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Car Accidents | Truck Accidents | Pedestrian Accidents | Slip & Fall/Premises Liability | Wrongful Death
Family, Travel, and Heartwarming Memories
OUR EUROPEAN ADVENTURE
In the last edition, I shared my excitement about heading to Germany to meet my twin nephews for the first time. Well, we’ve just returned from Europe, and it was incredible. My sister welcomed her twin boys about six months ago in Berlin, and finally getting to meet them was an amazing experience. Watching my kids play and bond with their cousins was heartwarming — especially because they’re all so young and innocent! We spent two weeks exploring Germany, Majorca, and Spain with my sister, brother-in-law, and the boys. It meant so much to see my kids connect with their cousins, especially since I was always very close with mine growing up. As many of you know, family is everything to me, and this trip reminded me just how special those bonds are.
quality. The food is fresh, and the scenery is always clean and breathtaking. A sense of pride and care goes into everything — something we sometimes lose sight of here in the U.S. Of course, not everything is perfect in Europe, but it reminds me that, in our fast-paced lives, we could all benefit from slowing down and taking a little more pride in the things we do. Back home, on Sept. 27, we held our First Annual Louis Berk Golf Tournament, organized to raise funds for The VERB Kind — a nonprofit dedicated to giving kids inside juvenile detention centers a second chance through education and mentoring. One of the impactful ways we help them is by visiting juvenile detention centers. I’ve had the privilege of spending time with these kids and learning from them. Many end up in trouble due to the absence of a father figure or a stable upbringing. It’s heartbreaking to see how it influences their path into a system that can, unfortunately, be deeply flawed and broken. We’re incredibly honored to contribute to this foundation and make a positive difference in the lives of these children who often just need guidance and a second chance. The tournament
Europe is truly magical — have you ever been? I’ve visited Europe many times, and every trip leaves me thinking that, in some ways, it has certain advantages over the U.S. Take coffee, for example. If you’re a coffee lover, you’ll find that European coffee is often superior. While Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts dominate here, coffee shops are mainly independently owned, with 2–3 charming cafes on every block over there. Chain coffee shops are rare, only found in tourist areas. And while we have endless seasonal flavors, in Europe, the focus is on the basics: cappuccinos, espressos, and lattes — always made to perfection. If you’re a fan of fresh fruit, you’ll love the abundance of fruit stands and small eateries where pride in ownership is evident. Delis, cafes, and restaurants — many independently run — offer unmatched
was a tremendous success, and we raised a significant amount of money for this important cause! I wish you all a happy Halloween and a wonderful kick-off to the fall season! Bring on the holidays! -Louis Bernardo Berk
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Battle for Survival TIKTOK IS CHALLENGING THE BAN
The clock is ticking for TikTok, the world’s most popular social media app, as it faces a federal ultimatum: Either the Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sells its stake in the company, or TikTok will be removed from U.S. app stores by Jan. 19, 2025. It is difficult to fathom that an app downloaded tens of millions of times and receiving over $100 million in revenue every month may leave the American market at the start of next year. But this is just the U.S. government’s latest step since TikTok first arrived on the scene. The TikTok Saga Douyin, the predecessor to TikTok, started in China in 2016. In 2017, it merged with Musical.ly, an app for posting lip-syncing videos; at one point, it topped the charts on the Apple App Store and soon rose to global stardom. Then, the app got a new name, TikTok, and a revolutionary algorithm. The algorithm influenced users to binge-watch content and presented videos from various genres and topics to keep them hooked. While gaining popularity stateside, it drew no small amount of scrutiny from government watchdogs and federal agencies. In September 2019, the Washington Post reported that images of democratic protests in Hong Kong were being suppressed, while posts with the #trump2020 tag received millions of views. TikTok denied political favoritism and alleged their app was a neutral platform. Despite TikTok’s reassurance, the Pentagon recommended all U.S. military personnel delete the app from their phones, regardless of whether it was for personal or government work. In January 2020, the Pentagon banned the app entirely on all military phones.
“On its website, TikTok describes the moves it has made to improve data security and privacy. Still, none of these measures have persuaded the federal government of their benign intentions.”
In May 2020, privacy groups began to raise concerns that TikTok posed a threat to children. Just two months later, India banned TikTok following a military clash at their disputed border with China. Despite these hiccups, TikTok claimed to have over a billion monthly users by September 2021. Further problems with the app materialized in 2022 when viral hoaxes and harmful content promoting eating disorders caused outrage nationwide. In December 2022, the FBI warned that the Chinese government could use the app to influence American citizens. In 2024, Congress drafted legislation to ban the app and force ByteDance to sell TikTok officially. The Future of TikTok President Biden signed H.R. 815 into law on April 24, 2024, which contains a provision that “prohibits distributing, maintaining, updating, or providing internet hosting services for a foreign adversary controlled application (e.g., TikTok).” That is strong language and indicates the government is not likely to back down from its demands. Despite this, TikTok has challenged the law, arguing the ban is unconstitutional. More than a dozen social and racial justice groups recently supported TikTok’s cause. On its website, TikTok describes the moves it has made to improve data security and privacy. Still, none of these measures have persuaded the federal government of their benign intentions. In June 2024, in response to the ban being signed into law, TikTok released a letter alleging that the Biden administration had negotiated with the company using “political demagoguery,” or, in other words, in favor of appealing to voters rather than finding an equitable solution. Their case is headed to the U.S. Court of Appeals later this year.
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Gas prices are often a topic of conversation, but usually for less-than-pleasant reasons. Whenever the subject appears in the news, it is most often because prices have become outrageously high . However, this article will take a different approach. Have you ever wondered why gas price tickers include a 9/10 of a cent at the end? It started nearly a century ago but remains to this day for surprising reasons. Great Depression Decisions The 1930s were a time of great economic uncertainty. The stock market crashed in 1929, and the federal government took extensive measures to balance the budget. Among these was the Revenue Act of 1932. This law introduced several tax hikes, including a more than 20% increase in estate and personal income taxes. However, it also introduced a one-cent tariff on gasoline and fuel oil. While this may not seem like a lot in today’s currency — the average cost of a gallon of gas now is around $3.53 — back then, it was a significant burden on motorists. After all, the average price of a gallon of gas in 1932 was just $0.18, so a one-cent tariff represented a more than 5% increase in price. In today’s money, it would be equivalent to a $0.22 tax per gallon of gas. In 1933, the gas tariff accounted for 8% of the federal government’s tax revenue. Fractional Prices Gas station owners paid the new tariff when purchasing their fuel from suppliers, but they had the option of paying the tax themselves, in full or in part, to take the hit in place of their customers. This is where fractional prices first came into play: Gas station owners would advertise that they were paying, say, half of the one-cent tariff on gasoline, which means their prices would only increase by 5/10 of a cent. Over time, the tariff became less relevant, but fractional prices remained. This has largely contributed to the psychological aspect of paying 9/10 of a cent rather than a full cent — the same thinking behind charging $1.99 rather than $2 for a product. The Strange Gas Law Why the 9/10 of a Cent?
TAKE A BREAK
PUMPKIN PIE FRENCH TOAST Inspired by AllRecipes.com
Ingredients
• 1 tsp vanilla extract • 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice • 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts • 8 slices day-old bread • Maple syrup, to taste
• 1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil, or as needed • 1/2 cup half-and-half • 1/4 cup canned pumpkin purée • 3 large eggs • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Directions 1. Lightly oil a skillet and heat over medium heat.
2. Whisk half-and-half, pumpkin purée, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice together in a bowl. Stir in walnuts until evenly distributed. 3. Place 1 slice of bread in the bowl and let it soak briefly to coat both sides. Lift bread to let excess liquid drip back into the bowl, then transfer to the hot skillet. 4. Cook for 2–3 minutes or until golden brown, then flip and cook the other side until done. 5. Stir batter to redistribute walnuts and repeat with other slices of bread, cooking in several batches if necessary. 6. Serve warm with maple syrup.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1
Celebrating Family, Travel, and Giving Back This Fall Season
2
TikTok’s Appeal Against the Ban
3
Pumpkin Pie French Toast
The Law About Gas Pricing
4
The NFL’s Massive Antitrust Fine
NFL’S RECENT ANTITRUST RULING What Led to the Historic Fine Over Sunday Ticket
than offering the ability to purchase only the games they were interested in. For instance, if you are a Philadelphia Eagles fan but live in Florida, your local on-air broadcasts are unlikely to show Eagles games. In that case, if you wanted to watch all the Eagles’ games, you’d have to shell out a good chunk of change to access those games. As of 2024, a subscription to NFL Sunday Ticket costs $449 per year. After five hours of deliberation, the jury agreed with the plaintiffs and awarded $4.7 billion in damages to the residential subscribers and $96 million to the business subscribers. Due to federal antitrust laws, those damages can be tripled. That means the NFL may be liable for up to $14.39 billion in damages. The NFL has appealed the decision, but if upheld, each NFL team could be forced to pay nearly $450 million in damages.
YouTube TV. However, the NFL’s exclusive deals for Sunday Ticket have come at a cost. After a trial in June that lasted just three weeks, a jury in Los Angeles awarded over $4.7 billion in damages to the plaintiffs in an antitrust class-action lawsuit against the NFL.
NFL Sunday Ticket, also known as Sunday Ticket, is a sports package allowing purchasers to view regular season NFL games not carried by local broadcasts in their area. Sunday Ticket has been around since 1994, with DirecTV offering it exclusively until 2022 when the NFL signed a seven-year, $14 billion deal with Google’s
The Trial The Mucky Duck sports bar in San
Francisco initially filed the suit in 2015; an appeals court dismissed then reinstated the case in 2017 before it became a class- action lawsuit. The lawsuit now covers about 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 business subscribers. The plaintiffs alleged that the NFL’s agreement with DirecTV, and now YouTube TV, violated antitrust laws. Not only did the NFL allegedly overcharge both residential and commercial subscribers, but it also removed competition. It forced fans to purchase access to all games rather
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Car Accidents | Truck Accidents | Pedestrian Accidents | Slip & Fall/Premises Liability | Wrongful Death Familia, Viajes y Recuerdos Emotivos NUESTRA AVENTURA EN EUROPA
En la última edición les comenté lo entusiasmado que estaba por viajar a Alemania para conocer a mis sobrinos mellizos. Acabamos de regresar de Europa y estuvo increíble. Mi hermana tuvo a sus gemelos hace aproximadamente seis meses en Berlín, y conocerlos finalmente fue una experiencia alucinante. Ver a mis hijos jugar y relacionarse con sus primos fue muy emotivo, sobre todo por lo pequeños e inocentes que son. Pasamos dos semanas recorriendo Alemania, Mallorca y España junto a mi hermana, mi cuñado y los chicos. Fue muy especial ver a mis hijos establecer una conexión con sus primos, sobre todo porque yo tenía una relación muy cercana con mis primos cuando éramos niños. Como muchos de ustedes saben, la familia es lo más importante para mí, y este viaje me recordó cuán especiales son esos vínculos.
es fresca y los paisajes son siempre limpios e impresionantes. Todo≈conlleva un sentimiento de orgullo y dedicación, algo que muchas veces perdemos de vista aquí en los Estados Unidos. De más está decir que no todo es perfecto en Europa, pero me recuerda que, en medio de nuestras vertiginosas vidas, a todos nos vendría bien tomarnos las cosas con más calma y sentirnos un poco más orgullosos de lo que hacemos. Al regresar, el 27 de septiembre, celebramos nuestro primer torneo anual de golf Louis Berk, con el objetivo de recaudar fondos para The VERB Kind, una organización sin fines de lucro que se dedica a ofrecer una segunda oportunidad a chicos alojados en centros de detención juvenil mediante la educación y la tutoría. Una de las formas más relevantes de ayudarlos es visitar los centros de detención juvenil. He tenido el privilegio de pasar tiempo con estos chicos y de aprender de ellos. Muchos de ellos se han metido en problemas por no contar con una figura paterna o una crianza estable. Resulta desolador ver las consecuencias que esto genera a la hora de relacionarse con un sistema que, lamentablemente, puede llegar a tener graves fallas y profundas deficiencias. Es un verdadero honor para nosotros contribuir con esta fundación e influir positivamente en las vidas de estos chicos que, muchas veces, solo necesitan un poco de orientación y una
Europa es realmente mágica. ¿Han ido alguna vez? He viajado a Europa muchas
veces, y cada viaje me deja
la sensación de que, en cierto modo, tiene sus ventajas en comparación con los Estados Unidos. Tomemos el café,
por ejemplo. Si les encanta el café, verán que el café europeo habitualmente es mejor. Mientras que aquí predominan los Starbucks y Dunkin’ Donuts, allá es habitual que las cafeterías sean de propietarios independientes y que haya dos o tres encantadores cafés por cuadra. Las cafeterías de cadena o franquicia son una rareza y solo se las ve en zonas turísticas. Y mientras nosotros tenemos un sinfín de sabores estacionales, en Europa se hace hincapié en lo más básico: capuchinos, expresos y lattes (siempre preparados a la perfección). Si les gusta la fruta fresca, les encantará la abundante cantidad de puestos de fruta y pequeños restaurantes, en los cuales el orgullo de los propietarios resulta más que evidente. Las charcuterías, cafés y restaurantes (muchos de ellos administrados de forma independiente) ofrecen una calidad incomparable. La comida
segunda oportunidad. El torneo fue un gran éxito y recaudamos una suma considerable de dinero para esta importante causa.
Les deseo a todos un feliz Halloween y un maravilloso comienzo del otoño. ¡Que comiencen las fiestas! -Louis Bernardo Berk
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La reciente sentencia antimonopolio contra la NFL
LO QUE CONDUJO A LA HISTÓRICA MULTA SOBRE EL ABONO DOMINICAL
Tras cinco horas de deliberaciones, el jurado dio la razón a los demandantes y concedió 4700 millones de dólares en daños a los abonados residenciales y 96 millones a los abonados empresariales. Debido a las leyes federales antimonopolio, esos daños pueden triplicarse. Eso significa que la NFL puede ser responsable de hasta 14 390 millones de dólares en daños. La NFL ha recurrido la decisión, pero si se confirma, cada equipo de la NFL podría verse obligado a pagar casi 450 millones de dólares en concepto de daños y perjuicios.
a presentar en 2017 antes de que se convirtiera en una demanda colectiva. La demanda abarca ahora a unos 2,4 millones de abonados particulares y 48 000 abonados empresariales. Los demandantes alegaron que el acuerdo de la NFL con DirecTV, y ahora con YouTube TV, violaba las leyes antimonopolio. La NFL no solo cobraba supuestamente de más a los abonados residenciales y comerciales, sino que además eliminaba la competencia. Obligaba a los aficionados a comprar el acceso a todos los partidos en lugar de ofrecerles la posibilidad de comprar únicamente los partidos que les interesaban. Por ejemplo, si usted es aficionado a los Eagles de Filadelfia pero vive en Florida, es poco probable que las retransmisiones locales emitan partidos de los Eagles. En ese caso, si quisiera ver todos los partidos de los Eagles, tendría que desembolsar un buen monto de dinero para acceder a esos partidos. A partir de 2024, una suscripción al “Sunday Ticket” de la NFL cuesta $449 al año.
El abono dominical de la NFL, también conocido como “Sunday Ticket”, es un paquete deportivo que permite a los compradores ver los partidos de la temporada ordinaria de la NFL no retransmitidos por las cadenas locales de su zona. El “Sunday Ticket” existe desde 1994, y DirecTV lo ofreció en exclusiva hasta 2022, cuando la NFL firmó un acuerdo de siete años y 14 000 millones de dólares con YouTube TV, de Google. Sin embargo, los acuerdos exclusivos de la NFL para el “Sunday Ticket” han tenido un costo. Tras un juicio en junio que duró solo tres semanas, un jurado de Los Ángeles concedió más de 4700 millones de dólares en daños y perjuicios a los demandantes en una demanda colectiva antimonopolio contra la NFL. El proceso El bar deportivo Mucky Duck de San Francisco presentó inicialmente la demanda en 2015; un tribunal de apelaciones la desestimó y luego la volvió
Ingredientes
• 1 cdta. de extracto de vainilla • 1/4 cdta. de especias para pastel de calabaza • 1/4 de taza de nueces finamente picadas • 8 rebanadas de pan del día anterior • Jarabe de arce al gusto
• 1 1/2 cdta. de aceite vegetal o la cantidad necesaria • 1/2 taza de mezcla de crema y leche • 1/4 de taza de puré de calabaza enlatado • 3 huevos grandes • 1 cdta. de canela molida
Instrucciones 1. Engrase ligeramente una sartén y caliéntela a fuego medio. 2. Coloque en un bol la mezcla de crema y leche, el puré de calabaza, los huevos, la canela, la vainilla y las especias para pastel de calabaza y mezcle. Incorpore las nueces hasta que queden bien distribuidas. 3. Coloque 1 rebanada de pan en el bol y remójela brevemente para cubrir ambos lados. Levante la rebanada de pan para que el líquido excedente caiga nuevamente en el bol y luego pásela a la sartén caliente. 4. Cocine durante 2–3 minutos o hasta que se dore, luego voltee y cocine el otro lado hasta que esté hecha. 5. Remueva la mezcla para volver a distribuir las nueces y repita el proceso con las demás rebanadas. De ser necesario, cocine en varias tandas. 6. Sirva caliente con jarabe de arce.
TOSTADAS FRANCESAS DE PASTEL DE CALABAZA
Inspirado por AllRecipes.com
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