAA’s coastal work involves controlling invasive species in America’s waters, including those that have menaced the Great Lakes. Zebra and quagga mussels, spiny water flea, and dozens of other Eurasian organisms colonized the Great Lakes starting in the late 1900s after arriving in ballast water from transoceanic ships. These invaders have disrupted the Great Lakes food web and clogged cities’ water intake systems, causing at least $138 million in damage per year. In the Northwest Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, invasive lionfish, native to Asia and Australia, have spread, preying on native fish essential to coral reefs. Lionfish have become one of the world’s most damaging marine fish invasions. NOAA works with the Coast Guard, U.S. Geological Survey, and other organizations to prevent the spread of invasive aquatic species. Stronger ballast water regulations developed through the agency’s research have helped prevent new invasions in the Great Lakes. Understanding climate change One of NOAA’s most crucial roles is its leadership in global research into understanding the causes and effects of climate change. The oil industry has known for decades that greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels would raise global temperatures. Evidence and research from around the world have connected greenhouse gas emissions from human activities to climate change. The data have shown how rising temperatures have increased risks for coastal areas, including worsening heat waves and ocean acidification that harm marine life; raising sea levels, which threaten coastal communities with tidal flooding and higher storm surges; and contributing to more extreme storms. NOAA conducts U.S. climate research and coordinates international climate research efforts, as well as producing the data and analysis for weather forecasting that coastal states rely on. Why tear apart an irreplaceable resource? When Republican President Richard Nixon proposed consolidating several different agencies into NOAA in 1970, he told Congress that doing so would promote “better protection of life and property from natural hazards,” “better understanding of the total environment,” and “exploration and development leading to the intelligent use of our marine resources.” The Trump administration is instead discussing tearing down NOAA. The administration has been erasing mentions of climate change from government research, websites, and policies—despite the rising risks to communities across the nation. The next federal budget is likely to slash NOAA’s funding. Commercial meteorologists argue that much of NOAA’s weather data and forecasting, also crucial to coastal areas, couldn’t be duplicated by the private sector. As NOAA marks its 55th year, I believe it’s in the nation’s and the U.S. economy’s best interest to strengthen rather than dismantle this vital agency. Christine Keiner is a chair at the Department of Science, Technology, and Society at Rochester Institute of Technology. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. View the full article