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☆ A 15-year-old law review by Brett Kavanaugh offers a clue at how the Supreme Court Justice could rule in Trump's immunity case
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Many in the political world are waiting with bated breath as the Supreme Court considers arguments over whether Donald Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for his behavior while in office. Depending on how the high court rules, some of Trump's most serious legal troubles could melt away instantly. But one clue, hidden in a 2009 legal review written by Trump-appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh, could indicate how the conservative judge may decide in this case. One might contend that the country needs a check against a bad-behaving or law-breaking president, Kavanaugh acknowledges, but "the Constitution already provides that check." AdvertisementRepresentatives for the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Brett Kavanaugh, Kavanaugh, didn't, Jonathan Entin, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Entin, SCOTUS Organizations: Service, Republican, US, Case Western Reserve University, Supreme, DC Circuit, Department of Justice, Democratic, Trump, Business Locations: Minnesota

☆ FTC bans employers from using noncompete clauses
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday voted to ban for-profit US employers from making employees sign agreements with noncompete clauses. And – with one exception – it makes currently existing noncompete agreements unenforceable after the rule’s effective date, which is set at 120 days from the rule’s publication in the Federal Register. The rule, however, does allow currently existing noncompete agreements for senior executives to remain in force. The ban would apply nationwide, overriding state laws regarding noncompete agreements. In December of last year, New York State Governor Kathleen Hochul vetoed a bill passed by the state legislature to completely ban noncompete agreements in that state.

Persons: Joe Biden, “ won’t, ”, Stefanie Camfield, Daryl Joseffer, “, ” Joseffer, Neil Bradley, Kathleen Hochul, Anne Clark, Vladeck, Raskin, Clark P.C, Amanda Wait, DLA Piper, Clark Organizations: New, New York CNN, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, of Commerce, Federal Register, Washington , D.C, Engage, Chamber’s Litigation, New York Locations: New York, California, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Washington ,, Colorado , Maryland , Oregon, Rhode

☆ Trump’s first trial, Ukraine aid and other surprises from a major news week
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

House Speaker Mike Johnson arrives to speak with reporters to discuss his proposal of sending aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on April 17, 2024. Johnson, although a bona fide conservative and a skeptic at times of Ukraine aid, is finally on the cusp of getting the vote done in the House. This week, Iran responded to Israel’s strike on a Syrian diplomatic facility with its own strikes, which Israel responded to on Friday with a strike on Iran. Joe Biden is running hardWith all the Trump trial coverage, you might have missed that President Joe Biden is running a spirited presidential campaign. While Trump is spending most days at his trial, Biden is going all over the map.

Persons: Trump’s, you’ve, Donald Trump, Trump, Mike Johnson’s, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Paul Gosar, Arizona –, Johnson, Mike Johnson, J, Scott Applewhite, he’ll, It’s, Israel, Here’s Tamara Qiblawi, CNN’s Nic Robertson, Read, Joe Biden, Biden, Andrew CAballero, Reynolds, Pierre, Olivier Gourinchas Organizations: CNN, Trump, –, GOP, White, Getty, Monetary Fund, Federal Reserve Locations: Antarctica, New York, Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, Johnson, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Arizona, Iran, Syrian, CNN’s, Damascus, Qiblawi, Philadelphia, Wawa, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, AFP, Europe

☆ Power Grids Are Obvious Military Targets. There’s a Way to Deter That. - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Peter Fairley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In late March, after two years of withering attacks on Ukraine, Russia knocked out half of Ukraine’s power supply. Up to that point, Russia’s missiles and kamikaze drones had mostly targeted the Ukrainian substations that push electricity from power plants to consumers. But the global community must now draw bright lines for combatants in future conflicts — and strengthen the hand of future prosecutors — by codifying specific protections for power grids. The international community already attempts to do that for select infrastructure, including hospitals, dams and nuclear power plants, via the Geneva Conventions. It’s time to add power grids to that privileged roster.

Persons: grinds, Viktor Nikolayevich Sokolov, Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash, — Organizations: Criminal Locations: Ukraine, Russia, The Hague, Russian, Geneva

☆ Plans for Gaza’s ‘Day After’ Seem Ever Distant
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Steven Erlanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As the war in Gaza grinds on, there is increasing talk of some “day after” formula for the broken territory. But that notion is an ephemeral one — there is not going to be a bright line between war and peace in Gaza, even if some sort of negotiated settlement is reached. “The whole conceit of ‘the day after’ has to be retired,” said Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. official at the Carnegie Endowment. “It’s misleading and dangerous,” he said, because there will be no clear dividing line “between the end of Israeli military operations and a relative stability that allows people to focus on reconstruction.”There are a variety of sketchy ideas — “plans” would be too specific a word — for what happens in the aftermath of hostilities. But there is a growing understanding that any sustainable settlement would require a regional deal involving countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Qatar.

Persons: ’, ”, Aaron David Miller, “ Organizations: Carnegie Endowment, United Arab Locations: Gaza, Israel, U.S, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar

☆ The Biden administration wants to save Americans $3.5 billion a year by making sure banks aren't profiting too much off of overdraft fees
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Trying to buy something without enough money in your checking account can lead to a hefty surprise overdraft fee . If the Biden administration gets its way, those fees, which produce major profits for banks, could soon shrink substantially. Consumers are hit with overdraft fees when they withdraw more money from their accounts than what they have in it. Overdraft fees often come as a surprise for consumers, and many may have had credit available to cover a purchase without going into the red on their checking accounts. "These overdraft loans will simply have to play by the rules."

Persons: Biden, Rohit Chopra, Chopra, Louis Organizations: Service, Consumer Financial, Bureau, Federal Reserve Bank of St, Federal Trade Commission

☆ Opinion: The problem with the UK’s ban of FKA twigs’ Calvin Klein ad
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Opinion Jill Filipovic | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

In the ad, FKA twigs looks directly at the camera. What’s clear, though, is that the Jeremy Allen White ads expose much more of his body than the FKA twigs ad exposes of hers. And the FKA twigs ad isn’t the only one in which a woman appears partly nude to advertise her Calvins. And in another, she’s wearing just socks and underwear with no top — again covering her breasts with her arms, but, like FKA twigs, also exposing the side of her leg, torso, arm and breast; unlike FKA twigs, she’s sitting rounded over, in a less stereotypically powerful, and more passive-appearing, position. The Calvin Klein company said its ad was from a partnership with FKA twigs, a confident and empowered woman.

Persons: Jill Filipovic, Calvin Klein, Jeremy Allen White, she’s, Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt, Grace Jones, “, Kendall Jenner, Jean Kilbourne, —, wasn’t “, ”, Brooke Shields, Shields, White, Jenner Organizations: Twitter, CNN, New York Times, Authority, Standards Agency Locations: New York

☆ Opinion | Pope Francis Tries to Settle Accounts
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In each case you have an act of discipline seemingly tailored to the way that the rebellions are manifesting themselves. Among conservatives and traditionalists, specific critiques of the pope himself from prominent bishops and cardinals have now met with specific personal punishments. Among liberals and progressives, a broad attempt to liberalize the church’s moral teachings has now met with a general doctrinal rebuke. Both sides will note, for instance, that criticizing the pope earns you a sacking, but seeming doctrinal disobedience merits only a sternly worded letter. It’s a mistake to pin too much blame on this pope alone, however.

Persons: Strickland, Burke, he’s Organizations: Vatican Locations: Rome

☆ A simple way to fix search: Bright pink ads
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

One simple solution: Require all Search ads to be bright pink. One simple solution: Require all Search ads to be bright pink. AdvertisementAdvertisementWhen Search ads aren't labeled clearly, consumers don't spot them as much and click more often on the paid listings. 'Defects'Amazon entered the advertising business in a big way, and search ads are one of its most successful offerings. A 'uniform standard for labeling ads'Which brings us back to the simple solution: Search ads should be bright pink.

Persons: —, Mary Engle, Engle, Microsoft's Bing, BILL O'LEARY, Ben Edelman, Edelman, Jeff Bezos, wouldn't, Bing Organizations: Service, Federal Trade Commission, Google, Consumers, Getty, FTC, Microsoft, Amazon Locations: Washington

☆ How the ‘uniparty’ myth shut the House down
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Republicans’ House speaker morass continued Tuesday with a little help from former President Donald Trump. Yet another lawmaker with support from most House Republicans – Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, who was picked as their party’s nominee – failed to get the support of nearly all Republicans. What is ‘uniparty?’The term “uniparty” has been a favorite of people like Steve Bannon, the former Trump White House official turned podcaster. “You’ve got a small band of House conservatives who are fighting, really, in a lot of ways, a political guerrilla war against that uniparty,” Gaetz said. The majority of House Republicans backed Emmer, their fourth choice this year to be speaker, in both secret ballot voting and a behind-closed-doors roll call vote.

Persons: morass, Donald Trump, Tom Emmer, –, Trump, Emmer, he’s, ”, Steve Bannon, He’s, Matt Gaetz, Sebastian Gorka, Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden, Hakeem Jeffries, Gaetz, “ You’ve, ” Gaetz, McCarthy, Biden, Andy Biggs of, “ Don’t, ” Biggs, holdouts, Ralph Nader Organizations: CNN, Republicans ’, Republicans – Rep, Republicans, Emmer, ”, Democrats, Republican, Capitol, Trump White House, Fox, America, Salem Radio, Florida Republican, Salem News Channel, Democratic, Politico, Green Party, Pew Research Center Locations: Minnesota, Ukraine, New York, Washington, Florida, cahoots, Andy Biggs of Arizona

☆ Childcare is getting even more expensive as providers battle landlords and zoning regulations at a time when federal funding is running out
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Home-based childcare providers are particularly vulnerable. AdvertisementAdvertisementChildcare costs are soaring, particularly in major US cities — and zoning regulations are making it worse. The financial situation for providers is about to get worse as the nation nears the end of federal pandemic relief funding for childcare providers, which is predicted to disrupt care for 3 million children. AdvertisementAdvertisementLandlords often discriminate against renters wanting to open a childcare centerAnother insidious problem is landlord discrimination against childcare providers. The Washington, DC, city council recently passed a bill that would ban discrimination against home-based childcare providers by condo associations.

Persons: —, they're, Charles Gardner, Laurie Furstenfeld, Furstenfeld Organizations: Service, George Mason University, Care Law Locations: California, Berkeley , California, . Oregon , Oklahoma , Colorado , Connecticut, Montana, The Washington, DC

☆ Why the Republican defense of Trump points to more turbulence ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

In the Republican coalition, it is a moment that has culminated decades of change – and one that points to years of turbulence ahead. Overwhelming majorities of Republican voters dismiss the charges against Trump. In Gallup’s latest annual survey of trust in institutions, Republicans expressed less faith in 10 of the 16 measured. Veteran GOP pollster Whit Ayres points to another, more personal, reason so many GOP voters have discounted the charges against Trump. Trump is the Republican most effectively riding that wave now, but it seems unlikely to recede whenever he fades from the political scene.

Persons: Donald Trump, ”, Trump, Tresa Undem, –, Stormy Daniels, “ Trump, …, Ronald Reagan, “ There’s, Amy Fried, Goldwater, Reagan, Fried, Steve Bannon, Eric Plutzer, ” Plutzer, Hillary Clinton, “ Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Plutzer, “, MAGA, Undem, ” Trump, He’s, ” he’s, George Floyd, It’s, ” Robert P, Jones, winks, ’ Trump, ” “ MAGA, ” Jones, Daniel Cox, —, ” Cox, Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson, Will Hurd, Hunter Biden, Cox, wasn’t Hunter Biden, Whit Ayres, ” Ayres, Donald Trump’s, aspersions, That’s, ’, Long Organizations: CNN, Republican, GOP, Trump, Whites, Bright Line, Republicans, CBS, University of Maine, Government, National Rifle Association, NRA, Penn State University, Institute for Democracy, Department, FBI, ABC, Justice Department, Pew Research Center, Gallup, Black, Religion Research Institute, White, American Enterprise Institute, Trump —, Prestige, Senate, Trump . Veteran GOP, “, Democratic Locations: “, Vietnam, stoke, Russia, Manhattan, Fulton County , Georgia, New York, Undem, America

☆ Even Trump’s indictments haven’t shattered the deadlock between the parties. Here’s why
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

The poll found voters divided exactly in half over whether they intended to vote for Democrats or Republicans in the next Congressional election. While surveys now usually show Biden leading Trump, the president’s margin rarely exceeds his four-point margin of victory from 2020. Instead, the pandemic quickly evolved into just another front in the preexisting culture war lines of division between the parties. Yet Biden, as noted above, still maintained his 2020 lead over Trump in these seats of four percentage points. Surveys have found widespread concern among voters that Biden is too old to effectively handle the presidency.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Trump, Joe Biden, ”, Lynn Vavreck, Franklin Roosevelt, Tony Fabrizio, John Anzalone, Biden, Fabrizio, Bill McInturff, “, ” McInturff, McInturff, Vavreck, John Sides, Chris Tausanovitch, ” Vavreck, Stormy Daniels, Anzalone, ” Anzalone, it’s Trump, Simon Rosenberg, ” Rosenberg, Rosenberg Organizations: CNN, Republican, Democratic, UCLA, Electoral College, GOP, Senate, Trump, Biden, AARP, Republicans, NBC, Bright Line, NPR, PBS, Marist, White, Whites, Democrats, Wisconsin – Locations: Anzalone, Arizona , Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Trump

☆ Well, this is weird: Photos show Tesla's Cybertruck is driving around disguised as a Ford F-150
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tesla appears to be driving a Cybertruck disguised as an F-150, according to unverified photos. Elon Musk's biographer said Musk was inspired to build Cybertruck because Ford trucks are "boring." New images of Tesla's Cybertruck appear to show the carmaker has disguised one of its models as Ford's F-150 pickup truck. Up until recently, Ford has been one of few automakers to produce an EV pickup truck. Last year, Ford said it delivered over 13,000 electric F-150 trucks as the company worked to ramp up production and fulfill about 200,000 reservations.

Persons: Tesla, Sandy Munro, Elon Musk's, Musk, Munro, Brian Sullivan, Buddy, Sullivan, Dodge, Insider's Tim Levin, Elon Musk, Musk's, Walter Isaacson, CNBC's, Jim Farley, CNBC's Jim Cramer, Ford, Rivian Organizations: Auto, Ford, YouTube, YouTube CNBC, EV Locations: Palo Alto, Silicon

☆ Insider Interview: James Comey explains the rule-bending feds in his new and 'real' mystery novel
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Insider: Let's talk about Benny Dugan, the salty, streetwise investigator who works with prosecutors for the Southern District of New York. And I would say, "What makes you think I'm a good person?" Insider: Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't all the good people get bought up by the end of the book? There are at least 57 FBIs — a New York FBI, a Saint Louis FBI, headquarters, the Washington Field Office. I don't think we've grappled with the implications of that, and whether it fits within our normal Fourth Amendment framework.

Persons: James Comey's, Benny Dugan, Dugan, Smith, —, — relents, Donald Trump, Trump, Comey, Hillary Clinton, Steele, wasn't Comey, Long, Kenneth McCabe, Benny, Kenny, Nora, I've, John le Carré, that's shortsighted, Matt Parker, James Comey, I'm, You've, Martin Scorsese, they've, Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: Wesson, Trump —, FBI, Southern, of, Justice Department, Twitter, US, CIA, New York FBI, Saint Louis FBI, Washington Field Office, State Department, Justice, New Yorker Mafia, La Cosa Nostra, Cosa Nostra, FISA Locations: of New York, Washington, Brooklyn, New York, Manhattan

☆ Bats carry killer viruses. Scientists suggest ways to cope.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

“I have to think on a landscape scale.”Research in Australia also is deepening scientists’ understanding of bats. Flying foxes travel long distances in search of food, dispensing seeds and pollinating trees along the way. As deforestation destroyed habitats and further disrupted the food supply, the bats have increasingly formed year-round roosts near people, they noticed. Native gums flowering around Gympie lured the flying foxes away from horse paddocks and more urban areas. In fact, the most dangerous areas for spillover aren’t rare, pristine habitats absent of humans, scientists say.

These days, it is very common for wealthy families to own residences in more than one state, making relocation even easier. In practical terms, having domicile in a state means that state can impose its respective income tax on all the income reflected on the individual's federal income tax return, regardless of the source of that income. But before you call the moving van, understand that state taxation, including state income tax as well as state estate and inheritance taxes and potential wealth taxes, is only one factor to consider as you assess changing your domicile. Some who redomicile to a state with no income tax may find that they are paying the state in other ways, such as higher inheritance, property and/or fuel taxes. That decision is even more challenging considering that states often have different rules defining what they consider domicile.

☆ Op-ed: ESG investing and 2018 change in bank laws didn't cause Silicon Valley Bank to collapse, says former Sen. Heitkamp
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Heidi Heitkamp | Former Democratic U.S. Senator North Dakota | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Within hours of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, political spin machines on both the left and right got cranking. I was one of the Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee who negotiated that legislation, which granted regulatory relief to small community and mid-sized regional banks. Under the burden of increased regulation, smaller institutions and many regional banks were struggling to stay competitive. If all the bank depositors withdrew their deposits on the same day, any bank would fail regardless of liquidity or bank capitalization.) The Fed had the authority to enhance the current level of regional bank supervision, a step the central bank is considering in the wake of the SVB failure.

☆ Three Years Into Covid, We Still Don’t Know How to Talk About It
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Jon Mooallem | Photographs Ashley Gilbertson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +53 min

It will play out and reverberate for years or decades, Hagen told me. “The pathological normal,” Hagen calls it: a patchwork of homespun, bespoke realities, each one invested in a different story about what exactly happened when Covid ruptured the story of our lives. garb.”More than once, life seemed to be attaining “an uncanny resemblance to normal life,” as one man put it. But because we don’t totally understand where that experience has delivered us, we don’t know the right gloss to give it. “The days are strange,” one public-school teacher told Milstein toward the end of his first interview, in May 2020.

"We don't yet know what these three objects were, but nothing right now suggests that they were related to China's spy balloon program or that they surveillance vehicles from any other country," Biden said at the White House. "At the end of the day, their surveillance balloon was indeed in our airspace," she said. Less than a week after the spy balloon was destroyed, the first of three more objects was taken down in waters above the Arctic Ocean on Friday. The size of a small car and floating at 40,000 feet, this object was much smaller than the Chinese balloon. As of Thursday, the White House says it has recovered key surveillance technology from the Chinese balloon.

☆ Former RNC chair Michael Steele says MTG 'will be the most powerful speaker of the House' if McCarthy wins the speakership, arguing she'll be able to 'control what comes out of Kevin's mouth'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Steele said MTG would be the "most powerful" speaker if McCarthy wins the House speakership in January. The ex-RNC chair said on MSNBC that the controversial MTG would constantly have the ear of McCarthy. Steele opined that MTG "will have the opportunity to control what comes out of Kevin's mouth." That small fraction of the party still has political, financial, and other sway and control over the leadership," Steele said. "Marjorie Taylor Greene will be the most powerful speaker of the House because she will have the opportunity to control what comes out of Kevin's mouth around the things that matter to that small cadre," he continued to say.

☆ Republicans who questioned the 2020 results are bringing back an old norm: Admitting defeat
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Alex-Seitz-Wald-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Alex Seitz-Wald | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

WASHINGTON — The losers of this year’s midterm elections are winning praise for doing something that would be entirely unremarkable in another era — admitting defeat. Of course, dozens of Republican candidates who questioned the legitimacy of President Joe Biden’s election won on Tuesday and will end up in Congress, including Ohio’s J.D. This year, Trump helped Cox defeat a well-connected moderate in the GOP primary to run for governor of Maryland. “I will pray for them and their new role for all of us.”Most losing Republican candidates followed scripts more like Cox’s than Trump’s. Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon initially said Tuesday night that she wanted to see more results before admitting defeat.

The observatory's views, released Wednesday, include rare looks at Neptune's rings, providing some of the sharpest images of these ghostly features seen in more than 30 years, according to NASA. I ugly-cried when I saw THE FIRST JWST NEPTUNE IMAGES!" The images are the first that have been taken of Neptune's rings at infrared wavelengths, which can pierce through dust and gas that might otherwise obscure celestial targets. The Webb telescope's infrared instruments allow it to see planets, stars and galaxies beyond the range of human sight and other telescopes that see primarily in visible light. Along with its bright rings, the Webb observatory spied Neptune's fainter dust bands and seven of the planet's 14 known moons.

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