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Rolling Houses That Make an R.V. Look Palatial

Rolling Homes That Make an R.V. Look Palatial

What if you took a road trip and never come back?

Two couples called the road home for years and traveled hundreds of thousands of adventurous miles. Your havens? For a couple, a Mitsubishi Delica all-wheel-drive van, small compared to a motorhome or even other vans, let alone a fancy little house. On the other hand, a Ford Festiva, small compared to almost anything on four wheels.

The coronavirus pandemic has kept both couples and their vehicles idling for the time being as they all await their next chapters.

The 1988 two-door Festiva became known as the Peace Love Car. It was Sam Salweis’ home for eight years and Raquel Hernández-Cruz joined him four years later. After meeting up by chance and traveling together for a month in 2012, they got together again in 2013 – and have been together ever since.

“While I was working on my bachelor’s degree, a friend gave me the car as a gift,” said Mr. Salwei, a 39-year-old Crystal, ND, who graduated from the University of North Dakota with a degree in social entrepreneurship. “A free car that was also gas efficient was a dream. I really didn’t need anything else. “

He started with short road trips and then thought he could stay longer if he didn’t have to return home. “Little by little, I began to adapt the car so that I could sleep in it,” he said, pointing to “a slow change of five years”.

When the car is parked at Mr. Salweis’s mother’s home in North Dakota, the couple resumed their journey. They spent the past winters in Thailand, but after the coronavirus outbreak earlier this year, they left to try to get out of the pandemic with Ms. Hernández-Cruz’s family in Puerto Rico. In September they traveled to California, where they also bought and furnished a delica while living a hermit lifestyle in Long Beach.

For Ms. Hernández-Cruz, who is 40 and raised in rural Puerto Rico, “my life seemed pretty ordinary as I followed the path my parents had previously taken – school, college, marriage, graduate school, maybe Having children and working A job for the rest of your life. “

That wasn’t her way. She started practicing yoga and wanted something different. She met Mr. Salwei and they soon traveled around the world as a yoga slacker, teaching slackline yoga on a tightrope walk.

Your car was of course very much adapted to nomadic life. It had over 10 USB charging ports, seven 12-volt power connections, and six 110-volt plug-ins. It took two RV batteries and 400 watts of solar panels to power the hatchback, a small refrigerator, various electronics, and a ceiling fan.

The windows had screens, the body panels were insulated, and the bed slept two adults (comfortably). It features a DIY tail lift kit with an improved suspension and steering system. Two roof boxes acted as an attic and contained adventure gear, backpacks, cameras and accessories.

The car’s kitchen consisted of a Craftsman tool bag and “a random combination of warehouse and household kitchen items,” said Ms. Hernández-Cruz, all as small and light as possible. When hunger arose, they stopped and cooked: free campsites, rest stops, gas stations or the roadside. The empty car weighed a little over 2,500 pounds, but when fully loaded it pushed over 3,700 pounds.

Everything in the car “has a place and you can usually get to it in less than three movements,” Salwei said. “Parking is a breeze, it’s easy to crowd into small campsites, and most importantly, you can pick it up and move it by hand when needed.”

The Festiva odometer reads 524,000 miles and has crossed the United States approximately 20 times since 2008. Since 2013, the couple toured and taught in three countries and 49 states (Hawaii the exception). The Festiva got a farewell tour in 2014 and since 2017 they have been trying to find a new home in search of “a worthy pilot who needs an adventure,” said Salwei.

In the slightly larger quarters of their Mitsubishi Delica Star Wagon from 1991, Pablo Rey and Anna Callau made their way through 60 countries.

Their vehicle also has a nickname: La Cucaracha, and it was the couple’s home for 16 years. It was even the guest of honor at their Las Vegas wedding – they made their vows in a drive through ceremony in 2011.

What began as a four-year excursion, one continent a year, has turned into a never-ending journey. “Life outside of our usual boundaries was much richer and more exciting,” said Rey, 54, who grew up in Buenos Aires.

Economy & Economy

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Dec. Dec. 23, 2020 at 8:59 p.m. ET

However, the couple’s travels in the van are interrupted and it stands near Reno, Nevada, waiting for the post-pandemic era. Mr. Rey and Mrs. Callau, 48, now live near their family home in Europe.

The couple paid around $ 10,500 for the van on Christmas Eve 1999 in Barcelona, ​​Spain, with around 52,000 miles on the odometer. (They later suspected it was illegally and significantly reset.) They have made numerous adjustments over the years, including an additional 20 gallon fuel tank and a solar panel.

They encountered challenges and mishaps along their 245,000 miles. In Sudan, “we lost the air filter cover and half of the sand from the Sahara desert went into the engine,” Rey said. “We were in an area where nobody speaks English, only Arabic.”

The local mechanics only repaired tractors. The couple had no phone, embassy, ​​or AAA to ask for help. Still, they made it.

Bandits attempted a robbery with AK-47 in Kenya. Mr Rey and Ms. Callau were attacked by thieves in Trinidad and Tobago, and Ebola was diagnosed in Kitum Cave, Kenya while traveling around town. The Andes in Chile posed another threat: the Delica’s engine stalled at 15,000 feet and needed to be replaced.

The Festiva also had some problems. In the more than 400,000 miles Mr. Salwei has traveled, bad transmissions have been eliminated from the roadside and grocery store parking lots. However, nothing was more challenging than being sick while living together in 28 square meters.

“Our body is the most intrinsic machine we have,” said Ms. Hernández-Cruz. “We have to do our best to keep it going for a long time.”

Adversity or challenge can lead to rewards and happiness. “Interesting stories usually come when you step out of your comfort zone,” said Ms. Callau, who is from Barcelona and who identifies herself in Catalan. The couple shares their travels online through Viajeros 4x4x4 and related social media channels.

“Living on the street means living with a lot more freedom,” added Ms. Callau. The couple worked as a piste police in a bar in Chile and a ski resort. They printed and sold t-shirts, postcards, and books they wrote about their trip to help fund their trips. They even developed a comic with a friend from Boston about life on the street.

One of the most rewarding parts was “being the owners / masters of our time,” said Ms. Callau. “The magic is now in the unexpected,” added Mr Rey.

For Kathryn Joyce, another YogaSlackers teacher and postdoctoral fellow at the Princeton University Center for Human Values, the Peace Love Car was “fun, inviting, apologetic.” It even symbolized freedom, she said: “Freedom from consumerism, social standards, burdensome obligations, but also freedom in the sense of independence.”

This festiva was loaded with over 2,000 stickers, which resulted in countless police stops and border controls, but relatively few tickets. It was “much more than a car or a house,” said Mr Salwei. “It’s the ultimate smile maker.” He added, “Anyone who sees the car responds, mostly with a bright smile.”

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Treasury yields rise amid combined financial information, Brexit deal optimism

Treasury yields rise amid mixed economic data, Brexit deal optimism

Government bond yields remained stable on Wednesday as investors digested a mix of economic data as well as signs of an impending Brexit trade deal between the UK and the European Union.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 3 basis points to 0.956%, while the yield on the 30-year government bond rose 4 basis points to 1.696%. Bond yields move inversely with prices.

Unemployment claims in the United States stood at 803,000 for the week ending December 19, the Department of Labor said on Wednesday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected the initial claims to rise to 888,000. However, personal income declined 1.1% in November, compared to an estimate of 0.3% according to data from Dow Jones.

The yield on 10-year government bonds peaked when Brexit negotiators were on the verge of a new trade deal between the UK and the European Union. A deal would avoid tariffs due to come into effect at the beginning of the year.

President Donald Trump proposed on Tuesday not to sign a lengthy coronavirus aid package. He poured cold water on the $ 900 billion Covid relief bill that Congress passed earlier this week. Calling the measure an inappropriate “disgrace”, he called on lawmakers to make a number of changes, including larger direct payments to individuals and families.

The current package includes an increase in unemployment benefits, more small business loans, an additional $ 600 in direct payment, and funding to streamline the critical distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. However, Trump was dissatisfied with the $ 600 direct payments and requested an increase to $ 2,000.

Investors were also upset this week by a new strain of coronavirus first identified in the UK. The variant is believed to be up to 70% more transmissible than previous strains.

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China Opens Antitrust Investigation Into Alibaba

China Opens Antitrust Investigation Into Alibaba

“This is an important step in strengthening anti-monopoly oversight on the Internet,” said the article posted on the newspaper’s website Thursday morning. “This will have a positive impact on regulating an orderly sector and promoting long-term healthy development of platforms.”

Political insiders and investors in China have speculated for years that national leader Xi Jinping would be tempted to crack down on Alibaba and Mr. Ma. They feared that their influence could increasingly offend the Communist Party and undermine control over capital markets and the Internet. However, until recently, Chinese regulators had been cautious.

Two recent party leadership meetings indicated that Mr. Xi was considering action.

The Politburo, a council of the party’s top 25 officials that meets every month or so, called for stronger anti-monopoly efforts at its meeting this month, although the official statement from the meeting did not identify any company or sector. This call was followed a few days later by an even clearer demand from the party leadership’s annual meeting on economic policy, which suggested that companies with Internet platforms would be subject to closer scrutiny.

The Chinese government “supports the innovative development of platform companies and the improvement of their international competitiveness,” read the official summary of the meeting. “At the same time, the development must be regulated by law and the digital rules improved.”

The supervisory authorities should “take decisive action against monopolies and inappropriate competitive behavior”, it says in the summary of the meeting.

Mr Ma’s remarks on financial regulation, held at a conference in Shanghai in October, appear to have helped catalyze the official backlash against Ant and Alibaba.

“If you are a rich man in Chinese culture and have very strong economic power and social influence, you are politically dangerous and you need to be very restrained for security reasons,” said Gary Liu, an independent economist in Shanghai.

People in China see Mr. Ma and Ant as the main beneficiaries of the authorities’ cautious approach to regulating internet financing. “Still, he complained,” said Mr. Liu. “This type of person is not respected in Chinese culture.”

Chris Buckley and Keith Bradsher contributed to the coverage.

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New warnings of a Covid ‘Christmas wave and New 12 months’s wave’

New warnings of a Covid ‘Christmas wave and New Year’s wave'

Dr. Stephen Parodi, director of Kaiser Permanente’s Nationwide Covid Response, warned that new coronavirus cases are imminent unless Americans change their behavior during a Tuesday night interview on The News with Shepard Smith.

“If we don’t make the choice now to change the future, I worry that we will see Christmas Day and a New Year wave in January, and hospitals will be beyond the breaking point of what we really see,” said Parodi.

According to the Covid Tracking Project, the US broke coronavirus records again this week. Wednesday marked the second deadliest day of coronavirus in the United States since the pandemic began, and on Thursday the country hit record hospital stays of 117,000 people in hospitals due to Covid. The virus is spiraling out of control in California. Nearly 19,000 people are being hospitalized because of the pandemic, and patients are being taken to the hallways of intensive care units. That’s one in six people hospitalized across the country.

Parodi told host Shepard Smith he was concerned about his employees who continue to work overtime and are exhausted. Parodi said his staff were frustrated that the current surge in cases could have been prevented, but instead they are now grappling with it after Thanksgiving.

Air traffic in the United States exceeded 1 million passengers a day on the weekend before Christmas, despite warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

Parodi said he hoped the general public would prove the evidence of another surge in false cases and stay home this year.

“This year we have to make the sacrifice,” urged Parodi. “What I tell my patients is that this Christmas has to be different so that next year all the people we like to meet will be here next year.”

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Biden, Calling Covid Reduction Invoice a ‘Down Fee,’ Urges Extra Reduction

Biden, Calling Covid Relief Bill a ‘Down Payment,’ Urges More Relief

“Joe Biden called this a first step, a down payment – we knew we would visit again and we would have a better chance with a Democratic president who does science,” Ms. Pelosi said in an interview, adding added that “we will have the presidential leadership.”

However, discussions about another bailout package will be a first test of Biden’s approach to working with Congress and his optimism about the prospect of bipartisan legislation in a highly polarized era. Barely a month before his inauguration, he still doesn’t know what the balance of power in Congress will look like when he takes office, and the House Democrats will face a significantly smaller majority in 2021.

Even if the Democrats win both runoffs for the Georgian Senate seats on Jan. 5 and gain control of the Chamber, the Senate’s current rules require some support from Republicans to ensure that legislation clears the Chamber. If Republicans hold on to at least one of these seats, Mr Biden will have to contend with a majority in the Republican Senate.

As he pursues another package, he will also face the prospect of finding an elusive compromise on two of the most difficult policy provisions: a direct stream of funding to state and local governments, for which he has repeatedly expressed his support, and a Republican demand for comprehensive liability protection against Covid-related lawsuits for companies, schools and other institutions. After roughly eight months of debate between the two sides, the congressional leaders finally agreed to remove both provisions from the final $ 900 billion deal.

The Republicans on Capitol Hill have begun to tacitly acknowledge Mr. Biden’s public request for a different package. After spending more than $ 3 trillion this year to help the economy and battle families, businesses, and institutions, several Republicans are resistant to yet another major package at the start of 2021.

“If we look at the critical needs now and things improve next year, when the vaccine hits the market and the economy picks up again, you know the need may be less,” said Senator John Thune of South Dakota Republicans No. 2 in the Senate, told reporters last week before the deal hit.

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, has refused to initiate another round of relief despite not ruling out another round of negotiations.

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Dr. Fauci, Azar obtain Moderna’s Covid vaccine as rollout begins

Dr. Fauci, Azar receive Moderna's Covid vaccine as rollout begins

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The director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, US Secretary of Health Alex Azar and other senior health officials are expected to receive the Covid-19 vaccine from Moderna on Tuesday morning.

The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, is also said to be shot. According to the NIH, six health care workers at the NIH Clinical Center will also receive the Moderna vaccine, which the Food and Drug Administration approved for emergency use last week.

It is the agency’s first delivery of 100 doses, NIH said, and additional NIH Clinical Center health care workers will receive the vaccine after the public event. The agency expects to get a larger shipment from the state of Maryland next week for more frontline healthcare workers.

The event comes after a series of public vaccination ceremonies were held as the first doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were distributed across the country. Senior US officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams, and President-elect Joe Biden, have received their vaccines at television events.

Fauci has long said that he will take the vaccine publicly as soon as it becomes available to encourage Americans to get the vaccine.

Read CNBC’s live updates for the latest news on the Covid-19 outbreak.

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Markets Rebound After Stimulus Bundle Is Handed: Reside Enterprise Updates

Small business owners protest in Los Angeles on December 12th. Congress provided $ 285 billion in additional credit to help small businesses.

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Recognition…Ringo Chiu / Agence France-Presse – Getty Images

The pandemic relief bill includes $ 285 billion through March 31 for additional credit under the Paycheck Protection Program – the government’s small business program created under the CARES Act – while removing the restriction that put more than $ 100 billion in the summer. Dollars not spent. Stacy Cowley of the New York Times shares what we know based on the outline of the law that circulated among Congressional officials on Monday:

  • The new credit relief bill provides a second cash infusion for those meeting stricter conditions: Borrowers with fewer than 300 employees who have seen a 25 percent year-over-year revenue decline in at least one quarter could apply for an additional loan of up to $ 2 million Qualify dollars.

  • Hotels and food service companies are eligible for larger loans this time, up to 3.5 times their average monthly payroll. Other borrowers, in turn, would be limited to 2.5 times their payroll.

  • Listed companies will not be eligible for the new loans, removing a provision that caused public outcry as restaurant chains, software companies and drug makers, among others, received taxpayer-funded loans.

  • The new bill expands the list of expenses that could be paid for with a loan, which was previously mainly limited to payroll, rent, and utilities. Companies could now use the money to buy supplies from their suppliers, buy protective equipment for their employees, or repair property damage “due to public disruption,” according to a summary by the House Small Business Committee.

  • The plan would allow business owners who received tax-free loans under the program to claim deductions for expenses they paid for with loan proceeds.

  • The bill would also provide the Small Business Administration with $ 50 million for audits and other anti-fraud measures in the program, which was a significant problem in the first round of funding.

  • The bill contains other relief measures that are not specifically part of the paycheck protection program but could still help many small businesses. This includes a $ 15 billion grant fund for closed theaters, museums, zoos, and venues for live events, and $ 12 billion for community development financial institutions that provide loans and grants to people and communities who often don’t are able to get traditional banks to do business with them.

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Treasury yields fall amid fears of latest coronavirus pressure

Treasury yields fall amid fears of new coronavirus strain

U.S. government debt prices rose Tuesday as investor sentiment was shaken by a rapidly spreading new strain of coronavirus in the UK

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to around 0.918% while the yield on the 30-year Tresury note fell to 1.656%. Bond yields move inversely with prices.

On Monday, 10-year government bond yields fell below 0.9% as fears over the new Covid variant sparked demand for the relative security of government bonds.

The variant, which scientists say is up to 70% more transmissible than previous tribes, forced the UK government to shut down London and other parts of south east England and track the mix of households during the Christmas break.

It also resulted in several countries around the world closing their borders with the UK, disrupting travel and raising concerns about possible food shortages as the deadline for the Brexit transition drew near.

Still, investors could find some solace in a $ 900 billion Congressional bailout package for Covid-19 and longer-term optimism about vaccine rollout worldwide.

On Monday, Congress passed a mammoth coronavirus aid and government spending package. The package includes an increase in unemployment benefits, more small business loans, an additional $ 600 in direct payment, and funding to streamline the critical distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. The bill now goes to President Donald Trump’s desk.

Meanwhile, investors are also watching coronavirus vaccines roll out. With the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine already rolled out nationwide, about 6 million doses of the Moderna vaccine were distributed on Sunday.

In terms of data, third quarter GDP numbers are expected at 8:30 a.m. ET, while consumer confidence and existing home sales are expected at 10 a.m. ET.

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Treasury Division’s Senior Leaders Have been Focused by Russian Hacking

Treasury Department’s Senior Leaders Were Targeted by Russian Hacking

But on Monday there was no public statement attributing the hacking to Russia, possibly reflecting Mr Trump’s reluctance to confront Moscow on the matter and the doubts he has expressed about the gravity of the attack.

According to a senior administrative official, the meeting should “take stock of the information, investigations and actions taken to remediate the attack.” There was no preparation in this description to impose costs on the attacker. Mr Trump did not attend the meeting.

Both President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his new Chief of Staff Ron Klain have stated in recent days that the post-tenure response would go beyond sanctions to undermine the aggressor’s abilities. But he is likely to find that the government’s response options are limited for fear of escalation.

The list of attendees at the meeting was noteworthy as it gave clues as to which parts of the government may have been affected. White House officials said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad F. Wolf and Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette were in attendance. All of these agencies have previously been identified as targets of hacking by news organizations.

John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence, attended the meeting; likewise Gina Haspel, the CIA director, and General Paul M. Nakasone, the director of the National Security Agency and commander of the United States Cyber ​​Command. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who became the first senior civil servant to recognize that Russia was the most likely source of the attack before it was undercut by Mr Trump, did not attend. His deputy Stephen E. Biegun stood up for him.

General Nakasone, a veteran cyber warrior responsible for defending the national security systems, has been silent since the hacking was exposed. It was extremely embarrassing for the NSA and Cyber ​​Command that a private company, FireEye, was the first to alert the government that it had been hacked.

According to the details released by Wyden, after using the SolarWinds software update to break into Treasury’s systems, the Russian hackers performed a complex step in the Microsoft Office 365 system to create an encrypted “token” that identifies a computer for the larger network.

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Chevy Chase recreates ‘Christmas Trip’ scene for Mustang Mach-E advert

Chevy Chase recreates 'Christmas Vacation' scene for Mustang Mach-E ad

Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo are repeating their National Lampoon’s Christmas vacation as Clark and Ellen Griswold for a new ad for the Ford Mustang Mach-E.

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Comedian Chevy Chase repeats his role as Clark Griswold from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation in a new Christmas commercial for the all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E crossover.

The 60-second spot shows Chase and original actor Beverly D’Angelo as his wife, Ellen, recreating a memorable scene in the 1989 film in which Clark tries to turn on the family house with Christmas lights from the outside. But instead of the family looking at the extravagant decorations, they’re drawn to a Mustang Mach-E in the driveway.

Chase thanked Ford Motor for the role and for the undisclosed amount of money he received for the ad: “It’s great to be celebrating Christmas again with my family on screen and the changing selection of kids – and I have Ford and Mustang Mach-E, thanks for paying for this, “he said in a statement. “I suppose you’re expecting some kind of reef for electric cars, but I can say with 85% confidence that this thing probably won’t cause power outages in your neighborhood if you plug it in.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmAU8MJoJU4

Ford posted the ad on YouTube ahead of its scheduled debut Tuesday during an encore of Saturday Night Live’s Christmas Special at 9 p.m. on NBC.

The Mustang Mach-E, which arrives at US dealerships, is a key product for Ford. It’s the first new electric vehicle set to invest more than $ 11.5 billion in electric vehicles by 2022, and it’s Ford’s first shot to Tesla – the industry leader in electric vehicles.

The Chase Mach E ad comes almost a year after a well-received Super Bowl ad for Fiat Chrysler’s Jeep brand in which actor Bill Murray re-appeared in the 1993 film “Groundhog Day”.