pace but you talk about fat burger being twenty twenty four million that's not chump change so you know what are the sizes of these things traditionally what sort of the average. crowdfunding that you'd see out there well i would say you know look the cap in this industry is fifty million dollars at the moment although we believe that congress and the f.c.c. are going to twenty eighteen boost that cap to seventy five million dollars so far the largest crowd financed i.p.o. was thirty million dollars for a company called chicken soup for the soul that brands was right underneath that with twenty four million dollars and i've got some big news for you we're excited to share that as of this morning drake grammy award winning musician global celebrity has announced a regulation campaign for his company virginia black whiskey they've sold sixty thousand cases since they launched in september two thousand and sixteen he has one hundred ten million followers across all of his social media platforms and his fans are going to be able to invest in this brand for the first time ever just

a minimum investment of one hundred dollars well thank you for breaking news with with us on that one daring and we will go ahead and put it up breaking news our art to america and ask drake to go ahead and tweet to one hundred ten million followers derren marbled c.e.o. of crowd fund x. thanks for being with us thanks so much. time now for a quick break but stick around because when we return we'll talk about the rural economy and farmers and ranchers with robert rubin the chief of staff of the national farmers union plus to talk to sweet talk trains and rail investments and as we go to break here are those numbers at the closing.

all to see we have a great team we need to strengthen before the freeflow world cold and your bets have been a legend to keep it so it's at the back. in one thousand nine hundred two that must qualify for the european championships at the very last moment no one believed in us but we won and i'm hoping to bring some of that waving spirit to the r.c.t. . recently i've had a lot of practice so i can guarantee you that peter schmeichel will be on the best fall since my last will come on that story as well as three. thousand the joke. here i called russia. i strike. left left left more or less ok stuff that's really good. local wal-mart is selling you on the idea that dropping bombs brings police to the chickenhawk

forcing you to fight the battles that they don't. produce ought to try to tell you that it's not because of the public but i fell for the support they. mucked about tell me you are not cool enough and let's go by product. of the hawks that we along. with one. this is an amazing story because they were saying real geo political impact of that going on a g. twenty country g seven countries japan actually the spending power the culture the rise of a calling in the millions of people have a buying it in japan the multi billion dollars that they have appreciated in value is causing a genuine effect in their economy and this is going to be the year twenty eighteen where they click of the currencies have this geo political influence.

wal-mart has announced that they will be increasing their starting a raid wage for new employees to eleven dollars an hour up from nine dollars an hour moments ago u.s. secretary of treasury steve minucci and thank wal-mart the corporation also will give a one time bonus raising from ranging from two hundred to four hundred to one thousand dollars to current employees who are paid currently more than the minimum wage workers will have to have worked twenty years to get the full bonus wal-mart c.e.o. claim the increase was due to the trump tax cut but the tightening job market and pressure from competitors may also be one of the causes or cause target for example announced an eleven dollars minimum wage hourly for last september so one plans to

increase the m. and play and increase it to fifteen dollars by twenty twenty the current federal minimum wage is only seven dollars and twenty five cents and has not been increased since two thousand and nine a government accountability office study last year estimated that forty percent of u.s. workers aged twenty five to sixty four are paid sixteen dollars an hour or less thirty senators have co-sponsored a bill to increase the federal minimum wage to fifteen dollars by twenty twenty four and index that increase to inflation. the trump administration is planning major changes to the community reinvestment act or c.r.a. the c.r.a. was passed in one nine hundred seventy seven to prevent what is termed redlining which a french essentially discriminates against minority borrowers and sure that banks don't just lend to the wealthy the trumpet ministration and the american banking association want to effectively relax the c r a's definition to community

development loans to include other loans such as infrastructure and small business loads which are more profitable than the existing portfolio of mortgage loans to lower income borrowers current mortgage rates are around four point two percent while small business loans are around five point five percent and every structure loans are about seven percent annual rate. we spoke to some in recent days about the farm and rural economy in light of president trump's speech to the farm bureau this week and today we take one more look and get a little different take we're joined by robert roode the chief of staff of the national farmers union rob also has a better to capitol hill in the u.s. department of agriculture where he and i actually work for a time together rob thanks for being here. ok so what did you make of president's speech to the farm bureau well first of all this was cued up to be

a fantastic opportunity for the president rule economy right now is hurting farmers are struggling so they have the president states coming to talk to a large group of farmers i think was fantastic set up unfortunately it was just a series of missed opportunities when we heard actually what he had to say now a lot of these presidents and all include you know our former boss bill clinton and even barack obama and george bush when they get out to rural america they talk about these general overarching things and that's pretty much what the president did this time to us. unfortunately that's a lot of we heard we heard a lot of talk a lot of talking at folks but no solutions no real hard facts and ideas for how to move forward ok so what should he have talked about i mean you know we think about the things that the agriculture department sure does you know. rural housing business loans for electricity in infrastructure in talk about any of that

broadband for example you know he did do a broadband executive order comment on all that well there's a tremendous need out there in real america and one positive thing from the president's speech was the release of a study that kind of highlights those big needs alec and part of the need in rural communities is broadband as you point out there is tremendous lack of access to high speed internet out there and that's hurting not only farmers but rural businesses you know enroll residents at large and unfortunately this package though doesn't really deliver anything there were promises in there but the executive orders as you pointed out really did very little except to say that we're going to continue to do small things around the edges we're still waiting for that big piece that big promise and some real infrastructure in rural america it's like a good thing in jerry maguire you know show me the money and write the executive orders just talked about coordinating better and maybe fit me to having one form as opposed to a couple of forms not sure they're worth the paper on which they were written what

else should he have talked about rob i mean what impact people on a daily basis in rural america that he should have really highlighted well one of the things that the president did talk about that i think was again kind of just highlighting the wrong area and that is they current tax package that's recently signed into law this has been using farmers really as the poster child children for for the success of that whether it's the state tax whether it's tax relief in general and unfortunately. that's not the reality out there most farmers don't fall or don't get any of the benefits out of this package and so they are being used out there to sell it but aren't seeing any of the benefits so i think what the president should have done and what we certainly hope that he does in the future is really talk about things that impact on the farm level and provide that support that they need we have a farm bill which helps support farmers and consumers with nutrition programs and

farm support that is coming up here in just the next couple months in congress we certainly hope the president's going to be there to make sure that he is supporting family farmers in a real way you know that brings up sort of the politics of it and you and i are both veterans of the we're hill rats right we've been there been there for a long time and at the department but one of the things that i know that we've talked about in the past rob that we both enjoyed about the issue of agricultural policy is that it's not particularly part of that it's not about republicans or democrats it's more about if you have you know corn and beans or you know rice and cotton the geography more than anything else so you would think that they would be able to get a farm bill done this year because it's not partisan but that hasn't proven to be the case with things like infrastructure bill what's your prognosis i mean the farm bill is just authorized through this year what's your prognosis for whether or not we're going to get one done and whether or not it's going to be good for rural america and the rest of us well like probably most farmers i am an eternal optimist

and while the optimism might be fading a little bit we're still optimistic that we're going to be able to kind of bridge differences and get a farm bill done out there however there are tremendous challenges to getting that done and accomplished not the least of which is show me the money as you point out the tax bill there was an opportunity which ended up spending over a trillion dollars that just go straight to our deficit and now we're being told that we may not have the resources to put into our farms and rural areas and even for nutrition support so i think we need to look at our priorities and where that money should be going were absolute chief of staff of national farmers you didn't really get to see it thanks a lot for being here. and despite the fact that president trump is not submitted infrastructure build a congress as he promised various states have been making some big investments in rail and trains artie's natasha sweet has more. now in larger

urban areas of life we all come across access to passenger rail systems and some cities column metros others call it a subway and even a trolley and while it does happen the benefits like bypassing bumper to bumper traffic it seems as though the vast majority of people still enjoy getting around in their own cars. busy highways and intersections or a trademark for some major metropolitan areas if you're living in new york los angeles san francisco congestion on the roads is something you've likely already come to terms with. but it doesn't make it any easier and ideas to fix the problem like the high speed rail in california or the metro connecting baltimore to d.c. are entice enough for many commuters if you recall back in prior to world war two the us had a fairly robust passenger rail system across the country. but post world war two is

when things really changed jamie finch former director of government public and family affairs for the national transportation safety board remembers that world war two devastating europe's infrastructure to rebuild they hardly invested in rail but that wasn't the case for the u.s. even though the u.s. had a fairly robust passenger rail system prior to world war two president eisenhower took notice of the autobahn the german government built it benefited the country both economically and defensively brought so many people into middle class it created jobs at several levels not just manufacturing but also car parts make notes and selling which of course impacted the economy a great deal the auto industry exploded and changed the culture of driving in the us economy travels all that know the americans love for their cars and their own sense of independence while americans do love their independence solutions to the

endless traffic jams are on the minds of many. california high speed rail was approved by voters in two thousand and eight sixty four million dollar plan will bring in hundred miles of track stepping down the golden state if plans don't dry up and construction remains on schedule the trains first phase will be completed by twenty twenty nine but finch questions if this master plan is in california's best interest financially i would hate to see. this huge amount of investment going toward something that is just going to prove to be a. social experiment. it's a billions and billions of dollars that it will take to build it but on the east coast offense questions why there aren't more connections for places like pittsburgh philadelphia to d.c. maryland lawmakers just oppose a high speed rail route which would make the trek from baltimore to d.c. only fifteen minutes lawmakers cited the amtrak as being too disruptive to

communities but finch isn't convinced they do bring their own economic benefit to that community with the gas stations and other services in their restaurants and so on you know when someone takes an exit but if more passenger reels are going to be built safety and proper maintenance have to be a top priority according to finch that medically what are you reporting i thank you right. now i got investigators concluded that the real meant in washington state last month was a result of the train speeding nearly fifty miles over the speed limits as technology continually advances investigators are looking into the options of controlling the speed of trains were mostly regardless of advancement in says without proper investment safety cannot be guaranteed by the board or more calls to fix it but also recalls watched now some question the need for these passenger rail systems as the right sharing programs like uber left are also cost effective however the issue of traffic still remains in los angeles and just waits. r t.

thank you natasha and you know that the president has yet to prove that forward the his infrastructure bill but it's certainly needed i've said before that you know if you want high speed rail in the u.s. you have to go to disneyland and get on a roller coaster and it's just a shame and as the taj as guests said it's not just about efficiency and being affective in our commuting it's now about lives that are being lost because of poor infrastructure so that's all we have for now thanks for watching this jam packed show be sure to catch boom bust on you tube youtube dot com slash boom bust artie we'll catch you next time. in the heart of the swiss alps this is a place probably most secretive than the pentagon moma stereos than the cia and

better god did than for knox this was customs i hear opponents lacewell all the science is controlled by them and they impose the opening time so it will come up with it it was a dual use forms all plus the procedures in place of the strictest in all europe must to pieces by artists like pecan so and modigliani camps and sold in the scientists warehouse that's where the report comes in it covers a deal which are naturally discrete commercially discrete steps but also discrete because they concern from the phone some of those paintings a link to dark secrets nobody knows how many of these secrets a kept inside the geneva free pool it's such a position that you'll never obtain an inventory of all the works in the freeport who knows how many there are three hundred three thousand three hundred thousands is it's a matter of confidentiality only is it the words black suit the art business.

here's what people have been saying about rejected in the us a full on austin the only show i go out of my way to launch you know what it is that really packs a punch oh yeah it is the john oliver of party americans do the same we are apparently better than blue. sea people you've never heard of love jack tonight the president of the world bank so very. many seriously send us an e-mail. in two thousand and sixteen the panama paper has shown the world with a tax haven the secrets two trillion united states dollars pass through most. in the amount of time that we've been in panama papers exposure that's what it shows a lot of money it really is. journalism it's a fact of journalism looking at things that people want to keep secret and asking

why would they want to keep these things secret. millions of fun psycho documents were examining. all the people we basically have tried to get an advantage out of this sort of. newspaper. and probably other politician which was the other politician the media would point to find their targets such as the kings of morocco and saudi arabia the president of argentina several prime ministers. and russian president vladimir putin of course. oh my god i've had so i have sued so many newspapers for defamation some things don't just happen by chance it was very striking there were no more americans to go especially a lot of people from the brics countries specially brazil russia and china that

this special project reveals what was missed in the media coverage. the panama chronicles. ecuador grant citizenship to wiki leaks chief julian assange who has been unable to leave the country's embassy in london for more than five years. under cover a report suggests twitter prevents users from seeing certain kinds of political content through a technique known as the shadow banning. president putin says that the north korean leader kim jong has won the latest round of the ongoing nuclear standoff with western powers.

are broadcasting live direct from our studios in moscow this is our team international sean thomas certainly glad to have you with us. but julian assange has been granted citizenship by ecuador a country that has been hosting him at its embassy in london since two thousand and twelve after he requested political asylum and us to see a trick and i explained what the move could mean for the wiki leaks chief. unfortunately for julian assange continues to be quite complicated as this long winded saga continues if you remember the rumors were spread last night following him tweeting a picture of himself wearing a t. shirt with the ecuadorian national colors stirring lots and lots of rumors online and in the press about the possibility of him potentially having received ecuadorian citizenship now tonight we have got a confirmation of this here is what the ecuadorian foreign minister had to say. this naturalization was granted on the twelfth of december twenty seventeen the

ecuadorian government is empowered to crunch nationality status to the protected person the big question remains what happens in terms of the british officials reaction's who have been clear over and over again that if he does walk out of the embassy they would still arrest him because of him having breached his bail conditions at the time of when he initially went into the embassy obviously the biggest fear for julian assange is continues to be possible extradition to the u.s. where of course he is wanted for all the work that we can leaks have been doing in terms of exposing the actions of the american government we do know that ecuadorian officials have requested that britain allow for julian assange to have diplomatic immunity or diplomatic status and this has been a big no from the u.k. who said they're not going to go ahead with this kind of plan we did hear from the officials of ecuador that they're going to continue and have been negotiating with britain still to try to find a solution as we know also the foreign minister has said that the situation with julian assange has become unsustainable and it's time to move his case along now we

here at r.t. have spoken to the people in ecuador about what they think of his case let's take a look at them with your level of it because he does need human rights support and i think that's what the government will give him there is also a health issue because we know he's enclosed in a very small space there are many things that cross my mind is he healthy enough to stay there. or most of the level of the system. as a refugee policy and suppose you mean. all of this of course despite the fact that the initial case carried out by sweden and followed by sweden in terms of sexual allegations made against him has been dropped so the reaction there would be that that would potentially open the gate for him to have more freedom ability in this whole case but that hasn't happened obviously of course we saw bodies such as the united nations say that has been holed up inside the ecuadorian embassy here in london could be seen as arbitrary detention so certainly it's a very complicated case of course that has been going on for years and years but it

seems that this is a step forward so we're going to have to wait and see whether this particular latest step and of leading anywhere we discuss the options for songs with georgia barred a political activist with social justice campaigner and he thinks that the political stakes for the u.k. will outweigh legal concerns. the basis on which the the u.k. authorities would arrest him apparently is for breaking bad conditions so the charges in terms of the case in sweden have now been dropped but absolutely maybe there will be an extradition attempt and various kind of international bodies have found when they've looked into it the chance of getting a free and fair trial in the u.s. . minimal with the robert miller investigation and the allegations about collusion between the trunk campaign and wiki leaks there's obviously. a sort of politicize

ation element potentially around this case with bricks it looming in the u.k. obviously once. positive treatment from the u.s. as it leaves europe and in terms of potential trade deal you know so there are concerns obviously this will this will be treated politically rather than legally. if nobody is retreating you on twitter and that could be because the social network is censoring you by imposing a so-called shadow ban the move has come to light in the latest undercover investigation by project ready to us one. shot. that someone. should. know what she should. think that they want to. know what's. the group of behind the revelations has a mixed reputation it has been accused of getting information into infiltrating organizations under false pretenses project very tight has also been criticized for

heavily editing material to deliver its point the group's founder james o'keefe is a conservative political activist and some say he has a strong political agenda samir khan has more on the revelations. well the social media giant has presented itself as politically neutral but project veritas seems to revealed otherwise according to several employees who've been caught on camera twitter regulates its content by controlling what its users can see on their feet now one of twitter's policy managers says that the company is currently developing a system that down ranks controversial users and another employee says twitter is trying to ban a certain way of talking online so they're going to go. and see the user the things that. we've seen and you know. it's good to see them in the mindset of the use of twitter can also apparently dig into its users profiles and conversation history to figure out their political leanings and then determine whether or not

they should be banned and another issue that came up was julian assange just twitter account and the fact that it was deleted without explanation a couple weeks ago but an employee was asked about it and he did hint at one possible reason. but you. know. what we can't verify if these are real twitter employees or not and if they are they definitely could be lying but we've requested twitter comments on all of this but we haven't heard from them as yet but regardless the whole issue is definitely something to investigate further the executive director of project a very toss russell verney spoke to our to you about the twitter revolution revelations. it is true overstepping it well if they're sharing information with the federal government voluntarily i think i would think they would be overstepping however whenever you're ready as goes onto a website they agreed to the policies of that website and if you look through the

per proxy policies of twitter it gives them the right to every bit of information you have opposed to you do we didn't know they have the right to sell that information give it away so we're giving away our article what to these companies when they come out and publicly say they want to be the public forum for free speech yet they're censoring free speech and they're slanting what free speech can or can't be heard and then there's a problem. u.s. army is looking for help to access and respond to foreign social media platforms with a system so sophisticated it can even understand and use slang the ad was posted on a site for federal contractors are has come up and has more. now the ad was posted on the website of government opportunities and it calls for people to work at the request of the u.s. army intelligence and security command and the task they're asking for would be the

creation of software that can read social media posts and determine and distinguish the positive from the negative now they're looking for the software to go from there and create replies in the same tone as the original now the software actually is requested to include a number of languages among them farsi korean and russian now this is quite interesting in light of the fact that all throughout media allegations have been made that in russia there are troll farms or armies of bots being deployed to influence the united states of these social media but this advertisement talking about hiring someone on behalf of at the request of intelligence in the united states it essentially calls and it appears as if the u.s. army is looking to do the same thing the very same thing that russia is accused of doing now we have actually reached out to the pentagon for information about this and clarification about what activities this potential software would be deployed

for what kinds of operations and such we have not received a reply and former m i five officer told my colleague mickey aaron that she is not surprised the u.s. is seeking to develop such software that the most obvious interpretation would be that this is a pushback against the allegations that have been made consistently for the last eighteen months about so-called russian troll phones influencing elections across the west and it's interesting to see that the language is that thing for the anguish of iran and of course north korea and russia said it would be a bit of a sort of give away about which countries they want to be targeting having said that though the timing to me is interesting because for sure the west has been running. against the other countries as well for a long time and so they just trying to expand their operations by developing this new software or they trying to disingenuously suggest to people that actually have done it before and need the big bad.