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☆ Cracker Barrel is in a battle for relevancy. One of its solutions is surprising
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-01 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New Cracker Barrels might be smaller restaurants altogether, with menus that include new items like green chili cornbread and banana pudding. Discounted dinner from 4 to 6 p.m.Why would Cracker Barrel, so desperate for relevancy, lean into a tactic typically used to attract senior citizens? A woman eats lunch at Cracker Barrel. Masino didn’t explicitly mention the specials during the discussion about the long-term strategy for Cracker Barrel. To compete in this environment, Cracker Barrel realizes it has to offer some type of deal.

Persons: Julie Felss Masino, ” Masino, ”, Jeff Greenberg, Baby, Masino, Lisa W, Miller, RJ Hottovy, It’s, “, John A, Gordon Organizations: New, New York CNN, Universal, Getty, Baby Boomers, Miller & Associates, Street Journal, Pacific Management Consulting Group Locations: New York, The Tennessee, Placer.ai

A day after U.S. officials said Ukraine could use American weapons in limited strikes inside Russia, a deepfake video of a U.S. spokesman discussing the policy appeared online. The 49-second video clip, which has an authentic feel despite telltale clues of manipulation, illustrates the growing threat of disinformation and especially so-called deepfake videos powered by artificial intelligence. But they are particularly concerned about how Russia might employ such techniques to manipulate opinion around the war in Ukraine or even American political discourse. Belgorod “has essentially no civilians remaining,” the video purports to show Mr. Miller saying at the State Department in response to a reporter’s question, which was also manufactured. “It’s practically full of military targets at this point, and we are seeing the same thing starting in the regions around there.”

Persons: Matthew Miller, Miller, It’s, ” Organizations: State Department, Belgorod “ Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Russian, Belgorod, Ukraine’s

☆ The small-cap slump is getting historically long. Here's what needs to change for a rebound
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"With yields holding firm at elevated levels , large caps continue to outperform small caps. Hopes for multiple rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year have dimmed after recent inflation readings showed signs of stickiness. An economy that is growing more slowly, but with cooler inflation, could be the combination small caps need. Small caps could also benefit from an uptick in the global economy that benefits areas like manufacturing that has heavy representation in the small-cap index. Investors who really want exposure to small caps could also look outside of the U.S. Wolfe Research analyst Rob Ginsberg said in a May 29 note to clients that global small caps are outperforming their U.S. counterparts and are poised for a potential breakout.

Persons: Russell, Todd Sohn, JC O'Hara, Roth MKM, Chad Miller, you've, Miller, Cayla, Seder, Mark Haefele, Solita, Angelo Kourkafas, Edward Jones, Rob Ginsberg, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: CNBC, ESG, Silicon Valley Bank, Federal Reserve, Big Tech, Companies, UBS, Institute, Supply, PMI, Investors, U.S . Wolfe Research Locations: Thrivent, Silicon

☆ Gaza Offensive Will Last at Least Through End of Year, Israeli Official Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Aaron Boxerman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

U.S. officials said on Tuesday that the Israeli strike that killed dozens of Palestinians in southern Gaza was a tragedy but that it did not violate President Biden’s red line for withholding weapons shipments to Israel. The United States is by far the biggest supplier of weapons to Israel, which raises questions about American responsibility as the death toll mounts. She did not answer a follow-up question about whether the strike crossed a red line for Mr. Biden. A State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, said the United States was watching Israel’s investigation of the incident closely. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 36,000 people, many of them women and children, according to health officials in Gaza.

Persons: John F, Kirby, —, they’re, Biden, Israel, ” Mr, “, Mr, Kamala Harris, Benjamin Netanyahu, Matthew Miller, Miller, ”, Daniel Hagari, Khan Younis, Khaled Elgindy, Elgindy, ” Erica L, Green, Michael Crowley Organizations: Mr, European Union, United, CNN, United Nations, State Department, Middle East Institute Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Israel, United States, United Nations, Egypt, China, “, Hamas, Washington, New York

CNN —After months of either ignoring or poking fun at former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial, the Biden campaign on Tuesday decided for the first time to stage a news conference about Trump’s record outside the courthouse where closing arguments were taking place. In their view, Trump’s trial would speak for itself, reintroducing the former president and the chaos that surrounds him to voters who may have tuned him out. “The entire news media is camped out here, day in and day out,” campaign communications director Michael Tyler said, explaining the choice to address reporters outside the lower Manhattan courthouse. Biden campaign officials are still grappling with the reality, this person said, that a substantial part of the population still doesn’t see that the choice on Election Day will be between Biden and Trump. “We knew Trump was out of control when he was president,” De Niro says over a shot of Trump behind the Resolute Desk.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Biden, Robert De Niro, Trump, ” De Niro, That’s, Michael Tyler, De Niro, Michael Fanone, Harry Dunn, “, Donald Trump, United States —, ” Fanone, Jason Miller, Steven Cheung, Karoline Leavitt, Miller, ” Miller, Juan Merchan, ”, won’t, Harris, Niro, ” Dunn, We’ve, –, Biden’s, Aquilino Gonell, Danny Hodges, Dunn, Gonell, Hodges, CNN’s Kate Sullivan Organizations: CNN, White, Capitol, Trump, United, Top Trump, Biden, ”, Resolute, Metropolitan Police, US Capitol Police, Capitol Police, DC’s Metropolitan Police Department Locations: Manhattan, United States, White, —, Washington, DC

☆ FLiRT variants may lead to a Covid surge this summer: 7 ways to boost your immune system
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Renée Onque | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Health professionals warn there may be a spike in Covid-19 cases this summer. Cases of the FLiRT variants, "whose label derives from the names of the mutations in the variants' genetic code," according to CNBC, are rising in the U.S. and Europe. In addition to masking in public spaces and staying up-to-date with your vaccinations, which experts often recommend during spikes in Covid cases, it may be helpful to bolster your immune system. Dr. William B. Miller Jr., an infectious disease expert and evolutionary biologist, thinks everyone should be boosting their immune system all year round, including the summer. "The only effective way to really boost your immune system is to adopt a steady rhythm," Miller told CNBC Make It last January.

Persons: William B, Miller Jr, Miller Organizations: CNBC Locations: U.S, Europe

☆ The dramatic 'Furiosa' ending, explained
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Jason Guerrasio | Eammon Jacobs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The ending features a dramatic showdown between Furiosa and Dementus in the middle of the WastelandChris Hemsworth in "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." Warner Bros.At the conclusion of the movie, Furiosa teams with Immortan Joe to successfully end Dementus's reign at the Gas Town outpost, which is known as "The 40-Day War." The fate of Dementus is a shocking oneDementus' ending is a dramatic one. Now, we see that under Furiosa's care, the pit created a massive peach tree with an elderly and emaciated Dementus as the root. AdvertisementThe final shot of the movie shows Furiosa hiding the wives in the War Rig, ending the movie the night before the events of "Fury Road" begin.

Persons: —, Max, Anya Taylor, Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Immortan Joe, Furiosa's, Dementus, Furiosa, Mary Jo Bassa, Charlee Fraser, he's, George Miller, Praetorian Jack, Miller Organizations: Service, Business, Warner Bros, Gas, Breeders, Fury Locations: Furiosa

☆ Election Updates: Trump’s New York City trial has made for a very local presidential campaign.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Michael Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

But often over the last month, his presidential campaign has ventured into politically hostile territory: New York City. “It does feel like he’s almost going out there door to door.”Image Mr. Trump brought pizzas to a firehouse in Midtown Manhattan. Credit... Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesWorking within the trial schedule, Mr. Trump’s aides have also looked to use its constraints to their advantage. Image Union workers outside a construction site in Manhattan last month during Mr. Trump’s visit. Credit... Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times Image The Trump campaign has cited his crowds as proof of his popularity in deep-blue New York.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, ”, George Arzt, Edward I, Koch, Hiroko Masuike, Brian Hughes, Mr, Trump’s, ” Jason Miller, Biden, Miller, Bill de Blasio, de, Hank Sheinkopf, Sheinkopf, “, ” Nicholas Nehamas Organizations: Trump, Midtown Manhattan ., New York Times, New Yorker, Democratic, New, Madison, Garden, Credit Locations: New York City, Harlem, Midtown Manhattan, Manhattan, New York, Midtown, Florida, York, Yorkers, Bronx, Crotona Park, Michigan, Wisconsin, Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, Wildwood , N.J, bodega

☆ Inside the White House, a Debate Over Letting Ukraine Shoot U.S. Weapons Into Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( David E. Sanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Since the first American shipments of sophisticated weapons to Ukraine, President Biden has never wavered on one prohibition: President Volodymyr Zelensky had to agree to never fire them into Russian territory, insisting that would violate Mr. Biden’s mandate to “avoid World War III.”But the consensus around that policy is fraying. Propelled by the State Department, there is now a vigorous debate inside the administration over relaxing the ban to allow the Ukrainians to hit missile and artillery launch sites just over the border in Russia — targets that Mr. Zelensky says have enabled Moscow’s recent territorial gains. The proposal, pressed by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken after a sobering visit to Kyiv last week, is still in the formative stages, and it is not clear how many of his colleagues among Mr. Biden’s inner circle have signed on. It has not yet been formally presented to the president, who has traditionally been the most cautious, officials said. The State Department spokesman, Matthew A. Miller, declined to comment on the internal deliberations over Ukraine policy, including Mr. Blinken’s report after his return from Kyiv.

Persons: Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, Antony J, Matthew A, Miller, Blinken’s Organizations: State Department, The State Department Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Kyiv

☆ With JPMorgan, Mastercard on board in biometric 'breakthrough' year, you may soon start paying with your face
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Todd Wasserman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

In January, Steak 'N Shake, a fast-casual restaurant in the Midwest, started installing facial recognition kiosks in its 300 locations for patron check-in. "We believe our partnership with JPMorgan is a watershed moment for biometric payments as it represents the first time a leading merchant acquirer has agreed to push biometric payments to its merchant customers," Miller said. "JPMorgan brings the kind of credibility and assurance that both merchants and consumers need to adopt biometric payments." The majority still prefer fingerprint scans to facial recognition, according to a 2023 survey from PYMENTS, but age is a factor. Juniper Research forecasts over 100% market growth for global biometric payments between 2024 and 2028, and by 2025, $3 trillion in mobile, biometric-secured payments.

Persons: PopID, Dennis Gamiello, John Miller, Miller, acquirer, Sheldon Jacobson, Jacobson Organizations: Foods, Mastercard, NEC, Target, AliPay, KFC, JPMorgan, Consumers, Juniper Research, University of Illinois, Facebook Locations: Flippy, Pasadena , Calif, Midwest, Brazil, Asia, Pacific, Illinois, China, McDonald's, U.S, Urbana, Champaign

☆ Election officials in battleground Michigan grapple with sweeping voting changes and a presidential election
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Fredreka Schouten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The state’s highly decentralized system of administering voting means that “Michigan has 1,500 elections every big election day,” said Kyle Whitney, the city clerk of Marquette in the state’s Upper Peninsula. ‘We’re all beginners’The new rules in Michigan flow from a constitutional amendment that state voters approved by a wide margin in 2022 that dramatically expanded access to voting. Miller was elected to succeed the previous, term-limited clerk and is overseeing her first presidential election. Deborah Pellow, the part-time clerk of rural Tilden Township in the Upper Peninsula, is also overseeing her first presidential election this year. The next big test for Michigan comes in August, when voters cast primary ballots for congressional, state and local offices.

Persons: Michael Siegrist, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, tabulators, Biden, ”, Kyle Whitney, ” Whitney, Brennan, ‘, “, ” Lori Miller, Miller, “ It’s, Deborah Pellow, Pellow, Adam Wit, –, Shira Roza, Carlos Osorio, Angela Benander, Joycelyn Benson, Jacqueline Beaudry, ” Benander, ‘ We’re Organizations: CNN, Ferrari, Republican, Trump, Brennan Center for Justice, Wolverine State, Biden’s, Michigan’s, Democratic, Michigan Association of Municipal, Michigan Locations: Michigan, Canton Township, Antrim County, Marquette, Wolverine, Livonia, Detroit, Wayne County, Tilden Township, Canton, Harrison, Warren , Michigan, Ann Arbor City, Tilden

☆ U.S. ‘Condolences’ for Raisi Reflect a Delicate Diplomatic Ritual
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Michael Crowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the eyes of the Biden administration, Ebrahim Raisi was a brutal tyrant, a sworn enemy and a threat to world peace. But within hours of confirmation that Mr. Raisi, who had served for three years as Iran’s president, was killed in a weekend helicopter crash, the U.S. State Department announced its “official condolences” for his sudden death. A terse statement, issued on Monday under the name of a State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, betrayed no grief for the Iranian leader, who frequently railed at the United States and is believed to have at least condoned attacks on American troops by Iranian-backed proxy forces in Iraq and Syria. The statement drew swift outrage from vocal critics of Iran’s government, who argued variously that the United States should say nothing at all or harshly condemn Mr. Raisi, something Mr. Miller proceeded to do later, when questioned by reporters at a daily briefing.

Persons: Biden, Ebrahim Raisi, Raisi, ”, Matthew Miller, Miller Organizations: U.S . State Department, State Department Locations: United States, Iranian, Iraq, Syria

☆ ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ Review: A Lonely Avenger
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Manohla Dargis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Dystopia has rarely looked as grim and felt as exhilarating as it has in George Miller’s “Mad Max” cycle. The thing is, it has started to feel less cool just because in the years since the original “Mad Max” opened in 1979, the distance between Miller’s scorched earth and ours has narrowed. Set “a few years from now,” the first film tracks Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson), a highway patrol cop who has a semblance of a normal life with a wife and kid. Miller’s latest and fifth movie in the cycle, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” is primarily an origin story that recounts the life and brutal, dehumanizing times of the young Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy), the hard-bitten rig driver played by Charlize Theron in the last film, “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015). As befits a creation story, “Furiosa” tracks Furiosa from childhood to young adulthood, a downward spiral that takes her from freedom to captivity and, in time, circumscribed sovereignty.

Persons: Dystopia, George Miller’s “, Max ”, Miller, shivers, Max Rockatansky, Mel Gibson, Max, gunning, Anya Taylor, Joy, Charlize Theron, “, Fury, ” Max, Tom Hardy, Gibson, Alyla Browne, They’re, Furiosa, Charlee Fraser Organizations: Hall of Justice Locations: Auschwitz

☆ Lessons from the deadly anthrax attacks of 2001
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( John Miller | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

This was anthrax,” Pogan said, and he briefed his superiors. Between October 5, and November 22, 2001, five people who were exposed died from anthrax poisoning. For help, they turned to the US Department of Defense lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland, where anthrax expert Dr. Bruce Ivins worked. Investigators in protective suits prepare to enter the New York Times building in New York on October 12, 2001. Police cars are parked outside the American Media building in Boca Raton on Oct. 8, 2001 where environmental tests detected anthrax bacteria.

Persons: CNN —, Bin Laden, America, Robert Stevens, Tom Dachle’s, Tom Brokaw, Patrick Pogan, ”, “, Judith Miller, Pogan, Miller, ’ Pogan, “ Hey, ” Pogan, John Scarbeck, Saddam Hussein, Bin, Bruce Ivins, Steven Hatfill, FBI swabbed, John Ashcroft, Peter Morgan, ” Dr, Bob Mueller, Mueller, Hatfill, Luis M, Alvarez, Dr, Ivins, John J, He’s Organizations: CNN, Center for Domestic Preparedness, Army, New York Police Department, ABC News, ABC, American Media, Boca, New York Post, NBC News, Terrorism Task Forces, New York Times, FBI, New York, New York City Health Department, Unit, US Department of Defense, Department of Defense, Reuters, Counterterrorism, LAPD, Justice Department, Police, Intelligence, Los Angeles Police Department Locations: Anniston, Alabama, Florida, Boca Raton , FL, Staten, New York City, “, Fort Detrick , Maryland, Maryland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, New Jersey, New York, Boca Raton

☆ Trump’s bombardment of dishonesty: Fact-checking 32 of his false claims to Time
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Daniel Dale | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +43 min

We’re paying for close to 100% of NATO.”Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. They don’t pay their bills.”Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. (It rose to about $314 billion in 2020, Trump’s last full year in office.) Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. Facts First: Trump’s claim that “nobody died other than Ashli” is false.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, “, William Barr, Bill Barr, Barr, Bill, I’m, ”, it’s, Biden, Joe Biden, Tamar Hermann, Hermann, Bill Clinton, “ Trump, ” Trump, …, National Guard Trump, I’ve, George Floyd, Tim Walz, Walz, Paul —, –, Erwan, George Washington, “ don’t, they’re, Stoltenberg, Trump’s, Lagadec, Marc Lipsitch, Barack Obama, European Union won’t, Cortellessa, “ Moody’s, Moody’s, Mark Zandi, Zandi, ’ ” Zandi, Joe Biden’s, rioter Ashli Babbitt, Brian Sicknick, Sicknick, Trump’s ‘, patriotically, ‘, patriotically ’, ” Nancy Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi, “ Nancy Pelosi, Pelosi, Christopher Miller, Miller, Eric Cortellessa, Alvin Bragg’s, Bragg, Matthew Colangelo, Colangelo, Alvin Bragg, ” Cortellessa, Hillary Clinton, —, Roe, Wade, Kimberly Mutcherson, “ Donald Trump’s, Maya Manian, Mary Ziegler, Davis, Ziegler, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Roe should’ve, ’, Crime Biden, don’t, “ Biden, he’s, James Biden, Jeff Asher, Asher, It’s, ” “, ” Asher Organizations: Washington CNN, Time, Trump, NATO, Capitol, Trump’s, Trade Center, didn’t, World Trade Center, Department, ISIS, CNN, Democratic, White House, White, South Korea Trump, Pentagon’s Defense Manpower Data, Biden Administration, Congressional Research Service, Israel, Israeli Democracy Institute, National Guard, Minnesota Democratic Gov, Minnesota National Guard, Guard, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, Transatlantic, for Disease Control, World Bank, Washington Post, Harvard, Harvard’s, National, Trump -, of Health, Human Services, Strategic, Biden, U.S . International Trade Commission, European, Benz, Volkswagen, BMW, European Union, US, European Automobile Manufacturers ’ Association, Bloomberg Economics, US Capitol Police, Capitol Police, “, Republican, Democratic Rep, National Guardsmen, District of Columbia National Guard, Army, Capitol Police Board, Senate, Justice Department, Pulitzer Foundation, Pulitzer, New York Times, Electoral, Democrat, ” Rutgers Law, American University, university’s Health, University of California, ”, Customs, Border Protection, Crime, Manchurian, Republicans, FBI Locations: “, New York City, Saudi, Florida, al Qaeda, New York, Texas, Mexico, South Korea, Trump , South Korea, South, Korea, Israel, Washington, Trump , Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Trump, Minnesota, St, United States, Germany, Brussels, Belgium, Harvard University, China, EU, DC, Trump’s, ”, York, Manhattan, York’s, Russia, That’s

☆ After Ukraine Aid Vote, Republicans Braced for Backlash Find Little
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Annie Karni | Robert Jimison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A week after he broke with the majority of House Republicans and voted to send $60.8 billion in aid to Ukraine, Representative Max Miller took the stage at a performing arts center in his Ohio district bracing for backlash. Instead, Mr. Miller, a first-term congressman who spent four years in the White House as a top aide to former President Donald J. Trump, was greeted at a town hall-style meeting on Saturday in the city of Solon with a sustained round of applause. Several attendees stood to publicly thank him for his vote, and a line of locals queued up afterward to shake his hand. “Anything we can do to support the Ukrainian victory over the Russian invasion would be a positive thing for the world,” said Randy Manley, a retiree from Strongsville, Ohio, who said he planned to vote for Mr. Trump in November. More than 500 miles west, in Iowa City, Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a vulnerable Republican who won her district by six points in 2020, had a similar experience.

Persons: Max Miller, Mr, Miller, Donald J, Trump, ”, Randy Manley, Mariannette Miller, Meeks Organizations: House Republicans, Mr, Republican Locations: Ukraine, Ohio, Solon, Strongsville , Ohio, Iowa City

☆ Middle East Crisis Review of U.N. Agency Prompts New Calls to Restore Its Funding
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Patrick Kingsley | Matt Surman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The United Nations had commissioned an independent review of the agency in January, before Israel circulated its claims, but those charges gave added significance to the inquiry, whose findings were released on Monday. The report issued a series of recommendations for the agency to protect its neutrality, but said that “Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence” for its accusation that a significant number of agency employees are members of terrorist organizations. The United Nations has fired 10 of the 12 employees accused by Israel. Ireland, which has strongly condemned Israel’s campaign in Gaza, increased aid to UNRWA as other countries were cutting it, he noted. UNRWA has argued that Israel has targeted it with a “deliberate and concerted campaign” to undermine its operations when its services are most needed.

Persons: Israel, Stéphane, António Guterres, Guterres, “, Caroline Gennez, ”, Micheál Martin, Israel’s, Japan —, Matthew Miller, Biden, ” Mr, Miller, Benjamin Netanyahu Organizations: The United Nations, United Nations, UNRWA, United, State Department, ”, European Union Locations: United States, Gaza, Israel, United, Palestine, Belgium, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Japan

☆ He Had Her at the Baby Moose
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Tammy Lagorce | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In June 2021, Francis Charles Marley checked out Ashleé Michele Miller’s Match.com profile, but clicked away without so much as a like. She would have let it go if the app hadn’t pictured him cradling a baby moose in the middle of a raging Alaskan river. Ms. Miller, 35, was riding out the pandemic at her parents’ house in Reidsville, N.C., when Mr. Marley thumbed past her profile. In New York, where she had lived since 2006, sorting through men had started to feel like a part-time job. But in North Carolina, “my mom said, ‘You have to keep dating,’” she said.

Persons: Francis Charles Marley, Ashleé Michele Miller’s Match.com, Miller, Marley, ‘, ’ ”, “ Organizations: Juilliard, Adelphi University, City University of New, Deco Locations: Reidsville, N.C, Manhattan, City University of New York, New York, North Carolina, Massachusetts

He was a model to me of artistic labor and discipline, even if those early paintings were painfully amateurish. IT WASN’T MY intention to start an essay about artistic beginnings with a story of artistic death. No one captured the massive cultural and economic disparities of my life in Delhi (and his in Lahore) like Toor. But quite unbeknown to me, Toor’s life in New York had opened up a new vein of material. Not everyone who sees a Michelangelo can go off and paint a Michelangelo.”THERE ARE SO many ways to begin.

Persons: Naipaul, Neil Shah, James Wood —, Zack, who’d, ”, Artemisia Gentileschi, Susanna, Elders ”, I’m, ” Gustave Flaubert, “, ” Zack, it’s, Bruce Chatwin, Paul Gauguin, Salman Rushdie, Somerset Maugham, Kathryn Bigelow, Philip Glass, Arundhati Roy, Booker, Joseph Conrad, Conrad, Jacques, ” Conrad, brimming, ’, ’ ”, Clarice Lispector, Benjamin Moser, ” Lispector, Maugham, eludes, Jan van Kessel, Elder, — Pieter Bruegel, —, Rebecca West —, “ Black Lamb, J.R, Hammond, Wells, Rebecca West ”, sloughed, Henrik Ibsen’s, Rosmersholm ”, Karan Mahajan, Salman Toor, what’s, ” Hemingway, Anoushka Shankar, Ravi Shankar, Harold Bloom, Ravi, Uday, René Daumal, Rasa ”, ” Anoushka, Norah Jones, Norah, I’ve, “ Raphael, Rachel Cusk, Italy ”, Perugino, Raphael, Cusk, J.M, Samuel Beckett, Gabriel García Márquez, Thomas Pynchon’s, James Joyce, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Marcel Proust’s, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Read, Emma Kehlbeck, Quinton Kamara Organizations: Amherst College, Elders, Fayerweather, ”, Google, Sunday Times, Somerset, Yugoslavia, The, “, . Locations: Delhi, ”, Massachusetts, Italian, Topeka, Kan, Amherst, New York, London, Patagonia, New Delhi, Torrens, Cambridge, Polish, Ukrainian, Brazil, Flemish, Victorian England, “ H.G, Fairfield, United States, “, East, Lahore, Europe, America, Texas, Side, Manhattan, India, Italy

He was a model to me of artistic labor and discipline, even if those early paintings were painfully amateurish. The painting followed me from Amherst to my first job in New York, and on to London and Delhi. IT WASN’T MY intention to start an essay about artistic beginnings with a story of artistic death. I’m especially moved by those first moments of validation by which an artist comes out to himself, as it were. It’s this, the inexorability of the correspondence between an artist and the world, that gives those first steps their magical quality.

☆ An American expat who retired at 53 said he got 3 things right on his decades-long FIRE journey
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Shubhangi Goel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Todd Miller retired at 53 because he did not want his life to be defined by his career. "I didn't have the vocabulary back then of 'financial independence,' but I said I wanted optionality," Miller told Business Insider. He picked age 50 to retire — what the personal finance industry now calls FIRE, which stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. In 2019, just three years after the initial age target he had set for himself, Miller took the plunge and retired at 53. His passive income now funds the family's lifestyle in Phuket, Thailand, where they live.

Persons: Todd Miller, —, Miller, that's, you've, shubhangigoel@businessinsider.com Organizations: Service, Business, Financial Independence, FIRE Locations: Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Phuket, American, Real, Mardi, Nepal, Africa, Cambodia, Vietnam, Europe, Canada, Paris, Uganda, Asia

☆ Franchisees say it's them, not big corporations, who are the real losers of California's $20 fast-food wage
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Restaurant franchisees say they're the real losers of California's $20 fast-food minimum wage. AdvertisementFranchisees say they have to bear the brunt of California's new $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers. But the $20 wage applies to both corporate-owned and franchise restaurants, even if the franchisee just owns one or two restaurants. She added that the new $20 wage felt like an "unfair target on our backs." "You're going to have to have the mega owners as they're called, or 20 stores, a hundred stores, 500 outlets.

Persons: —, Keith Miller, Brian Hom, We're, Hom, Miller, he'd, Mike Mangoine, Jessica D'Ambre, D'Ambre, Matthew Haller, Burger King, they're Organizations: Service, Business, Subway, McDonald's Corporation, Los Angeles Times, Times, International Franchise Association, Taco Bell Locations: California, San Jose , California, Los Angeles, Inland, Burger, McDonald's

☆ Middle East Crisis As Ramadan Nears Its End, Relief Remains Elusive in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Israeli airstrikes a week ago killed seven aid workers who had been delivering food in Gaza, renewing the international focus on the hunger crisis there. But UNRWA, the primary United Nations agency aiding Palestinians, said that 103 aid trucks crossed into Gaza on Sunday. Until now, almost all aid for Gaza has entered through two southern border crossings, at Rafah and Kerem Shalom. Before the conflict, around 500 commercial and aid trucks entered Gaza each day. Juliette Touma, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, said that Gaza needs 500 trucks of aid each day, for weeks and months, to remedy the crisis.

Persons: Israel, Biden, COGAT, Matthew Miller, Miller, Benjamin Netanyahu, Juliette Touma, Michael Crowley Organizations: UNRWA, United, State Department, Israel, Food, United States Central Command Locations: Gaza, COGAT, United Nations, Rafah, Kerem Shalom, Israel, Ashdod, United States

☆ The world's biggest chipmaker just got hit by an earthquake. That could mean production delays for customers like Apple and Nvidia.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A powerful earthquake in Taiwan forced chip maker TSMC to suspend operations at some sites. That could mean production delays for companies like Apple, which relies on its chips. Worst-case scenario, disruptions to TSMC could mean production delays for its existing products and a later rollout of its new devices. AdvertisementApple and Nvidia didn't immediately return to requests for comment from Business Insider when asked how TSMC's production disruptions would impact their businesses. Analysts say halting production could also damage some of TSMC's most advanced chips, which require maintenance around the clock, further exacerbating production delays.

Persons: —, TSMC, Chris Miller, Nvidia didn't, Bum, Brian Tan, Miller Organizations: Apple, Bloomberg, Service, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Nvidia, The New York Times, Business, Citi Group Locations: Taiwan, Hsinchu, United States

☆ Top performing investor doubts Nvidia is really worth this much, buying 2 unusual stock plays instead
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"If you look at AI stocks or Nvidia in particular … Nvidia's a phenomenal company, massive revenue growth, massive earnings growth, but there's a question — how wonderful are they? Miller said Nvidia is inherently different from companies such as Microsoft and Apple, which he thinks are worth their $2 billion valuations. Nvidia shares more than tripled in 2023 as investors flocked into the AI darling. Metallurgical coal companies are trading very cheaply alongside their thermal coal peers since investors are "throwing the baby out with the bathwater," Miller said. "There's going to be more metallurgical coal used over the next three to five years, but there's no new supply coming online."

Persons: David Miller, Miller, haven't, there's, Morningstar Organizations: Nvidia, Catalyst Funds, CNBC, Microsoft, Apple, Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Metallurgical Locations: U.S

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