Borg Says Economy Gathering Pace, Assimilation Eminent [spiffy]

More than 1 million people across the country earn paychecks of $500,000 or higher, according to a report that analyzed payroll records on millions of salaries paid over the course of a year. The study titled “High-paying jobs? They’re a dime a dozen,” which was done by ADP, a leading management company that provides payroll and other services, concluded that “a substantial number of professionals found in every major metro” earn more than half a million dollars annually.

The beauty brand Charlotte Tilbury was sued for violating Illinois privacy laws and is paying out nearly $3 million to those affected.

A five-day strike by Starbucks baristas had closed 59 stores as of Monday afternoon, according to the union organizing the workers. The strike, which began Friday in Los Angeles, Chicago and Starbucks’ hometown of Seattle, spread Monday to stores in Boston, Dallas and Portland, Ore. Workers in New York, Denver, Pittsburgh and other cities had also joined the strike over the weekend. Workers are protesting a lack of progress in contract negotiation with the company.

Catch a few holiday classics on no-cost streaming services.

Have a flexible spending account? Amazon has a page for you. There you’ll find “surprisingly eligible” items you can use that money for: tampons, pimple patches, laxatives, sunscreens. The website for Oura, which is currently running a $249 sale on its sleep-tracking rings, also notes that you can pay with FSA dollars. Even a company called Premier Bidets advertises a way for customers to use their FSA dollars to purchase “high-quality bidet products.” FSAs allow people to set aside money from their paychecks, pretax, that they can use for approved medical expenses.

Commentary: Robots at SmartSKN Labs used AI to make me a personalized skin care line. Could they disrupt a $182 billion industry?