The audit found that the Air Force really didn’t do its research to compare prices when it came to purchasing around a quarter of the spare parts needed for its aircraft, leading to an overall excess of spending totaling nearly $1 million. The Air Force was basically smashing the “Add to Cart” button on the first product that popped up on Amazon.

Inspector General Robert Storch reiterated that the Air Force needed to be a little bit more discerning to prevent such gross overpayments, especially now that the Air Force has extended its contract with Boeing, its supplier of spare parts until the year 2031.

Boeing, which has been embroiled in a standoff with its union workforce, has responded by suggesting that the report misrepresented the pricing of its products. The company says that these soap dispensers are a little pricier than the common soap dispenser you’d find on a commercial jet or a public restroom—but that they have to be because they are modified to meet stringent military specifications.

None of the reports of the story that I’ve read indicate what exactly makes these soap dispensers battle-ready. Maybe they dispense ammunition in addition to antibacterial soap? Maybe they’re bulletproof, ensuring that if an enemy bullet pierces the hull, at least there won’t be slippery soap flying around all over the place. Who can say? At least the crew aboard these planes can rest assured that their hands will be squeaky clean when they land. 

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For those unaware, Bluey is a children’s animated TV show that began in October 2018 and very quickly became one of the most popular kids series on Earth. And there’s a good reason why: it’s one of the most spectacularly written TV shows currently on the air, including ones made for adults. Episodes are around 11 minutes in length. They don’t pander to children and refuse to insult their intelligence. Episodes often deal with weighty themes but handle them in a way that both kids and adults can find entertaining. Anyway, Bluey is actually pretty good.

To honor Bluey’s spectacular worldwide success, the Australian Mint was planning to release these limited-edition Australian one-dollar coins (the equivalent of around $0.65 US) but then around 63,000 of them were stolen from a warehouse on July 12, 2024. In response, the New South Wales police launched a special investigation unit called Strike Force Bandit, cutely named after the father character in Bluey, to find the coins printed with pictures of the characters from the show.

Now, Strike Force Bandit has made three arrests. First was a 44-year-old named Steven Nielsen, who was an employee at the warehouse from where the coins were stolen, then an accomplice named Nassar Kanj. That led them to a 27-year-old woman named Christina Vale, who allegedly acted as the getaway driver in the cartoon coin heist. She was arrested the same day the coins were recovered. All three have since been charged for their thefts.

The coins are technically worth one Australian dollar. But their limited-edition status bumps up these “Bluey Dollarbucks,” as they are officially called, in the eyes of collectors, who’ll often buy them online for up to 10 times their face value.

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According to the outlet, the bank is investigating thousands of cases related to the so-called glitch. One of those is a Florida man who allegedly owes the bank upwards of $290,000. Additionally, customers in Miami and California owe JPMorgan between $80,000 and $141,000, the bank claimed, per the outlet.

Amid its lawsuits, the bank is seeking the return of the stolen funds with interest and overdraft fees, lawyers fees, and punitive damages, the outlet reported. In addition to the civil cases the bank has filed, JPMorgan told the outlet that it is turning over information to law enforcement agencies for potential criminal charges.

Everything to Know About the ‘Infinite Money Glitch’

The situation started when people realized that, if they deposited a bad check, Chase ATMs would let them get much of the amount out in cash before the check bounced.

To say people took advantage of the now-closed loophole is an understatement. Social media users proudly showed off their success with the trend, to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.

Now, those same people are realizing that the so-called glitch may actually just be check fraud. They’re showing off videos of their severely negative accounts and talking about hiring lawyers.

“Fraud is a crime that impacts everyone and undermines trust in the banking system,” JPMorgan spokesman Drew Pusateri told the outlet in a statement. “We’re pursuing these cases and actively cooperating with law enforcement to make sure if someone is committing fraud against Chase and its customers, they’re held accountable.”

While many may think that Zelle and Venmo are replacing paper checks completely, check fraud has been on the rise in recent years.

The outlet reported that check fraud was responsible for $26.6 billion in losses globally last year, citing Nasdaq’s Global Financial Crime Report.

Additionally, Reuters reported that Financial Crimes Enforcement Network data found that 680,000 cases of possible check fraud were reported in 2022, up from 350,000 from the previous year.

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Amid bankruptcy rumors, the long-running restaurant chain closed a big chunk of its TGI Fridays this week. Nearly 50 locations permanently closed, representing nearly one-quarter of all of the company’s restaurants, according to CNN. The closures were primarily in California, New York, and New Jersey. 

TGI Fridays restaurants have actually been shutting down across the county all year. At the start of 2024, there were 270 TGI Fridays locations. Now, there’s just 164. 

With bankruptcy reportedly looming, TGI Fridays is seeking ways alternative financing methods to stay afloat, according to Bloomberg. 

TGI Fridays was founded in 1959 with its first location in The Big Apple. Reports on the company’s dire finances cited rising food costs, customers’ preference for faster, cheaper food, and the still-lingering effects of COVID-19 closures. Red Lobster is another example of a once-popular chain having to file for bankruptcy this year. 

It’s just become so damn expensive to consistently eat out at restaurants, so sadly news like this will likely continue to catch headlines in the coming months and years. 

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Grocery companies like this shitty underhanded tactic because it will cut down on labor costs. Critics argue it will allow them to much more easily price gouge customers based on minute-to-minute demand.

Kroger has been testing digital price tags since 2018. Of the company’s 3,000 or so locations, it plans to expand its implementation of digital price tags to 2,600 of them by 2026. They’ve also announced plans to use facial recognition technology to offer targeted coupons. Meanwhile, Walmart has also been testing digital price tags with fluctuating prices that could change in the time it takes you to grab the item off the shelf and scan it at the register. They currently use it at 60 locations, which will be dramatically ramped up to 2,300 locations by 2026. Walmart once piloted facial recognition as a means of identifying shoplifters.

Both Walmart and Kroger have publicly stated that they will not be using these new digital price tags to implement surge pricing. Most people hearing that likely respond with an intense eye roll and a vigorous jerk-off hand motion, possibly while making a fart sound with their mouth, and then letting out a deeply sarcastic “Sure thing, buddy.”

Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bob Casey, and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib are calling bullshit on the whole thing. When stores use facial recognition, they believe, they will be able to profile individual customers and set custom prices based on their shopping habits, along with a wide variety of other factors.

In a letter to Kroger’s CEO that she also posted on X, Tlaib asked a few concerning questions:

1. Will Kroger use data captured by ESL facial recognition to display targeted advertisements and price adjustments for goods? Can a customer opt out of being surveilled and discriminated against?
2. What safeguards for privacy will be in place? How are you intending to protect private data for consumers captured by the facial recognition tools within your stores? Where will you store this private information?
3. How will your dynamic pricing work? Will you publicly publish information about the algorithms used to price gouge customers? What transparency measures will you take to convince the public you are not taking advantage of them?
4. Are there plans to sell data collected in the store?
5. Are you planning to deploy ESL technology at all stores? Will customers who wish to shop at Kroger but who do not wish to be subjected to facial recognition and ESL have options to shop at nearby Kroger stores that are not utilizing this technology?
6. Are you planning to deploy ESL technology for all goods in your stores? Will Kroger exclude certain necessities – like fresh produce, milk, and eggs – from ESL dynamic pricing?

The Federal Trade Commission is also currently looking into this so-called “surveillance pricing,” where prices are adjusted on the fly depending on who is doing the buying. 

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According to a report published by The Wall Street Journal, newly-instated CEO Brian Niccol has decided that one of his first actions leading the company will be scaling back on promotions and discounts. The company confirmed WSJ‘s report to Today.com, but did not comment further.

In recent months, Starbucks has offered discounts on its app in an effort to attract more customers, lessen complaints about wait times, and detract attention from rising costs, the outlet reported.

While the discounts did accomplish that goal, they also made it difficult for stores. According to the outlet, outposts had a hard time predicting customer traffic and allocating enough staff.

According to Niccol’s plan, Starbucks will not offer deals during the upcoming holiday season but will instead promote seasonal drinks through advertising, the company recently told store leaders. 

In doing so, Niccol hopes to return Starbucks’s focus to emphasizing the company’s hallmarks of selling handcrafted, premium coffee in a welcoming environment.

“The strategy is, simply put, just making a couple powerful choices, and then we’ve got to execute like crazy,” Niccol said in September during an internal company forum, according to the outlet. “We will be the community coffeehouse known for great coffee.”

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With one in four Walgreens stores deemed unprofitable, the drugstore corporation will be shutting 500 locations in 2025 and around 1,200 over the next three years. For context, the chain has around 8,700 locations across the U.S. 

While this isn’t exactly news, as the company announced closures in June, Walgreens didn’t disclose the number of stores until recently. 

Low consumer spending and high inflation have reportedly forced the store to consider a more profitable operating model. While cost-cutting through store closures is certainly not the most ideal solution, Walgreens feels forced to make it in light of recent earnings: Just last quarter, Walgreens reported a net loss of $3 billion. 

Other drugstore companies like CVS have been enduring similar struggles.

According to NPR, CVS and Walgreens have pursued other avenues to profit, such as opening primary-care clinics, rolling out new payout structures for prescriptions, and shifting priorities to match consumer needs. Walgreens, specifically, is also aiming to sell more store-brand products.

“I’m very confident that over a two- to three-year period, we will have reset the framework for reimbursement discussions,” said Tim Wentworth, CEO of Walgreens. “Many of our actions across this turnaround will take time.”

As for the countless employees losing their jobs amid closures? Wentworth said he hopes to re-hire them at other stores.

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The banking institute pleaded guilty to failing to properly track money laundering by members of drug cartels. As a result, TD Bank’s only way to right its wrong and settle charges is by forking over a lot of money. 

There are two separate fines at play. One will see TD Bank pay $1.8 billion to the U.S. Justice Department for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. This rule was put into place solely to prevent money laundering by flagging any transactions over $10,000. TD Bank should have maintained records and reported these suspicious transactions according to the law, which has been in place since 1970.

Separately, TD Bank will send another $1.3 billion to the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network as part of its violation. This is the largest enforced fine that’ll be paid out to the organization whose primary operations include money laundering prevention. 

The failures stretched from 2018 to 2024. During that time, the bank allowed three separate criminal entities to transfer more than $670 million. One damning accusation according to CNN was for bribes paid out to bank employees of “more than $57,000 worth of gift cards to process more than $470 million in cash deposits from a money laundering network” with the purpose of withholding reporting the illegal dealings. 

In a company press release following the ruling, TD Bank said their systems in place “did not deliver” in preventing criminal activity as required per the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance program. 

“We have taken full responsibility for the failures of our U.S. AML program and are making the investments, changes and enhancements required to deliver on our commitments,” said Bharat Masrani, Group President and Chief Executive Officer, TD Bank Group. “This is a difficult chapter in our Bank’s history. These failures took place on my watch as CEO and I apologize to all our stakeholders.”

TD Bank has a multi-year plan set in which they will overhaul their AML staff, strengthen its oversight structure and accountability and introduce new standards, processes, and data-driven solutions. 

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When the game was first introduced in 2002, a ticket cost only $1. In 2017, another dollar was added to the price. Monday’s announcement added another $3 to the cost, bringing the price of one ticket to $5.

The price hike does come with some benefits, though. Namely, players will have improved odds to win the jackpot. There will also be bigger jackpots more frequently, as well as larger starting and faster-growing jackpots.

The changes will also include a built-in multiplier on every ticket, multiplying non-jackpot wins by up to 10X. That could mean up to $10 million for a player. On top of that, players will no longer be able to breakeven on a ticket; if they win, the prize will always be more than the cost of the ticket.

“We are creating a game that both our existing players and people new to Mega Millions will love and get excited about playing,” Joshua Johnston, Lead Director of the Mega Millions Consortium, said. “We expect more billion-dollar jackpots than ever before, meaning creating more billionaires and many more millionaires as the jackpots climb, plus this game will continue the important legacy of supporting great causes everywhere Mega Millions is played.”

Since its inception, Mega Millions has produced six billion-dollar winners. As for millionaires, there’s an average of three per week.

Sold in 45 states, as well as Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Mega Millions drawings take place on Tuesdays and Fridays every week. Profits from the game support a wide variety of good causes and are allocated differently in each jurisdiction.

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“In California, everyone should be able to get ahead through merit, skill, and hard work,” Newsom said in a statement. “Which is why we’re opening the door to higher education wide enough for everyone, fairly.”

Proponents of AB 1780 say that prioritizing legacies contributes to systemic inequalities. The bill, they say, ensures that admissions criteria will not be influenced by wealth or personal connections. And it’s not just California politicians who believe this. A Pew research study found that 75 percent of Americans oppose using family ties in admissions decisions. It seems like this is one of the few political moves that pretty much everyone at any political stripe gets on board with.

A study by MIT and the University of Colorado-Boulder showed that 34.2 percent of legacy applicants were admitted compared to just 13.9% of non-legacy applicants, with the majority of legacy students being from wealthy backgrounds. This disparity prompted a small collection of states to act. California’s ban on legacy admissions follows similar laws in Colorado, Maryland, and Virginia.

California’s law, which will go into effect in September 2025, requires private colleges to report all of their admissions data so regulators can ensure that they comply. That means private colleges like Stanford and the ​​University of Southern California, which have been giving preference to legacies for decades, will have to level the playing field if they want to abide by the law. According to the Stanford Daily, 13.6% of first-year students in the class of 2023 had “some form of existing connection to Stanford” through legacy or donor ties.

The bill does not impose financial penalties for violations of the law, however. It’s only designed to hold colleges accountable through transparency.

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