• AVERAGE BUSINESS SECURITY BREACHES last year took 277 days to identify and contain. Breaches affected even huge companies & organizations, including Microsoft and Red Cross, principally through email scams by people opening emails from unregistered senders, then supplying account numbers/ passwords/ financial or personal data via email or messenger applications. Training business owners, managers & workers in cybersecurity protection is a critical factor in every business utilizing internet communication. DCG can help. Call us for courtesy guidance.
  • PSYCHEDELIC MEDICINES ARE EXPANDING FURTHER INTO PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS, legal therapeutically in 2023. Magic mushrooms/ MDMA/ ketamine/ psylocibin/ LSD “all have one thing in common: rapidly acting changes in brain function which trigger receptors and signals important for the growth of neurons, and not necessarily causing hallucinations… So far MDMA has shown significant reduction in PTSD, with potential to reduce eating and anxiety disorders… and there are over 100 clinics in America as well as Europe, many of which are testing ketamine and psilocybin for treatment in depression… With potential for adverse events, including ‘bad trips’ and cardiotoxicity, drug trials will move cautiously, but the coming year will see a number of milestones in previously untreatable disease.”  [ECONOMIST – World in 2023]
  • Effective January 2023, NEW CALIFORNIA STATEWIDE LAWS include: Minimum hourly wage $15.50 for any employee; Salary range available to any employee upon request, and disclosed in any job posting; Employee Time Off allowed to care for any child/ spouse/ domestic partner/ parent/ in-law/ grandchild or parent/ sibling/ or upon death of a family member;  Bicyclists now allowed to roll through crosswalks or intersections;  Manufacture or Sale of ‘fur’ products is banned, though okay still for dog/ cat/ cow/ deer/ sheep/ goat skin, or anything preserved through taxidermy;  Higher pricing based on gender to whom products are marketed is banned.
  • Effective April 2023, NEW LOS ANGELES CITY ‘TRANSFER TAX’ applies to sale of residential, apartment, commercial properties or vacant land, based on the gross selling price – irrespective of mortgages and whether or not the transaction is at profit or loss to the seller. The tax rate on property valued over $5 million is 4% (on total amount); when value exceeds $10 million, rate is 5.5%. Supposedly, the tax revenue (projected up to a billion dollars annually) would provide affordable housing and tenant assistance programs to help the homeless.
  • Already effective, SAN FRANCISCO pays a $1,200-a-month handout to low-income trans people, based on their application selecting among 97 genders, 18 pronouns and 19 sexual orientations. One option, “xenogender” is a non-existent gender, simply a word to fill the gap, but choices also include neutral terms “ze/hir/hirs” and “xe/xem/xyers.”
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:

News of global importance – New Guinness World Records set this year: Fastest time to assemble Mr. Potato Head; Most drink cans placed on head using air suction; Most eggs balanced on back of a hand; Fastest time to alphabetize letters in a can of alphabet soup; Largest gathering of people with the same first & last name; Farthest distance to throw a pea; Longest journey paddling a pumpkin boat; Farthest tightrope walk in high heels; Fastest time to eat ten Carolina Reaper chilies; Longest clipped together beard chain. [UPI]

Based on latest report from Nat’l Assessment of Educational Progress, “the unprecedented number of families who removed children from public schools in response to pandemic-related lockdown measures dealt a severe blow to learning outcomes. Reading & math scores have plummeted up to 7 points, with freestyle structure also providing advantage over private school students, especially in verbal and writing.”  [DAILY WIRE]

Meet Vice President Harris’ 6-year old speechwriter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3_nN0ERPL4