promoearn: What do you do when you can't afford the 'American dream'? Go over budget.

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

What do you do when you can't afford the 'American dream'? Go over budget.

Home prices have risen nearly 50% from their 2012 bottom.

The price of becoming a homeowner

For many Americans, the dream is a home. Some want the property, others the view. But a new survey shows that to turn those dream homes into reality, more and more Americans are busting their budgets. Rising home prices have led a third of home buyers to blow through the upper limit of what they planned to spend on a home . In January, home prices nationally were up an average 6.2% from a year earlier. The most likely group to splurge? Millennials, with 40% going over budget.

Russia roundup (with a pinch of Mexico)

Robert Mueller's investigation gets its first sentencing: A Dutch attorney who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Trump campaign deputy Rick Gates and a Russian intelligence agent was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in prison and fined $20,000. Alex van der Zwaan's sentence could set a guidepost for what other defendants charged with lying may receive in special counsel Mueller's investigation.

A very Baltic lunch: President Trump met Tuesday with leaders of the Baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — and told them no one has been tougher on Russia. (Baltic leaders are worried about the threat of Russian expansionism.) The meeting comes a day after the Kremlin said Trump invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the White House.

A pivot to the southern border: During a photo op with Baltic leaders, Trump suggested he might try to put U.S. troops on the Mexican border until his anti-migration wall is built.

FDA makes historic move to keep company in line

What happens when you don't cooperate with the Food and Drug Administration? The FDA makes you cooperate. The agency issued its first mandatory recall Tuesday to a company selling several products containing the herbal supplement kratom and contaminated with salmonella. The FDA said it issued the order because Triangle Pharmanaturals of Las Vegas refused to cooperate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month the kratom salmonella outbreak was linked to 11 hospitalizations among 28 people who got sick.

Your HIV status may not be a secret

Deciding whether to share your HIV status is a personal decision. So many were shocked that the gay dating app Grindr has been sharing users' HIV status with two other companies . Grindr, which counts over 3 million daily active users, said Tuesday it would stop sharing the info, though security chief Bryce Case said sending intimate and personal information to app optimization companies is "industry practice." AIDS advocates said the data-sharing was a major betrayal for a company that bills itself as a supporter of the gay community.

What will save our students? Probably not clear backpacks

Students in Parkland, Fla., push for stricter national gun laws. For now, they've got clear backpacks. Teens at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High are required to carry school-issued transparent packs as a security measure. But students behind the #NeverAgain movement are using them to make a different statement. Cameron Kasky, a junior, filled his pack with tampons, as the new protocol leaves little room for student privacy.