global gathering of world leaders remotely discussed the most pressing international issues that both a g 7 meeting at the munich security conference question the most gushing well given to president joe biden. the brussels is politicizing the fight against the pandemic but from an enhanced controversial comments from the e.u. said. the russia's kovacs. spain sees a 4th of violent protests over the arrest. accused of glorifying terrorism i'm screaming preston on the freedom to. be. with us for the big picture coming up in just

a few moments time that's what i was bringing the morning news headlines to join us again that. any birthday when both digits change is a milestone so i did feel a little older when i hit the big 70 a few weeks back however here in rhode island the age threshold for the 1st round of vaccinations is 75 so suddenly i feel young again i am somewhat envious of those who get the shot i can't wait and i got to tell you i am horrified when i turn on facebook or twitter and see smiling selfies where those who have been vaccinated are holding up their vaccinations. card this has got to be

a scam alert so let's bring in stephen j. j. wiseman author attorney bentley university professor and the author of a stack of books including identity theft alert 10 rules you must follow to protect yourself from america's number one crime steve are these people begging for identity theft. oh yeah they are no good deed goes unpunished and once again things aren't as bad as you think they are far worse so the people who are putting proudly their backs the nation cards with their birthdays this is the kind of information it used gathered by identity thieves and then they use that to make you a victim of identity theft which allowed them to get your bank accounts your brokerage accounts to open accounts in your name is just we're giving them one more piece of the puzzle but here let's make it again worse you put it up there so now the scammers who are watching this on social media they see that you have gotten

your vaccination so suddenly you're going to get a text message or in email about your 2nd shot or it is an issue with some kind of a side effect on you have to do is click on a link or go to this website and you're going to get the information you click on that link you go to that website you're going to end up downloading malware or becoming a victim of identity theft of course we also might say a lot of these people who are putting it up on social media and it gets me every day have already put their birthday off and so their birthday pops up and all kinds of people are wishing them happy birthday every year so yeah you want to keep that private and while you're at it keep your cellphone private because you it's amazing with your cell phone what a scammer can do to get at all of your accounts so be proud with your vaccination but it there don't even put up the sticker because you're announcing to the

scammers that you're right for back sedation scams. well as you've told us or so many times before there's a reason they're called scam artists and april 5th been in a still weeks away but the i.r.s. filing window is now open and i note for your report that this year the i.r.s. is expanding a protest tell us about these. numbers we can use. this is this is actually some some good news hala and in a year that there is going to be massive amounts of income tax identity theft it's going to cost the taxpayers billions of dollars and the people who become victims of identity theft it's going to put off 6 months to 9 months before you can get your refund but this year what the i.r.s. did and it's terrific they have a pin program and they started this about 10 years ago so that if you were a victim of identity theft somebody already had your social security number and personal information to keep them from filing new phony income tax returns in your

name what they do is they give you a pin so that you can use and it's good only for a year you have to get it a new each year and you file that with your income tax return or they expanded that program to a few states like florida that had particularly large income tax identity theft problems and now this year this year anybody and everybody can and should get that pin and you get it by going to i.r.s. dot gov you'll find a link to be able to get your pin you'll have to answer some security questions and then you'll be able to readily get it included on your socials and your income tax return and you'll be in good stead. that's great to hear and i think it's smart that they would change the pin number every year we're speaking with identity theft expert steve wiseman his free web site a scam aside dot com he's got a scam of the day for you and the wise guys are obviously missing the conscience

gene because i have read on your blog steve that with so many americans so behind on rant there are now scams to prey on them. i mean there is just no conscience with some of these guys so a lot of people during the p.-n. demick are having difficulty paying their rent and in fact congress did make a moratorium on the visions but that moratorium originally was up at the end of january now president biden and congress have extended that moratorium to the end of march but there are a lot of people in trouble don't understand what their rights are don't understand what kind of programs are out there for the minutes perfectly understandable and so the scammers are e-mailing them they're phoning them they're texting them the phone call may look like it's coming from hut housing and urban development because that's what it says on your cell phone but you know your your regular phone but the bottom line is by spoofing they can make their call look like it's coming from

whoever they want the best place to go is to hug dot gov slash states and what that will do is take you to all of the programs within your state that are there to help people who may be having problems otherwise you don't get personal information you don't pay anything when somebody contacts you i'm here to help you. hud dot gov slash states great advice stephen jay jay wiseman scam aside dot com you're a match thanks was always 1st stepping into the big picture has a brand new year already as it only been a year remember your toilet paper hoarding a year ago there are new clues to the new normal in this purchasing data we have from stop and shop which is the supermarket goliath here in new england listen to this as we've been spending more time in the kitchen we're buying more frozen

foods fresh meat and seafood and plant based proteins and fewer of the ready to eat sandwiches and salads we used to go to the break room or eat and workplace cubicles surprise snack trend hummus unsurprisingly alcoholic beverage sales are up and as we're wearing masks washing hands and social distancing sales of cold and flu relief products are down also suppose unsurprising doctors we have interviewed here have told us that while ducking the coronavirus we're also dodging the flu which is way down this season and masks and all the time we spend alone might also contribute to a slump in sales of gum and breath mints and to keep cheery we're bringing home flowers and balloons i recently saw an interview with the co-founder of air

b.n. b. can you imagine how much dough this guy is worth now but not so long ago he and his roommate right here in rhode island were horrified when their landlord announced he was going to raise the rent 25 percent so they started renting out space on an air mattress on their living room floor thus the name is eric b. and b. . back to the future he says their number one category of air b.n. b. guests the fastest growing category is 20 plus night rentals these are work cations for work at home or as who are tired of staring at their own 4 walls so they take their laptop and head out and he spoke of air b.n. b. hosts who are buying or renting apartments that they don't even live in think about this you pay 2000 a month you collect $300.00

a night do the math with every dilemma comes opportunities for the observant. coming up home used to be a place where we sleep now it's a place where we live how that is changing the place itself and the people within when we come back this is the big picture on our t. america.

measures human beings to change nature so i think. this i think is what is left there is this going to make people uneasy. why should we force the good scientists because major. most of the new brain why don't we just use that.

in 2019 home was a place we slept in 2020 it became a place we live and a report from consumer specialists affirm the tracks the 300000000000 dollar home improvement market suggests that our relationships with our home has changed more of us are planning a project than a year ago many are thinking bathrooms landscaping and kitchens like most of us lately they're on line looking up contractors and gathering information elsewhere 78 percent are searching the home improvement information on google and 2 thirds are looking on retailers websites 72 percent surveyed are moderately or

extremely concerned about kovi ed which also accounts for the top 3 reasons some homeowners are holding off on projects with so many people out of work now half surveyed don't want to spend the money but almost as many say they don't want contractors in the house while we're social distancing and $4.00 'd in 10 don't want to go into stores to buy materials has being in work at home mode got you thinking about home improvement here's the brain to pick with leslie cigarette a tom priceless. hosts the money pit dot com a rich trove of home improvement how to their money pit pod cast answers your questions 247 on the phone and the money pit radio show was a 1000 dollar answer on jeopardy tom based on what your viewers and your readers and your listeners are asking lately what trends are you seeing.

well the biggest trends the need to create more space i mean this trend is so huge hala it's dorking every other trend there are multiple factors coming into play it's forcing a major reasoning about the space in our home you know if you want to what the most popular spaces are there was a recent study by the american institute of architects that showed a huge jump in the number of home offices as well as exercising yoga space and flex rooms and home offices boy that is going to be the biggest shift when the band demick it employers were faced with the realization that you don't need a physical office to go to and have a successful business so for consumers that means that working from home has become a living at work and they want spaces they're going to work for themselves and their families so you're seeing like a guest room it's going away got to make room for the home office closets are being converted open floor plans are being partitioned with curtains and furniture i mean who would have thought a year ago that having the best zoom background would court. best all office space

. we're also seeing in the exercise space not only just a little bike here or there but full fledged gyms all the cardio equipment all the way to scenes and in terms of what space we need room for package handling for home organization for added storage it's creating a big drive for flex space and people are finding it everywhere they're converting ross spaces like garages and basements into usable space in fact a funny note i was surprised that there's one most popular post on what has been dot com during the pen demick was how to add a hot tub to your garage so people are finding space wherever it exists however they want to use it we're also seeing a shift in home design to natural and organic design in all these newer repurpose spaces americans want to be immersed in nature they want to bring in those natural elements it can be accomplished in a bunch of ways like using winning greenery using organic material to enhance or decor you want to feel connected to nature while being stuck inside and it's back l

o flooring spring style report capture the trend they call it simpler luxury it's all of the well the of materials that never go out of style like wood which has always been a great foundation for a clean and timeless design now let's shift to the 3 rooms that are getting the most attention right now and that's the kitchens the bath and the outdoor spaces kitchens have always been popular home improvement projects but for 2021 it's going to be bigger than ever and here's why to speak about it the traffic patterns have shifted it used to be kitchens were busy for a few hours every day because everyone was home for dinner by the way you know when most kitchen rentals were done in time for the holidays well we've had those kinds of interactions with people tripping over each other every day now through code everyone being home so the kitchen changes homebuyers want our kitchen island they want walk in pantries no one plenty of drawers and cabinets storage is just driving changed is driving the patterns of renovations similarly in the bathroom biggest

frustration is limited space. everybody's getting back in space constantly throughout the day you're always looking at ways to improve the use of the space the organization space in the cleanliness of the space in fact 42 percent of design pros say the bigger bathroom number one asks from their clients and finally outdoor renovations seeing a big increase in several home improvement projects that would provide that kind of living space outside that we already have inside while maintaining privacy 3 outdoor upgrades pome buyers want to see a 2021 fire kit and hey this is an easy one to do you can buy a fire that you can build a fire that we've got instructions on money that dot com privacy hedges or a french and a whole outdoor kitchen to include a grill a sink are it bar center so it is definitely driving design is definitely driving the i wanted there's is that 90 percent of home improvement that did d.i.y. projects this year say they're going to do them next year or i should say 2020 to 2021 and 84 percent want to talk about haeckel tougher projects so they're getting

confidence and doing more. tom chrysler money pit dot com thank you for stepping into the big picture. as coded mutates and dr doubles down on doubling masks coronavirus cabin fever is common here and in the netherlands the 6th happiest country in the world according to gallup polling mashed up with a wide variety of other data things are going well because of 5 dutch parenting principles spelled out by moms dot com children who get a good night's rest are physically healthier and have better mental health and attention and memory than those who don't who are more prone to obesity and depression dutch kids have less screen time and more outdoor play time and while american parents chauffeur kids here and their bicycling is big in holland and

there's no texting at the table dinner bonding is part of dutch culture and note if possible when it comes to working part time but even full time work at home is here in the usa have had more quality family time during the shutdown or have they let's ask social worker school board member and mom of 2 penny collins pennie based on your own experience at home and the folks you counsel and your friends and your kids and their buds net this out for us has this whole year of stay at home and keep to a few people as possible introduced stress in the kids' lives or has it multiply the number of what we used to call kodak moments. sure it's a great question i think the answer isn't very straightforward so the dutch article

that you shared is a lot of good commonsense parenting advice. however it's also pretty idealized in rate now how we're living in a less than ideal circumstances so things like screen time are up for kids because there are doing school online and parents are trying to manage their day. and particularly the working piece in the us 65 percent of our families have 2 working parents and of single parent families e.-v. percent of them are led by a working mom so whole families who have lots ability have had a lot of increased family time with their kids. but it's not necessarily equal and kids are extremely resilient so it's not really it's been valuable to have them home without even going to that our house but the kids are going to remember this largely as an adventure. the people i'm most worried about are women and so mothers

are taking on the workload more than ever moms are leaving the workforce in droves jobs that we're seeing last belong to and then they're taking on home schooling they're taking on more emotional lever in the household and you know moms are always make those kodak moments for their kids no matter what any cost so the kodak moments aren't going down for our kids because we won't really a rally as moms the question for me is that i'm asking is more of this the cost to women yeah based on what you say and at the risk of generalizing it seems like the grownups are more stressed than the kids as a peer. i think that's fair and i think that's the way it's supposed to be you know we want to we want to protect our children we want to guard against them being stressed out and being overwhelmed being anxious and i think that's where the

article has a lot of good points if we can keep our kids on these nice sleep routines if we can minimize the screen time get them outside. down the forms at dinner this is all routine advice that i would give and i think it is even more important now i just think we have to have make room to have grace for ourselves and each other or that it's also a really hard time to achieve these rescue scenarios. kids will not realize how much christmas means to santa claus until they're old enough to be santa claus we're speaking with the penny collins clinical social worker at and adoption program director at adoption partners of maine and one penny was here with us last month we talked about how the pandemic is impacting adoption and if you miss that show you can find it where you'll find all our shows archived at youtube dot com slash the big picture our t.

and penny that last visit you had with us was just before president biden's inauguration how does that changing of the guard resonate with the 2nd grader and the 7th grader you live with. it was really interesting i'm glad we've got to follow up on this topic we watch so we watched it at home we made a really big deal of it as if you know only watch the parade you know watched all the pomp and circumstance in talking a lot of all the gravity of the of the of the historic nature of the transfer between these 2 administrations and what was funny and interesting to me is that my kids didn't have the seam really strong reaction that i did my 12 year old pointed out to me that you know her life the 1st 8 years of her life there was a black man as president she saw

a woman as the democratic nominee in her last election and now she's a woman of color as vice president so she is seeing her like mom this is what i expect to see which is really nice you know to see that that shift but i did show her i don't know if you've seen it there is a picture going around with all of you know all the presidents we've ever had in a grid and so you see these tons and tons of old white men and then you see this one person of color at the end and it shows kind of along the way that vice president harris would have been a slave up until this person's time and then wouldn't have milk to grow up until this administration and so that was a real eye opener for my kids in allowed us to really talk about that they're living history and it's really exciting and to a 2nd grader i imagine it's a little less thoughtful than that. she yes they say read it was extremely

interested mostly in vice president harris youngest great niece who is the same age and had a very you know full tour jacket for the parade so that was how to draw your biggest takeaway. and if you allow them on social media i'm sure they get no who'd out of all the bernie sanders memes that are showing up but this inauguration for your 7th grader was unique and there were some great moments that amazing grace from garth brooks the poet laureate at the end were moments that i've downloaded for keeps but there was no big crowd there and if you look at inaugurals past how do you explain to kiddos in the wake of the riots that the u.s. capitol how that is. yeah we have talked a lot about that my kids aren't allowed on social media but they do you know

we were not shy with the news and so we've talked about in the have seen some footage which you're trying to minimize but you know. that insurrection in the violence that led up to the fact that we've had to kind of put this what should be this great public space you know for everyone to access we had to put it out distance in a way put our own democracy at this dance which it is i think a terrible loss i just her. last night one of. the our representatives daughters was there that day in so he was talking to her about next time she came to the capitol and she had said dad i never want to go there again and that you seem so tragic to me to think that you know people are pulling away. even a choice or not being allowed to interact with with their own governing.

which i think is really sad. amen and it's sad to see that they have to put a fence around the u.s. capitol but i'm glad you speak of moderating how much time they get with that video last week when they were there when the impeachment hearing. i couldn't stomach some of this newly released video so these are a great time for parental controls social worker penny collins adoption partners of maine thanks again for stepping into the big picture and thank you for watching the big picture we're going to be back same time next week you want to set your d.v.r. we're on direct t.v. channel 321 and on the dish dish channel 280 you can watch the live stream on youtube dot com slash r t america and if you haven't yet you simply must download our super cool portable t.v. app at portable t.v.

or it's free and google play and the app store thousands of shows you can watch and are america live right there in your pocket or purse or smartphone or i pad or computer i'm holland cook sticking close to home here in rhode island hope your stay and safe to question more. the global seller markets approximately just under 2 trillion so certainly within a few months because of a vaulting over silver it's on its way in my believe in 2021 to get half way or so

against the market capitalization of gold that it would be 4 trillion on its way to 10 trillion and then you know once it gets past all there's only $10.00 left. imagine picking up a future textbook on the early years of the 21st century what are the chapters called gun violence school shootings homelessness 1st it was my job and it was my fear would lose my savings i have nothing i have nothing that is not going to withdraw aloof or resources i look for jobs i look for everything i can to make this house. in oil and i'm doing this. the road to the american dream paved with did refuse into this very idealized image of our america needs americans look pasta the deaths that happen every single day this is a modern history of the usa and america.

join me every thursday on the alex simon show and i'll be speaking to us from the world of politics sports business i'm show business i'll see you then. the world will continue still think of visionaries me sophie shevardnadze and now if you were offered a chance to be revived. our future would you go for it may sound like far fetched realms of science but anyways to reality of that i'm joined today by a max moral philosopher futurists and the current events that are in press the never as well.