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☆ ‘Civil War’ sends a message that’s more dangerous than the violence it depicts onscreen
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

In “Civil War,” tanks trample democracy. But the messages they send may be more dangerous than the violence depicted onscreen: The collapse of democracy is inevitable. In the film, Humphrey Bogart plays Rick, the cynical owner of a Moroccan nightclub at the onset of World War II. John Springer Collection/Corbis Historical/Getty ImagesOther World War II-era films like “Don’t be a Sucker,” which emphasized racial and religious tolerance in America, emphasized the same message. The box office success of “Civil War” ensures, though, that more “American carnage” stories are likely headed our way .

Persons: Yuval Noah Harari, Harari, Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, Alex Garland’s “, Donald Trump, Casablanca ’, Humphrey Bogart, Rick, “ We’ll, Dooley Wilson, Ingrid Bergman, Everett, Rick —, Adolf Hitler’s, Democracy’s, Cristóbal, Berry, “, Frank Capra, Frank Sinatra, Sinatra, ” Frank Sinatra, John Springer, Kermit Roosevelt III, Roosevelt, ” Roosevelt, Reagan, Obama, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama —, Diana Walker, ” Reagan, Reagan’s, Barack Obama, Chuck Kennedy, Trump, hasn’t, Walt Whitman, Whitman, ” Whitman, ” Read Whitman, ” Walt Whitman, Ian Beacock, ” Beacock, Beacock, Ivan Illich, ” Kirsten Dunst, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Casablanca, paragon, Library of Congress, Nazi, Convention, Former, Lions, Hulton, “ Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russian, America, United States, “, Casablanca, Moroccan, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi, Nazi, Charlottesville , Virginia, Vietnam, Kansas, Kenya, Denver , Colorado, Austrian, China

☆ Rivian employees have to wait overnight to hear if they're being laid off. HR experts say the tactic has few benefits.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Shubhangi Goel | Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementKeeping the attention focusedOne HR professional told Business Insider that the staggered announcements might be the company's way of keeping its attention focused. "The benefit is the next day the entire focus of communication and support is dedicated to the separating employees," Varelas told BI. Drawbacks to making employees wait overnight to hear if they've been laid offHowever, it is a less than ideal way to conduct layoffs because it worries both retained and separated employees, Varelas said.

Persons: —, RJ Scaringe, Elaine Varelas, Varelas, Rob Smedley, Freeths, Smedley, they'd, they've, Gearalt Fahy, Womble Bond Dickinson, Fahy, Michael Doolin, Dooley, Rivian Organizations: Service, Business, Keystone Partners, Google, Clover Locations: Southern California

ODD, ABSURD, CUCKOO-BANANAS—all apt descriptors for recent evening-bag trends. Over the past few years, popular styles have included Lilliputian options too tiny to hold a smartphone; flashy, crystal-drenched satchels that cost four months’ rent; and novelty shapes such as coffee cups and pigeons (see below). Viral though they may be, such bags seem more suited to 20-something TikTok stars than grown-up women who need a sleek-looking clutch for their next dinner party. Such fashionable adults have been left asking, “Where have all the chic, practical, unsilly evening bags gone?”

☆ Army Ammunition Factory Tied to Mass Shootings Faces New Scrutiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Ben Dooley | More About Ben Dooley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An agreement between the Army and one of the nation’s largest ammunition manufacturers is receiving new scrutiny because of a little-known provision allowing a government facility to produce hundreds of millions of rounds for the retail market. Over more than a decade, contracts between the Pentagon and a series of private companies have permitted an Army site, the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, to become one of the world’s largest commercial suppliers of cartridges for AR-15-style guns. Built during World War II near Kansas City, Mo., to supply the U.S. military, the plant has in recent years directed a majority of its production toward the commercial market, including sales to retailers, law enforcement agencies and foreign governments. A New York Times investigation published this month traced rounds from Lake City to a dozen mass shootings and many other crimes across the country since 2012.

Organizations: Army, Pentagon, Lake City Army, ., New York Times Locations: Kansas City, Mo, Lake City

Mass Shootings, Mass SalesIn June 2012, James E. Holmes, the Colorado graduate student, ordered 1,500 rounds of Lake City ammunition from the website BulkAmmo.com, which had been offering discounts on boxes of the 5.56. The tally includes shootings in a public place in which four or more people, not including the attacker, were killed. He did not use rounds from Lake City, but the tragedy drove a new push for gun reform — and a reflexive spike in ammunition sales. Vista Outdoor issued a statement attributed to Federal Cartridge, one of its many brands, saying it was proud of its ammunition production. backed down, and, within a year, Lake City green tips were tied to the shooting of five police officers and a deputy sheriff.

Persons: James E, Holmes, ATK, Mr . DeYoung, Vista, DeYoung, “, ” Organizations: Colorado, Lake, FedEx, Violence, Sandy Hook Elementary, Army, ATK, Walmart, Vista, Firearms, Alcohol, Tobacco, Explosives Locations: Lake City, Aurora, Newtown, Conn, U.S

☆ Inside the Army Factory That Makes AR-15 Ammunition: 4 Takeaways
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Ben Dooley | More About Ben Dooley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

For most of that period, its commercial operations outstripped its military business. As those rifles have appeared in crimes, so has the plant’s ammunition. The vast majority of Lake City rounds sold by retailers have gone to law-abiding citizens, including hunters, farmers and target shooters. But some Lake City rounds have been seized from drug dealers, violent felons, antigovernment groups, rioters at the U.S. Capitol and smugglers for Mexican cartels. Lake City rounds have been tied to at least a dozen mass shootings involving AR-15-style guns.

Persons: —, Barack Obama, Marjory Stoneman Organizations: Army, Lake, U.S . Capitol, Los Angeles International Airport, Calif, Las, Baptist, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, FedEx, Robb Elementary School, Colorado Springs Locations: Lake City, Massachusetts, Lake, Aurora, Colo, San Bernardino, Sutherland Springs , Texas, Parkland, Fla, Pittsburgh, Midland, Odessa , Texas, Indianapolis, Denver, Buffalo, Uvalde , Texas, Colorado

☆ ConocoPhillips' $8 billion Willow project approvals upheld by US judge
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Clark Mindock | Companies Need To Integrate Climate Reporting Across Functions To Comply With California S New Law | Henry Engler | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Acquire Licensing RightsSummaryCompanies US judge upholds approvals for $8 billion Willow projectGroups say they are considering an appealNov 9 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Alaska on Thursday upheld U.S. approvals for ConocoPhillips’ multibillion-dollar Willow oil and gas drilling project in the state’s Arctic, rejecting environmental and tribal groups' concerns that the project poses too large of a climate threat. U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage dismissed a lawsuit filed by environmental and tribal groups challenging the $8 billion project's approvals, which the U.S. Opponents claim the project would release hundreds of millions of tons of carbon pollution into the atmosphere, aggravating climate change and damaging pristine wilderness. The approvals give ConocoPhillips permission to construct three drill pads, 25.8 miles of gravel roads, an air strip and hundreds of miles of ice roads. The environmental and tribal groups challenged the approvals in two lawsuits filed in March.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Sharon Gleason, Gleason, Erik Grafe, ConocoPhillips didn't, Joe Biden's, Iñupiat, Ian Dooley, Carole Holley, Earthjustice, Bridget Psarianos, Suzanne Bostrom, Rickey Turner, Paul Turcke, Ryan Steen, Whitney Brown, Jason Morgan, Luke Sanders, Stoel, Clark Mindock Organizations: ConocoPhillips, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, ConocoPhillips ’ multibillion, U.S, U.S . Interior Department, Earthjustice, Interior Department, of Land Management, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Environmental, of Land, for Biological, District of, Trustees, U.S . Department of Justice, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Alaska, Anchorage, District of Alaska

It was the tail end of another long, hot Tokyo summer, and salarymen across the city were looking at their wardrobes with dread. Every year from May to September, Japan’s famously conservative corporate workers and government employees set aside their stiff, dark suits for more casual attire. Out go the neckties and starched shirts; in come short-sleeved polos and linen shirts, even the occasional Hawaiian. Uncomfortable though they may be, Japanese offices offer a model for how countries around the world can reduce greenhouse gas emissions that have contributed to record-breaking heat waves and extreme weather events. This August was the hottest ever recorded in Japan, according to its meteorological agency, and daily highs in Tokyo remained above 32 degrees Celsius, or 90 degrees Fahrenheit, into the latter part of September.

Persons: Japan’s Locations: Tokyo, Japan

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Trevor Etienne ran for a career-high 172 yards and a touchdown, Montrell Johnson scored twice and Florida upset No. 11 Tennessee 29-16 on Saturday night to extend the Volunteers’ losing streak in Gainesville to 10. Graham Mertz and Florida were much more comfortable in front of 90,751, the 12th-largest crowd at Florida Field. THE TAKEAWAYTennessee: The Volunteers outgained Florida 393-349 in yards, but Milton threw an interception in the first half and never found a rhythm. Florida: The Gators have rebounded nicely from an error-filled opener at then-No.

Persons: — Trevor Etienne, Montrell Johnson, Graham Mertz, Omari Thomas, Tennessee's Kamal Hadden, Florida's Micah Mazzccua, Mazzccua, Florida's Damieon George, Thomas, Josh Heupel, Billy Napier, Napier, Phillip Fulmer, Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley, Butch Jones, Jeremy Pruitt, FanDuel, —, Joe Milton, Tennessee’s, Scooby Williams, Jaylen Wright, Milton, Mertz, Etienne, Johnson, Kurott Garland, offsides, Tre Wilson, Mertz’s, Adam Mihalek, Mihalek, Trey Smack, Charlotte Organizations: Volunteers, Florida, Tennessee, LSU, Florida State, Gators, Vols, McNeese, East Division, Associated, NEXT, University of Texas, San Antonio, UTSA, AP Locations: GAINESVILLE, Fla, Florida, Tennessee, Gainesville, Georgia, Knoxville, Utah, San

☆ The most insidious part of online shopping is about to get even worse
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Companies are just baking all those fees into the total price — making the hidden fees even more hidden. On the first page, you see the ticket price. I have never seen a good justification of what I'd call mandatory hidden fees. The Canadian government is also looking to pare down hidden fees. After all, Mahoney told me, "I have never seen a good justification of what I'd call mandatory hidden fees."

Persons: I'd, Neale Mahoney, Joe Biden's, Mahoney, Marcos Villaoslada, Sara Fisher Ellison, Ellison, Harold Hill, obfuscation, you've, Vicki Morwitz, Morwitz, — they've, StubHub, Laura Dooley, StubHub's, pare, Michael Negron, —, they're, Joe Biden, Alex Wong, Maggie Rogers, she'd, Audrey Fix Schaefer, Juliana Kaplan Organizations: Stanford University, White, Economic Council, Europa Press, Getty, MIT, Columbia Business School, YouGov, Ticketmaster, National Economic Council, NPR, Federal Trade Commission, I.M.P, Independent, Association Locations: New York, upsell, Europe, Washington ,

The president of one of Japan’s most influential entertainment agencies resigned after an independent investigation confirmed the company’s founder, Johnny Kitagawa, had sexually abused young men in his care since the 1970s. His reputation as a hitmaker associated with some of Japan’s most popular boy bands protected Mr. Kitagawa from scandal, even after his death in 2019 at age 87. Under immense scrutiny, Johnny & Associates announced in May that it was forming an internal investigative panel to “prevent the recurrence” of future abuse. At a news conference on Thursday, Julie Keiko Fujishima, Mr. Kitagawa’s niece, acknowledged the results of the investigation and apologized on behalf of herself and the company. She also announced she had resigned as the company’s president on Wednesday.

Persons: Johnny Kitagawa, Kitagawa, Julie Keiko Fujishima, Kitagawa’s Organizations: Johnny & Associates Locations: Japan

The renewed discussion hasn’t done much to revive the prospects of Japan’s own Communist Party, however. Mr. Saito is not a fan of the group, which he sees as well-meaning but stale. And even in rich nations, he does not call for people to give up their creature comforts. He recently moved into a three-story home in an upscale neighborhood on the outskirts of Tokyo and drives a compact Toyota. Achieving degrowth communism, he believes, is less about personal choices and more about changing overarching political and economic structures.

Persons: Saito, Mahbub ul Haq Organizations: Communist Party, Chinese Communist Party, Toyota, United Nations Locations: Soviet Union, Tokyo, G.D.P

With threats growing in Asia, the leaders of the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet at Camp David on Friday, taking a major step toward a three-way military and economic partnership that would have been nearly inconceivable before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As the United States has tried to counter challenges from both China and North Korea, one key obstacle has been the tense and sometimes downright hostile relationship between Japan and South Korea, its two most important friends in the region. Now, Tokyo and Seoul are trying to quickly move past seemingly irresolvable disputes over the bitter history between them, as Russian aggression against Ukraine highlights their own vulnerabilities in a region dominated by China. President Biden hopes to cement the nascent improvement in relations when he hosts Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan and President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea at the Maryland presidential retreat. It will be the first time that leaders of the three nations have ever met outside the context of a larger summit, as well as the first time that Mr. Biden has invited world leaders to Camp David.

Persons: David, Biden, Fumio Kishida, Yoon Suk, Camp David Locations: Asia, United States, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine, China, North Korea, Tokyo, Seoul, Maryland

☆ Roaring Back From Pandemic, Japan’s Economy Grows by 6 Percent
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Ben Dooley | More About Ben Dooley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Why It MattersJapan is the world’s third-largest economy, and the largest creditor by far. Covid didn’t hit Japan’s economy as hard as it did other countries. The anemic yen has been a double-edged sword for the economy, said Takahide Kiuchi, an economist at the Nomura Research Institute. “However, it could undermine consumption.”BackgroundJapan’s has long suffered from sluggish economic growth. Recent softness in China, Japan’s largest trade partner, is a particular source of worry.

Persons: didn’t, Takahide Kiuchi, ”, Japan’s, Izumi Devalier, Ms, Devalier, ” Mr, Kiuchi Organizations: Nomura Research Institute, Bank of Japan, Bank of America Locations: Japan, United States, China, Europe

To Americans eager for signs of life in an ailing cinema culture, the simultaneous box office success of the “Barbie” movie and the biopic “Oppenheimer” has been cause for celebration, with filmgoers embracing the jarring juxtaposition of the two very different blockbusters. In Japan, however, this jubilant fusion, including “Barbenheimer” double features and online mash-ups of Barbie’s pink fantasia with images of Oppenheimer-era nuclear explosions, have been met with a very different response: anger. For days, Twitter users in Japan, where nuclear bombings by the U.S. military during World War II killed hundreds of thousands of people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been spreading the hash tag #NoBarbenheimer. And on Monday, the backlash ignited a rare display of internal Hollywood corporate discord, as the Japanese subsidiary of Warner Bros. criticized its headquarters’ handling of social media for the “Barbie” movie.

Persons: Barbie, “ Oppenheimer ”, Barbenheimer, Oppenheimer Organizations: U.S, Warner Bros Locations: Japan, Hiroshima, Nagasaki

☆ Japan’s Central Bank Loosens Its Grip on Easy Money Policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Ben Dooley | More About Ben Dooley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

No country in the world holds as much debt as Japan, which has well over $1 trillion in U.S. government treasuries alone. Even the slightest shift to Japan’s low interest rates reverberates well beyond its borders, with the potential to drive up rates globally. So, when the Bank of Japan on Friday slightly loosened its grip on a benchmark government bond, it was big news for world markets. The move was the latest signal that the country may revise its longstanding commitment to cheap money, meant to spur Japan’s laggard economic growth, as rising interest rates abroad have driven up inflation and weakened the yen. In an announcement following a two-day policy meeting, the bank said it would take a more flexible approach to controlling yields on 10-year government bonds, effectively allowing them to slip above the current ceiling of 0.5 percent.

Persons: treasuries Organizations: Bank of Japan Locations: Japan

☆ Why Amazon built a second headquarters and how the pandemic reshaped HQ2
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

This week, Amazon formally opened the doors of the first part of its new East Coast headquarters, dubbed HQ2, in northern Virginia. It raises the question why Amazon, with its sprawling campus in Seattle and a growing real estate footprint globally, needed to build a second headquarters. HQ2 has some of the same quirks as Amazon's Seattle campus. The towers feature plant-filled terraces and a rooftop urban farm that echoes the feel of the "Spheres," botanical gardenlike workspaces that anchor Amazon's Seattle office. Amazon's HQ2 features some of the same quirks as its Seattle headquarters, like a community banana stand.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, John Schoettler, Schoettler, John, Glenn Youngkin, Tasha Dooley, Bezos, Holly Sullivan, Sullivan, HQ2, wouldn't Organizations: Amazon, Microsoft, Puget, Seattle, Metropolitan Park, Companies, Employees Locations: Coast, Virginia, Arlington, Seattle, Redmond , Washington, HQ2, North America, New York's Long Island City, Crystal City, Arlington , Virginia, Long Island City, Nashville , Tennessee, Bellevue, There's

CompaniesCompanies Law Firms Conocophillips FollowApril 3 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday rejected a bid by environmentalists to temporarily suspend the U.S. government’s approval of ConocoPhillips' (COP.N) multibillion-dollar oil drilling project in Alaska’s Arctic. Gleason said an injunction was inappropriate because the groups wouldn't be irreparably harmed by the construction that ConocoPhillips has scheduled for this month, which includes building roads and a gravel mine. Bridget Psarianos, an attorney challenging the approval, called the planned construction schedule "aggressive" and said the judge's decision is "heartbreaking." The approvals for the project in northern Alaska give ConocoPhillips permission to construct three drill pads, 25.8 miles of gravel roads, an air strip and hundreds of miles of ice roads. The 30-year project would produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day at its peak, according to the company.

☆ Breaking down where the trillions of dollars required for the energy transition could be invested
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBreaking down where the trillions of dollars required for the energy transition could be investedMark Dooley, global head of Macquarie Asset Management's Green Investment Group, offers up his view on investment in the energy transition.

☆ A green transition will require trillions of dollars. It'll be a 'tall order' to find the cash, but there's hope
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"There's reason for great encouragement in what we've seen ... [happening] in the last year," Mark Dooley, global head of Macquarie Asset Management's Green Investment Group, said. The shift to a low and zero carbon future will require cutting edge technological innovation alongside huge levels of investment. Referencing the global situation, Dooley added: "We've just had our first year, in 2022, where we punched through a trillion dollars going into the energy transition — a trillion dollars." According to the International Energy Agency, clean energy investment will need to hit over $4 trillion a year by 2030 in its Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario. What it calls "transition technologies" would account for 80%, or $35 trillion, of this.

☆ Junk fees cost consumers tens of billions annually, according to the White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Fees on concert tickets, airfares, hotels and other so-called junk fees cost Americans tens of billions of dollars every year, often obscuring the full price of purchases from consumers, top economic experts said at the White House on Tuesday. Biden also called on state legislators to address junk fees at a March 8 virtual meeting with the White House. The eradication of junk fees is also a bipartisan issue with positive benefits for the economy, Brainard will say. She says recent surveys show 75% of consumers support cutting junk fees, "with strong support across party lines." "As an economist, I know that regulating junk fees has a strong foundation in decades of scholarship.

☆ 71 years after starting college, this 90-year-old woman is graduating
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Sara Smart | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A 90-year-old woman will finally walk across the stage and receive her diploma, 71 years after she first enrolled in college. Joyce DeFauw, then Joyce Viola Kane, started her freshman year at Northern Illinois University in 1951 with a plan to graduate with a degree in home economics. “I went to school for three and a half years, but decided to leave after I met him.” DeFauw said. Joyce DeFauw's student ID from 1951 with Northern Illinois University. When the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020, she was thankful for the computer, Dooley said.

☆ Vince Dooley, Longtime Georgia Football Coach, Dies at 90
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ Vince Dooley, longtime Georgia football coach, dies at 90
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

ATLANTA — Vince Dooley, the football coach who carried himself like a professor and guided Georgia for a quarter-century of success that included the 1980 national championship, died Friday. “Our family is heartbroken by the death of Coach Dooley. He was one of a kind with an unmatched love for UGA!” current Georgia coach Kirby Smart wrote on Twitter. The field at Sanford Stadium was dedicated in his honor during the 2019 football season. At Georgia, Dooley coached a plethora of standout players — from Bill Stanfill to Scott Woerner to Rodney Hampton.

☆ Legendary Georgia football head coach Vince Dooley dies at the age of 90
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Jacob Lev | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Vince Dooley, who coached the Georgia Bulldogs to the 1980 national championship and won the most football games in school history, has died at the age of 90, the university announced Friday. Dooley died peacefully at his house surrounded by his family Friday afternoon, the school said. While serving as head coach, Dooley also became the school’s athletic director in 1979 and stayed in the role until 2004. Dooley, who was the 1980 national coach of the year, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1994. “It is impossible to quantify what Coach Dooley has meant to the University of Georgia,” Georgia football said in a tweet.

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