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Violence and misinformation have been talked about a lot on social media in recent years, and rightly so. In 2023 we could also hope for politicians who deal with it more sensibly.

The principle is that we go into politics for the common good, to serve the citizens. Against this background, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, among others, can prove to be interesting tools, for example in the administration of public services, in times of crisis or for communicating about topics or projects.

However, it is clear that there is a shift in politics towards futile publications that borders on narcissism.

Some examples

What do citizens gain by seeing Mayor Bruno Marchand dancing in his office impersonating Hugh Grant, who plays a president in the cult film Love Actually?

Or when you see Mayor Valérie Plante posing as a rock star on the sidelines of a benefit event at the Museum of Fine Arts?

Or when Minister Geneviève Guilbault multiplies the selfies?

The usefulness in question

These are just a few recent examples, without wanting to claim that these elected officials only indulge in frivolous publications. But how are they useful? How do they serve the common good or democracy? Who are they trying to reach? Will they really inspire young people to take politicians seriously and vote? There is reason to strongly doubt this.

In our time, misinformation and cynicism toward politicians are reaching new heights. The credibility of elected officials is constantly being questioned, rightly or wrongly.

But politics remains a serious issue affecting organization and power in a society.

Of course, you have to connect with the citizens, and all means can be good. But posting frivolities is that really the way to go because that’s why it’s “trendy”? A reflection is necessary.

What comes around goes around.

Two years after introducing its updated Model S and Model X with unusual yoke-shaped steering wheels, Tesla is once again selling the vehicles with traditional round wheels.

The Tesla website now offers buyers a choice between the two options at no additional cost.

The automaker is also selling a $700 conversion through Tesla Service for current owners who want to swap out the yoke for a regular wheel.

THIS IS HOW THE TESLA SEMI REALLY SOUNDS ON THE HIGHWAY

The Tesla Model S and X are now available with either a wheel or a yoke. (tesla)

The yoke caused quite a stir when the cars debuted in early 2021, receiving mixed reviews from critics and owners, although many of the latter said they’d grown accustomed to it and even ended up preferring it to a wheel.

Tesla’s designers said it offered a better view of the road and highlighted Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving capabilities and foreshadowed a future where a wheel wouldn’t be needed at all.

The image of the wheel originally appeared shortly after the new vehicles debuted in 2021. (Tesla)

That hasn’t happened yet, as Tesla’s Full Self-Driving doesn’t quite live up to its name and still requires driver supervision and input to work.

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Tesla also didn’t rework the steering ratio so the yoke doesn’t have to be rotated more than halfway, requiring drivers to take their hands off it and find something to grab while making 2.3 full turns left to right.

Toyota and Lexus have since introduced a yoke as an option on their new electric SUVs, but are making that change by using a steer-by-wire system, so they only need to be rotated 150 degrees.

Elon Musk said the yoke would work better with a steer-by-wire system, like Toyota uses with its example. (Portal/Toyota)

Even Elon Musk admitted that “variable gain yoke (steer by wire) would be ideal”, but also that there was no chance of offering a normal steering wheel.

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Tesla never made the yoke available on the Model 3 or Model Y, but versions of it were used in the Cybertruck and Roadster prototypes.

However, the option was inadvertently previewed shortly after the yoke was unveiled, when a picture of the interior of the new Model S with a round steering wheel appeared on Tesla’s website shortly after, before being removed after its discovery by the media.

Gary Gastelu is Fox News Digital’s automotive editor.

Federal Reserve officials speaking across the country on Friday said that while there are signs inflation is slowing, they still believe inflation is too high and more needs to be done to stem price hikes reduce.

“Inflation, despite some encouraging signs, remains far too high recently and is a major concern,” Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said in a speech in New Orleans on Friday.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin took a similar view, noting that while inflation may have peaked, there is still work to be done.

“We still have work to do. Inflation is too high and we need to hold that fall until we get back to our 2 percent target on a sustainable basis,” Barkin said in a speech in North Carolina.

In November, inflation, as measured by the CPI, rose 7.1% yoy, slowing since October and falling two percentage points after June data showed prices rose 9.1% yoy. December inflation data is due to be released next Thursday, January 12th.

Barkin warned that raising rates too early risks the Fed’s credibility and may require more aggressive action later.

“The experience of the 1970s showed that if you cut inflation too early, it will come back stronger, forcing the Fed to do even more and do even more damage,” Barkin said. “If you change the target before it’s reached, as some have recently advocated, you jeopardize the Fed’s credibility, which in turn increases the sacrifice required to control inflation.”

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin poses during a break at a Dallas Fed technology conference in Dallas, Texas, U.S. May 23, 2019. Portal/Ann Saphir

Kansas City Fed President Esther George noted at an event in Kansas City on Friday that raising interest rates has helped slow demand and give supply chains time to catch up, particularly in goods, but that’s yet to happen more needs to be done.

“I think it might take a while for inflation to come back down,” George said. “But I want the public to understand that the Fed intends to get there. We go back to 2%. We just need to see how the economy reacts to know if we need to do more or less.”

The story goes on

“While recent data on inflation has been encouraging, restoring price stability will require addressing the imbalances that have been driving prices up,” she said.

George added that it is important that the balance sheet outflow continues to minimize the Fed’s footprint and influence on financial markets. The Fed is currently reducing the size of its balance sheet at a rate of $95 billion per month.

The comments came after the December jobs report showed wage growth had slowed in the last month of the year, although the economy still added a robust 223,000 jobs in December and more than 4.5 million in 2022.

Wages rose 4.6% year over year in December, compared with a 4.8% drop in November, although they are still higher than before the pandemic and a rate above the Fed’s 2% inflation target .

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said in an interview on CNBC on Friday that the latest jobs numbers don’t change his outlook for the economy and inflation.

“It doesn’t really change my prospects. I’ve been waiting for the economy to steadily slow down from the strong position it had over the summer,” Bostic said. “This is just a next step in that … it’s incremental … so we have to stay the course, inflation is too high, we have to reduce these imbalances.”

Looking ahead, Cook says the inflation outlook will depend in part on production disruptions and supply chain bottlenecks, and the impact of subsequent cost pressures.

“We need to be vigilant to ensure that pandemic-era cost pressures and disruptions don’t have a lasting impact on inflation,” Cook said. “If cost shocks and supply disruptions keep inflation high long enough, household and corporate inflation expectations could rise – a development that could put additional upward pressure on inflation.”

Like Cook, George is concerned that supply issues affecting the economy and inflation may take longer to resolve and the Fed may take this into account in future monetary policy.

George also pointed to risks to the global outlook, including a recession in Europe and the ongoing impact of the pandemic in China. “Overall, the global outlook does not point to a large buffer for the US economy if growth here slows significantly,” George said.

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Global payments giant Mastercard is once again increasing its presence in blockchain technology after announcing a polygon-based accelerator program designed to help musicians build their careers via Web3.

The company announced the Mastercard Artist Accelerator program in a Jan. 7 blog post, stating that starting this spring, it will match five aspiring musicians from around the world with mentors who will help them grow their brand in the Web3 music space build up.

“Artists get exclusive access to special events, music releases and more. A unique curriculum will teach artists how to build (and own) their brand through Web3 experiences such as minting NFTs and representing themselves in virtual worlds and building an engaged community,” the post reads.

The program will culminate with a live streaming artist presentation later in the year.

We’re excited to expand our music footprint with the launch of #Web3-based Mastercard Artist Accelerator, announced today at #CES! The new platform will help aspiring artists to pursue their passion and accelerate their music career. https://t.co/ckwiqCV3Ob

— Mastercard News (@MastercardNews) January 6, 2023

Mastercard is also introducing a non-fungible token (NFT) collection called “Mastercard Music Pass” for those not selected for the program. The goal is to provide hodlers with educational materials and “unique resources” through brand collaborations to help aspiring musicians learn more about the Web3 integrations with the music sector.

As part of the announcement, Polygon Studios CEO Ryan Watt noted that “Web3 has the potential to empower a new breed of artists who build fan bases, make a living, and embrace new mediums for self-expression and connection on their own terms be able .”

Polygon looks good to become a hub for music related Web3 projects. On Dec. 6, Cointelegraph reported that global entertainment giant Warner Music Group has partnered with Polygon Studios and e-commerce and interactive platform builder LGN.io to build a Web3 music platform dubbed LGND Music.

The platform is scheduled to launch later this month and will allow users to stream music and collect and trade music NFTs.

Related: Mastercard Adds 7 Blockchain Startups to Its Crypto Accelerator

Mastercard has been actively promoting its involvement in the blockchain and crypto sector. In January 2022, Mastercard partnered with Coinbase to enable the use of Mastercard cards to purchase NFTs on Coinbase’s marketplace.

In mid-October 2022, Mastercard partnered with Paxos to enable banks to offer cryptocurrency trading and related services to their customers.

That same month, Cointelegraph also reported that Mastercard had launched a crypto fraud protection tool that allowed banks to find and prevent scams on crypto merchant platforms within their network.

On Thursday night, lawyers for disgraced crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried filed an appeal in the bankruptcy proceedings of his crypto exchange FTX to keep 56 million shares of Robinhood, currently valued at around $450 million.

Robinhood’s stock has become a major bone of contention in Delaware’s bankruptcy proceedings. While Bankman-Fried owned this equity, he borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars from FTX-affiliated trading firm Alameda Research to buy it through a separate entity called Emergent Fidelity Technology, of which he co-owns 90% with FTX co-founder Gary Wang.

Various parties have attempted to seize Robinhood stock, including the FTX bankruptcy estate and crypto lender BlockFi — Bankman-Fried’s Emergent had pledged the stock as collateral for more than $600 million in loans that BlockFi made to Alameda before its bankruptcy had provided. The US Department of Justice is also filing a lawsuit: On January 4, US Attorney Seth Shapiro told the judge responsible for the FTX bankruptcy that the prosecutor’s office was about to seize the shares.

In Thursday’s objection, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys argued that the company that controls Robinhood’s stock is not a party to the bankruptcy proceedings because it is not owned by Alameda or any other entity involved in the bankruptcy. Emergent acquired the shares in a separate filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The DOJ in December charged Bankman-Fried with eight counts of federal fraud related to the collapse of FTX and Alameda. He pleaded not guilty and a trial is scheduled for October.

In their dissent, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys wrote that the only way FTX debtors could obtain the shares was through a “fraudulent transfer claim,” or for the shares to be transferred from Alameda to Emergent in suspicious circumstances had been.

While the court cases in both the bankruptcy and criminal proceedings against Bankman-Fried continue, the scramble for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stock will continue, especially as the value of other holdings — like FTX’s proprietary FTT token — has evaporated.

Bankman-Fried’s attorneys argued that he required Robinhood stock to pay for his criminal defense. Bankman-Fried, who was once valued at $26.5 billion, has stated that he only has $100,000 left in his bank account.

Citing case law, the attorneys wrote that a “financial inability to defend oneself has serious consequences.”

According to Bankman-Fried’s lawyers, the FTX debtors only face economic damage.

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Canada is inviting its citizens to avoid several dangerous cities in Mexico the day after the arrest of drug trafficker “El Chapo’s” son, which turned into a bloodbath in that country’s northwest.

• Also read: 29 dead in arrest of son of drug dealer “El Chapo”

“It is recommended that all non-essential travel be avoided in several regions of Mexico due to the high level of violence and the presence of organized crime,” warns Charlotte MacLeod, spokeswoman for Global Affairs Canada.

In an email to the Journal, she said there are at least 13,349 Canadians in Mexico. The most vulnerable remain travelers

State of Sinaloa, according to Global Affairs Canada.

“Canadians already in the region should limit their movements and seek refuge where possible. Avoid places with demonstrations and large gatherings. Don’t try to pass through roadblocks, even if they appear unguarded. Plan extra time to reach your goal. Expect an increased number of security guards,” advises Ms. MacLeod.

bullets in flight

Mexico has seen a surge in violence on its streets since drug trafficker Ovidio Guzman was arrested on Thursday. This is the son of the famous Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzma, the leader of the Sinaloa cartel.

This massive operation left at least 29 dead and 35 injured in Culiacán, a city in the northwest of the country. A violent response ensued, with burned vehicles and Hollywood-style shootings. Three aircraft were hit by bullets in these collisions.

BREAKING: Passengers aboard an Aeromexico flight seek cover after he was shot at in Culiacan, Mexico. At least one bullet hit the torso shortly after El Chapo’s son was captured. pic.twitter.com/HYPYDF58xX

— Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) January 5, 2023

Several videos on social media even showed passengers crouching to avoid bullets on planes.

The Canadian government is now asking the public to avoid these four cities: Culiacan, Mazatlán, Los Mochis and Guasave.

Quebecers caught there

The companies WestJet and Sunwing also canceled their Friday flight to Mazatlán following these events. Note that the major airports in the region have all grounded their flights or closed their doors entirely.

“It’s not really a popular destination for us. I heard some Quebecers got caught in Mazatlán, but he’s staying at their hotel and it’s going well. “It’s definitely not the ideal holiday,” notes Moscow Côté, President of the Quebec Travel Agencies Association.

Regions or areas to avoid in Mexico:

• chihuahuas;
• Colima (excluding the city of Manzanillo)
• Coahuila (excluding the southern part of the state, on and below the Saltillo-Torreón road corridor)
• Durango (excluding the city of Durango)
• Guerrero (excluding the cities of Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo and Taxco) in the state of Guanajuato
• Highway 45 between León and Irapuato
• south of Highway 45D, including the portion of that highway between Irapuato and Celaya
• Michoacán (excluding the city of Morelia)
• in the state of Morelos:
• Lagunas de Zempoala National Park and surroundings;
• the parish of Xoxocotla;
• in the state of Nayarit:
• the area within a 20 km radius of the border with the states of Sinaloa and Durango
• the city of Tepic
• Nuevo León (excluding the city of Monterrey)
• Sinaloa (excluding the city of Mazatlán)
• Sonora (excluding the cities of Hermosillo and Guaymas/San Carlos and Puerto Peñasco)
• Tamaulipas
• Zacatecas

Source: Global Affairs Canada

Glendale, Arizona (3TV/CBS 5) – People in a peaceful neighborhood off 59th Avenue and Bell Road got a rude awakening when they said Walmart had started testing its large delivery drones.

Local residents say it sounded like a helicopter flying right over their homes. “It sounds like a hornet’s nest that was born out of nowhere,” said Mike Baxter, who has lived in the neighborhood for five years.

Measuring several feet in diameter, the drones can deliver items weighing ten pounds in 30 minutes. “I’m not against drones, I’m doing it somewhere else. It’s not a necessary service here,” Baxter said. Baxter says he moved here for privacy and quiet. Now he says both things get hurt.

Autumn Johnson, another homeowner, says the noise is alarming but more concerning is the neighborhood’s lack of regulations and laws regarding delivery drones. “I really think before this kind of ubiquitous technology comes along, parameters have to be in place to protect these kinds of concerns,” Johnson said.

The Arizona family contacted Walmart about the concerns and received the following statement.

“We care deeply about the communities we serve and always welcome feedback. Customer security and privacy are top priorities and we will continue to work with community members to ensure our delivery methods meet their needs and desires.”

Their drone partner Drone Up also sent this statement:

“We are committed to working with each and every community in which we operate to help people not only understand the value of these drones, but to answer any questions people have about this innovative technology.”

Local residents also worry about safety concerns. If one of the drones should fail, it could injure someone or damage property.

Copyright 2023 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.

According to a cybersecurity expert, hackers obtained the email addresses of more than 235 million Twitter users and published them on an internet forum.

The breach “unfortunately will lead to a lot of hacking, targeted phishing and doxxing,” wrote Alon Gal, co-founder of Israeli cybersecurity surveillance firm Hudson Rock, on LinkedIn.

On his LinkedIn page, Gal – who called the vulnerability “one of the most significant leaks I’ve ever seen” – posted screenshots of the hacked email addresses he found on the dark web.

“This database is used by hackers, political hacktivists and of course governments to further damage our privacy,” Gal told the Washington Post.

Twitter has not commented on the report, which Gal first posted to social media on Dec. 24, nor has responded to inquiries about the breach since that date.

Alon Gal of Israeli cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock published an article on LinkedIn announcing the leak.LinkedIn/Alon Gal

It wasn’t clear what actions, if any, Twitter took to investigate or fix the issue.

Screenshots of the hacker forum, where the data appeared on Wednesday, circulated on the Internet.

There were no clues as to the identity or location of the hacker or the hackers behind the vulnerability. It could have happened as early as 2021 before Elon Musk took ownership of the company last year.

Claims about the size and scope of the breach initially varied, with early reports in December saying 400 million email addresses and phone numbers were stolen.

Gal also posted screenshots of the hacked email addresses he found on the dark web. LinkedIn/Alon Gal

Gal said the hack could leave people vulnerable to phishing and doxxing attacks.LinkedIn/Alon Gal

Phishing is a tactic used by cyber criminals who send emails or text messages pretending to be from legitimate companies. These messages prompt their targets to send them personal information, including credit card numbers, passwords, and other sensitive information.

“Doxxing” is the practice whereby Internet users maliciously post an individual’s address or other sensitive information online without their consent.

The social media company has yet to comment on Gal’s claims. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Troy Hunt, creator of breach notification website Have I Been Pwned, looked at the leaked data and said on Twitter that it “appeared pretty much as it was described”.

A serious violation at Twitter could interest regulators on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Data Protection Commission in Ireland, where Twitter has its European headquarters, and the US Federal Trade Commission have monitored the Elon Musk-owned company for compliance with European data protection rules and a US consent order, respectively.

In November, the Baltimore Sun’s official Twitter account was hacked by cybercriminals, who then sent several vulgar messages.

With mail wires