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Editor’s Note: In this appeal to Congress, more than 35 artists, activists, scholars and others call for funding for Ukraine. On territory that Russia occupies, it tortures Ukrainian citizens, kidnaps Ukrainian children and murders Ukrainian leaders. By fighting Russia alone, they protect Europe. By fighting a conventional war against a nuclear power, they are making nuclear proliferation and nuclear war less likely. Together we call upon Congress to do the right thing – right now.

Persons: Read, Stringer, Abrams, José Andrés, Gabrielle Carteris, Mona Charen, Misha Collins, Rosario Dawson, Felicia Day, Doug Fears, Jonathan Safran Foer, Francis Fukuyama, Mark Hamill, Gale Anne Hurd, Dara Khosrowshahi, William Kristol, Eric Edelman, Scott Kelly, Daniel Lubetzky, Michael McFaul, Kate McKinnon, Alyssa Milano, Viggo Mortensen, Patton Oswalt, Phillips O’Brien, Brad Paisley, Sean Penn, Serhii Plokhii, Ivanna Sakhno, Eric Schmidt, Liev Schreiber, Timothy Snyder, Terrell Jermaine Starr, Barbra Streisand, Hilary Swank, Peter Wehner, Katheryn Winnick Organizations: Ukraine, CNN, Getty Locations: Russia, Russian, Crimean Tatars, Ukrainian, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Aleppo, Grozny, Europe, Donetsk, Ukraine, AFP, China, Beijing, Asia, East, Africa, United States

☆ A Party in Exile Is the Best Hope for Anti-Trump Republicans - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Jonathan Rauch | Peter Wehner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

A few weeks ago, Mike Pence did what no other vice president in the modern era has done: He refused to endorse the re-election of the president under whom he served. When it comes to alumni of Donald Trump’s administration, Mr. Pence is hardly alone; the list of high-ranking officials who worked for Mr. Trump and have implied or outright stated that they can’t support their former boss under any circumstances has grown to an astonishing length. The list of prominent Republican figures who did not serve under Mr. Trump and who regard him as unacceptable is equally impressive. More than a fifth of voters in the Republican primaries supported Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina; among many of them, there is intense opposition to Mr. Trump’s presidential run. So two things are happening at once: The Republican Party is thoroughly MAGA and will be for the foreseeable future, and there is a small but influential number of Republicans who are deeply opposed to what their party has become but not prepared to shed their political identity and join the Democrats.

Persons: Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s, Pence, Trump, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Liz Cheney, Dick Cheney, Donald Trump, ”, Trump’s, Nikki Haley, MAGA Organizations: Mr, Republican, Washington Post, Republican Party Locations: South Carolina

Since 1979, global heat waves are moving 20% more slowly — meaning more people stay hot longer — and they are happening 67% more often, according to a study in Friday's Science Advances. The study found the highest temperatures in the heat waves are warmer than 40 years ago and the area under a heat dome is larger. From 1979 to 1983, global heat waves would last eight days on average, but by 2016 to 2020 that was up to 12 days, the study said. Eurasia was especially hit harder with longer lasting heat waves, the study said. “Those heat waves are traveling slower and so slower so that basically means that ... there's a heat wave sitting there and those heat waves could stay longer in the region," Zhang said.

Persons: Wei Zhang of, Gabriel Lau, ”, Lawrence, Michael Wehner, Zhang, Kathy Jacobs, Jennifer Francis, ” ___ Read, Seth Borenstein Organizations: Wei Zhang of Utah State University, Princeton University, North, Lawrence Berkeley, Lab, University of Arizona, Climate Research, Associated Press Locations: Eurasia, Africa, North America, Australia, AP.org

☆ Opinion | If There’s One Thing Trump Is Right About, It’s Republicans
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Peter Wehner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For the thousandth time, the Republican Party refused an off-ramp that would free itself from Donald Trump. And many polls show she would be a more formidable candidate against President Biden than Mr. Trump. The Republican Party has grown more radical, unhinged and cultlike every year since Mr. Trump took control of it. On the tape, in words that shocked the nation, Mr. Trump said that when you’re a star, “You can do anything. You can do anything.”In 2023, Mr. Trump was found liable for sexual abuse.

Persons: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Trump’s, hasn’t, Biden, Trump, Haley, ” Organizations: Republican Party, Mr Locations: South Carolina

☆ Scientists say hurricanes are growing so powerful that we need to add a Category 6. Here's what that would look like.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The researchers recommend adding a Category 6 to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which currently ranks powerful tropical storms based on wind speed starting at Category 1 (74 to 95 mph) up to Category 5 (157 mph or higher). The "or higher" for Category 5 storms is where scientists take issue. Category 6 would refer to hurricanes with sustained wind speeds of at least 192 mph — about the speed that NASCAR drivers go. Jan Pleiter/Getty ImagesA strong hurricane with 192 mph winds — which would qualify as a Category 6 — isn't unheard of. In fact, since 2013, five storms have reached or surpassed that, including Hurricane Patricia, Typhoon Haiyan, and Typhoon Meranti, the researchers reported.

Persons: Samantha Lee, Saffir –, Michael Wehner, James Kossin, Jan Pleiter, Patricia, Typhoon Haiyan, Meranti, Wehner, Haiyan, Haiya, NOEL CELIS, there's Organizations: Service, Simpson, Business, Saffir, National Academy of Sciences, NASCAR, Typhoon Locations: New York, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, Philippines, Samar

They propose a sixth category for storms with winds that exceed 192 miles per hour (309 kilometers per hour). Currently, storms with winds of 157 mph (252 kilometers per hour) or higher are Category 5. From time to time, experts have proposed a Category 6, especially since Typhoon Haiyan reached 195 mph wind speeds (315 kilometers per hour) over the open Pacific. Wehner said that as temperatures rise, the number of days with conditions ripe for potential Category 6 storms in the Gulf of Mexico will grow. “Perhaps I'll change my tune when a rapidly intensifying storm in the Gulf achieves a Category 6,” Corbosiero said in an email.

Persons: Michael Wehner, Brian McNoldy, Haiyan, Patricia, ”, Jim Kossin, Kossin, Wehner, Kerry Emanuel, Jamie Rhome, Simpson, McNoldy, Craig Fugate, Kristen Corbosiero, ” Corbosiero, ___ Read, Seth Borenstein Organizations: National Academy of Sciences, Associated Press, Lawrence Berkley National, University of Miami, dateline, NOAA, First Street Foundation . Pacific, MIT, National Hurricane Center, Emergency Management, University of Albany Locations: Philippines, Gulf of Mexico, United States, Australia, Jalisco, Mexico, Taiwan, China, Asia, Russia, of Mexico, Caribbean, Gulf, AP.org

☆ Opinion | Donald Trump Has Closed the Republican Mind
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Peter Wehner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The poet Frederick Turner described “The Closing of the American Mind” as “the most thoughtful conservative analysis of the nation’s cultural sickness.”Yet today it is the American right that most fully embodies the attitudes that so alarmed Mr. Bloom. We see that most clearly in the right’s embrace of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement he represents. Mr. Trump is cruel and remorseless, compulsive and vindictive, an accomplished conspiracy theorist. While doing this, Mr. Trump has expanded his lead over his nearest rival in the race for the 2024 Republican nomination to more than 40 points. In other words, no matter how much wrongdoing Mr. Trump engages in, however outrageous and brutish his conduct, he remains wildly popular.

Persons: Frederick Turner, Bloom, Donald Trump, MAGA, Trump, Nancy Pelosi, Mark Milley Organizations: Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mr Locations: American

☆ Mike Johnson symbolizes a new turn for the religious right
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | Analysis Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

CNN —The arc of Rep. Mike Johnson’s career encapsulates the shifting priorities of the religious right in the era of Donald Trump. More than half of White evangelicals agreed with that statement as well – the only major religious denomination in which it found majority support. Yet both groups are much more influential inside the GOP coalition, with evangelicals representing nearly one-third of Republican voters and all White Christians about two-thirds. But in Congress, Johnson has also identified more with some of the party’s Trump-era priorities that revolve around demographic change. But each man appears equally committed to a vision of America that elevates the moral and political preferences of conservative White Christians over any other group.

Persons: Mike Johnson’s, Donald Trump, Barack Obama’s, Johnson, MAGA, Long, Trump’s, Trump, Robert P, Jones, Johnson “, ”, Mike Podhorzer, ” Podhorzer, Jimmy Carter, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, James Dobson, ” Jones, Dobson, CNN’s KFile, KFile, he’s, Ron DeSantis, Marjorie Taylor, it’s, ” Johnson, He’s, “, Biden, who’s, PRRI, there’s, Tresa Undem, Undem, White, George W, Bush, Obama, Pete Wehner, Wehner, David Barton, Barton, that’s, ” Wehner, ‘, ” Barton Organizations: CNN, Louisiana Republican, Republican, GOP, Yorker, Trump, Survey, Religion Research Institute, White, AFL, CIO, Republicans, Representatives, Alliance Defense Fund, Defending, Gov, Georgia Rep, Whites, Trinity Forum, ”, NBC News, Trump - Locations: Louisiana, America, White, “, Florida, Mexico

☆ Opinion | ‘The Entire Debate Was a Gong Show’: Winners and Losers From the Second Republican Showdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( New York Times Opinion | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +21 min

Matthew Continetti Governor Haley is an excellent communicator, but her message was often lost amid all the cross talk. Daniel McCarthy In this debate, Governor Haley decided to play the role that Vivek Ramaswamy played last time, frequently interrupting and attacking others. Matthew Continetti Governor DeSantis is not an exciting debater, but he remains the most plausible alternative to Donald Trump. Jane Coaston He really, really, really wanted to fight Donald Trump, who was not present. His worst moment was a canned line in which he compared Donald Trump to Donald Duck (Disney defamation suit to follow).

Persons: Ronald Reagan, Jane Coaston, Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Ramaswamy, Gail Collins, Matthew Continetti, Haley, Ron DeSantis, I’m, Michelle Cottle, Ross Douthat, Amy Klobuchar, Vivek Ramaswamy’s Pete Buttigieg —, Michelle Goldberg, Katherine Mangu, Ward, Daniel McCarthy, Katherine Miller Haley, Scott, ” Peter Wehner, she’d, DeSantis, Donald Trump, zinged Trump, Trump, he’s, Nobody, Michelle Goldberg DeSantis, DeSantis —, Daniel McCarthy He’s, don’t, Katherine Miller, Peter Wehner, Christie, Donald Duck, Matthew Continetti Governor Christie, He’s, —, Ross Douthat “ Donald DUCK, “ Donald Duck, ” Katherine Mangu, Biden, ” Daniel McCarthy Governor Christie, Katherine Miller Christie, stemwinders, Donald Trump’s, Haley —, ’, “, ” Matthew Continetti, MAGA populists, MAGA, Haley didn’t, Reagan, Ward Ramaswamy, Katherine Miller Ramaswamy, Burgum, Ross, Yep, Katherine Miller Burgum, Gail Collins Boy, Pence, ”, Mike Pence, Asa Hutchinson, Peter Wehner Trump Organizations: Republican, Ronald Reagan Presidential, American Special Operations, Washington, Trump, Fox, Washington , D.C, South, Blacks, ’, Reagan Locations: California, Iowa, New Hampshire, Mexico, Florida, Ukraine, Washington ,, New Jersey, Simi Valley, China, America, North Dakota

☆ Former Bush aide says Marjorie Taylor Greene has become so powerful in the GOP that she can't be dismissed as a fringe figure anymore
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Marjorie Taylor Greene is too powerful a figure to be overlooked, former Bush aide Peter Wehner wrote in an op-ed for the Atlantic. Wehner wrote that Greene is "giving voice" to a "growing sentiment" in the GOP. "The temptation of many people, eager to move past America's political freak show, will be to ignore her comments and dismiss her as an outcast, a fringe figure, deranged but isolated," Wehner wrote. Greene is "giving voice to a widespread and growing sentiment in the Republican Party," Wehner wrote. Marjorie Taylor Greene, GOP power playerRepublican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia boos President Joe Biden during the State of the Union Jim Watson/AFP/Getty ImagesGreene is known for her anti-trans rhetoric, track record of pushing outlandish, anti-Semitic messages, and her well-documented beliefs in QAnon conspiracy theories.

☆ Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes a U-turn on metaverse spending as Reality Labs is hit with a new 'efficiency' mantra
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Metaverse spending will continue, although "we're constantly shifting how we execute," he said. The Reality Labs division, tasked with building the metaverse, lost $13.7 billion this year, according to Wednesday's disclosure. Still, Reality Labs would be subject to the same push for efficiency as other parts of the company, Zuckerberg said. David Wehner, the then-CFO who is now chief strategy officer, said spending on the Reality Labs division would increase "significantly" in 2023. Such boasting of the metaverse and the Reality Labs division was nowhere to be found during Wednesday's discussion of the year ahead.

☆ Meta is moving out of two of its fancy New York offices as Mark Zuckerberg's cost-cutting measures continue
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta's move to return its office space is part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg's plan to cut costs. "The past few years have brought new possibilities around the role of the office," Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton told Insider. 30 Hudson Yards is a glass skyscraper over 100 stories high, with outdoor terraces and panoramic views of the Hudson River. Meta will keep its office space at 50 Hudson Yards. Meta will also keep the office space it leased in 2020 at the James A. Farley Building in midtown Manhattan.

Two of his revenge picks to knock off House Republicans who voted to impeach him lost critical general election races in Michigan and Washington. To Mr. Trump, none of that had any bearing on his desire to return to power. “A perfect call.” Absconding with classified documents from the White House? “I think the question is who is the current leader of the Republican Party. In light of what unfolded at Mar-a-Lago, that felt more like the wishful thinking of a born optimist than the judgment of a seasoned student of Mr. Trump.

☆ What our Big Tech holdings signaled on expenses and hiring this earnings season
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

We want to see that happen with the Club's holdings, so we paid close attention to what management teams at our Big Tech stocks signaled on costs during this mixed earnings season. Head count grew by 22% on an annual basis, 6 percentage points of which was due to acquisitions that closed in the prior two quarters. "Our sequential head count growth from Q1 to Q2 will be minimal. ... We've added a lot of head count over the past 12 months, and we want to make sure we use those head count in the most productive way possible," Hood said this week. "We are holding some teams flat in terms of head count, shrinking others, and investing head count growth only in our highest priorities," Wehner said.

☆ Meta has pumped $36 billion into its metaverse and VR businesses since 2019. These 4 charts show the scale of its extreme spending — and huge losses.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meta has pumped $36 billion into its Reality Labs division since 2019, an Insider analysis found. The division, comprising Meta's metaverse and VR businesses, made a $30.7 billion operating loss over the same period. "We do anticipate that Reality Labs operating losses in 2023 will grow significantly year-over-year," CFO David Wehner said. Grace Dean/InsiderCosts and expenses for Reality Labs amounted to $12.5 billion for the full-year 2021, and the division brought in $2.3 billion revenue. And despite the ballooning losses at Reality Labs, Zuckerberg said Wednesday he's "pretty confident" the company is heading "in a good direction."

☆ Meta says it's laying off staff and easing off hiring to reduce costs – but will keep pumping billions into Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meta is cutting hiring and laying off staff to trim costs, CFO David Wehner said Wednesday. But Meta will continue pumping billions into its metaverse business, execs said Wednesday. Meta expects its headcount to remain roughly flat between now and the end of 2023, Wehner said. "We do anticipate that Reality Labs operating losses in 2023 will grow significantly year-over-year," Wehner said. Meta has been under pressure from Wall Street to reduce spending, especially on its metaverse projects.

☆ Meta says it's planning to shrink its office space as more employees are working remotely
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The social-media giant has embraced remote work, with top executives working from abroad. It comes as Meta, notably its top executives, shifts to remote work. "Some steps, like the ongoing rationalization of our office footprint, will lead to incremental costs in the near term," Wehner said. Wehner added that Meta projected 2023 total expenses are set to be between $96 billion and $101 billion, with $2 billion estimated to go towards consolidating the company's office footprint. Meta employees are expected to spend at least half their time in the office.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg says he's 'pretty confident' Meta is heading in a 'good direction' as stock crashes 20% after huge earnings miss
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday he was "pretty confident" Meta is heading "in a good direction." He spoke after Meta's third-quarter earnings missed Wall Street's forecasts and its stock crashed 20%. Meta's third-quarter net income crashed 52% year-on-year, to $4.4 billion, as R&D costs jumped 45% largely because of the company's investments in the metaverse. The scale of Meta's metaverse investments are being closely scrutinized by investors who are concerned they're detracting from the company's core social-media businesses, such as Facebook and Instagram. Reality Labs, which handles Oculus and everything metaverse-related, reported third-quarter revenue of just $285 million – a drop of almost half compared with the same period in 2021.

☆ Facebook's identity crisis is costing Zuckerberg billions, and he's ok with it
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta expects "significantly" higher losses for the Reality Labs unit handling the development of the metaverse. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that investors who are patient will "end up being rewarded." Meta's share price slumped nearly 20% to $104.30 in after-hours trade, following its earnings announcement. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops — delivered daily to your inbox. But it's a "pretty wide portfolio" with other initiatives, such as a social metaverse platform, Zuckerberg added.

☆ Meta posts second-ever quarterly revenue decline and hints at cost cutting efforts
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

For the three months ended in September, Meta (FB) posted revenue of $27.7 billion, down 4% year-over-year and slightly above Wall Street analysts’ expectations. The Facebook parent company posted its first-ever quarterly revenue decline during the June quarter. The company reported net income of nearly $4.4 billion — less than half the amount it made during the same period in the prior year and below analysts’ projections. Meta reported having 2.96 billion monthly active users on its core Facebook app at the end of the quarter, up 2% year-over-year. “We are holding some teams at in terms of headcount, shrinking others and investing headcount growth only in our highest priorities,” Wehner said.

☆ Meta plans to lose even more money building the metaverse while its ads business shrinks
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., demonstrates the Meta Quest Pro during the virtual Meta Connect event in New York, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reiterated his commitment to spending billions of dollars developing the metaverse amid investor concern about the health of his company's online advertising business. Meta's Reality Labs unit, which responsible for developing the virtual reality and related augmented reality technology that underpins the yet-to-be built metaverse, has lost $9.4 billion so far in 2022. "We do anticipate that Reality Labs operating losses in 2023 will grow significantly year-over-year," Meta said in a statement. "Beyond 2023, we expect to pace Reality Labs investments such that we can achieve our goal of growing overall company operating income in the long run."

WASHINGTON — Rep. Liz Cheney launched a blistering attack on Donald Trump and his allies Monday, accusing Republican leaders of treating the former president like a “king” by defending him at every turn in a federal investigation into classified documents stored at his Florida estate. They are attempting to excuse this behavior,” Cheney, R-Wyo., said in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. (SCI is short for “sensitive compartmented information.”)"Bit by bit, excuse by excuse, we’re putting Donald Trump above the law. “No one should take our effort to reform the electoral count as any indication that Donald Trump did not violate the existing law or did not violate the Constitution,” she said. “Mike Pence was essentially the president for most of that day,” Cheney said.

Powerful storms battered three disparate, far-flung corners of the planet over the weekend, but they had one thing in common: They were made stronger and wetter by climate change. The three weekend storms add to a trend of wetter storms in a warmer future, said Michael Wehner, a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. With climate change making storms rainier and more intense, the weekend's extreme weather events offer a glimpse of what could become more common in the future, according to experts. As the world's oceans heat up, they provide more energy for storms, allowing them to intensify as they form. “Hurricane Fiona is a reminder that even though it has been relatively quiet, things can change and strong storms can have a really big impact,” he added.

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