Favorite Link Friday January 29, 2016

D.C. Issues $1.4million Worth of Parking Tickets After Blizzard

In the Blizzard of 2016, the District issued $1,369,750 in fines for cars left on snow emergency routes -- and towed almost 700 of them, the city said.

Another 431 cars were impounded by private tow companies and were issued $250 parking tickets and the $100 tow fee, plus a $20 per day storage fee. [Source]

Is there perhaps a moral to this story?

Apple Is Reportedly Developing Long Distance Wireless Charging For iPads And iPhones

Apple is reportedly developing technology that would allow iPhone and iPad owners to charge their device without needing to plug it into the wall or place it on a charging mat. That’s according to a report from Bloomberg which claims the wireless charging tech could work over unspecified long distances.

Right now, the best “wireless” charging phones don’t require a direct power connection but must be in contact with a mat or charger. If Apple can package genuine wireless charging into future products, that’ll help the iPhone and iPad further stand apart from competition. And, also, potentially make life a lot easier for Apple customers, particularly if the headphone jack disappears (per rumors) and the lightning outlet becomes open for a headphones connection. [Source]

President Putin: Russia will bomb Saudi Arabia back to the Stone Age life unless Riyadh desists from supporting terrorism

Moscow—According to Russian daily Novaya Gazeta, Mr. Dmitry Peskov ,the press spokesman for the Russian President, lambasted the Saudi regime in his weekly press conference for sowing terrorism and backing al-Qaeda inspired guerrillas throughout the crisis-hit Syria.

"the Saudi leadership clings to power and hope they can possibly impede the inevitable collapse of their primitive, barbaric and inhumane political system by targeting the stability and welfare of other neighboring nations," Pravda quoted the Russian official as saying on Monday. [Source]

House of Cards Renewed for Season 5

Netflix has renewed “House of Cards” for Season 5 ahead of its Season 4 premiere, the streaming platform announced Thursday. Season 4 of “House of “Cards,” starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, will premiere on March 4. Season 5 will debut in 2017. [Source]

Russia Adds Hillary Clinton to A Terror Sponsor Watchlist

The Federal Security Service (FSB) is shockingly reporting today that it has just added former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to its terrorist sponsor watchlist after it was discovered this week that one of the top monetary contributors to her presidential campaign is a suspected agent of Pakistan’s Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) who has funneled hundred-of-millions of dollars to Islamic Sunni-backed terror groups throughout the Middle East.

With the Federation, in 2011, having begun this confidential list of people and organizations found to be involved in laundering money and funding terrorism, this report notes, Hillary Clinton’s addition to it makes her the highest ranking US official to have ever been placed upon it—but is not necessarily a “firm/complete” indication of her guilt, but rather means her “actions/associations” involving “known/suspected” terrorists and terrorism supporters have raised “serious concerns” within the FSB. [Source]

Bank of Japan Adopts Negative Interest Rates

The policy — which means banks are essentially paying for the privilege of parking their money — represents a last resort for a country that has struggled through a quarter century of weak growth. In theory, negative rates will push banks to lend more to companies, which would then spend and hire.

Japan is following other major central banks in going negative on interest rates, a sign of the ongoing global trouble from plummeting low oil prices, stalling international trade and slowing growth in China. The move comes as Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is seeking new ways of breaking the country’s cycle of decline.

The bank’s policymakers, who voted 5-4 to approve the measure, took great pains to say the rate cut was based on global conditions, not the Japanese economy itself. The move surprised financial markets, which moved higher in Asia trading. [Source]