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☆ Tesla's earnings report was worse than expected, but Elon Musk has a plan
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In today's big story, we're looking at Tesla's earnings report and what comes next for the EV maker. The big storyTesla's turnaround planJADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images; Chelsea Jia Feng; BIBad news: Tesla's earnings report was worse than expected. AdvertisementPerhaps that's why Musk spent so much of the earnings call discussing autonomy and the progress made with Tesla's Full Self-Driving software . Musk told analysts on the earnings call that Tesla is the majority of his work . If investors vote against the package at Tesla's annual meeting in June, who knows where Musk — and his AI ambitions — will end up .

Persons: —, Chelsea Jia Feng, Elon Musk, Tesla, Musk, hasn't, Insider's Linette Lopez, Matt Anderson, Tyler Le, JPMorgan's Marko Kolanovic, Kolanovic, Cathie, Stocks, Goldman Sachs, Gerard Julien, Elon Musk's, Carl Godfrey, Joe Biden, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, George Glover Organizations: Business, Service, Getty Images, Tesla, Getty, EV, Musk's, Intel, Micron Technology, Microsoft, BI America, Amazon, Boeing, Meta, IBM, US Locations: Delaware, Outflows, United States, China, Idaho, New York, London

☆ Dries van Agt, Former Dutch Prime Minister, Dies at 93
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Claire Moses | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Dries van Agt, a Dutch politician and former prime minister of the Netherlands who became a pro-Palestinian activist later in life, died on Feb. 5 in his hometown, Nijmegen. He died “hand in hand” with his wife, Eugenie, also 93, in a joint act of euthanasia, according to The Rights Forum, an organization he founded that is dedicated to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The announcement of the couple’s euthanasia was a surprise to many people who knew Mr. van Agt as well as to Dutch society as a whole, said Gerard Jonkman, the director of the Rights Forum. In 2019, Mr. van Agt had a stroke, which caused him to lose some of his faculties, Mr. Jonkman said. “He was in a bad physical condition toward the end,” he added.

Persons: Eugenie, van Agt, Gerard Jonkman, Jonkman, “, ” Organizations: Rights Locations: Dutch, Netherlands, Nijmegen

☆ Jana brought an aerospace rock star to Mercury Systems. These next steps could help build value
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Business: Mercury Systems is a manufacturer of essential components, products, modules and subsystems. On July 6, Bill Ballhaus, Mercury Systems' interim president and CEO, was also named chairman. Mercury Systems has been a successful manufacturer of small electronic components with many favorable attributes. Further, unlike many peers, it pays for its own R&D, making Mercury Systems more nimble and allowing it to have higher operating margins. In June 2022, Jana and Starboard each won a seat on the company's board: Bill Ballhaus (Jana) and Howard L. Lance (Starboard).

Persons: it's, Jana, Barry Rosenstein, Rosenstein, Scott Ostfeld, Gerard J, DeMuro, Roger A ., Bill Ballhaus, Starboard's 13D, Howard L, Ballhaus, Ozzy Osbourne, Steven Tyler, Ken Squire Organizations: Mercury Systems, U.S, Starboard's, Computer Sciences, 13D Locations: U.S

☆ Drag queens and the long, vibrant history of drag in the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Barbara Alper/Getty ImagesDrag has become increasingly visible in recent years through mainstream shows like “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and popular public events such as drag brunches, drag bingo and drag queen story hours, in which drag performers read children’s books to young audiences, often at libraries. Some trans drag queens who received hormone injections were “strongly deplored by stage impersonators who (said) that the whole point of female impersonation depends on maleness,” Newton wrote. But “Drag Race” has also skewed viewers’ definition of drag – no drag kings have ever competed on the series, Testa noted, and the judges have long imposed somewhat traditional beauty standards upon contestants. Pickle reads from a book during the Drag Queen Story Hour program at a Los Angeles library in 2019. These lawmakers falsely claim that drag performers “groom” or sexualize children, of which there is also no evidence.

☆ What to Watch: The 15 Best New Movies and TV Shows From January
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Wsj Arts In Review Staff | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Here’s a roundup of the month’s most noteworthy movies and TV shows, as covered by The Wall Street Journal’s critics. After eight Chucky movies, three Annabelle flicks, and dozens more killer-doll stories from “The Twilight Zone” to “The Simpsons,” did we really need another one? I’d say yes, because “M3gan” is wittily written and smoothly plotted by Akela Cooper , from a story by her and James Wan , as well as tautly directed by Gerard Johnstone , who hearkens all the way back to Mary Shelley ’s warning. Like Dr. Frankenstein, we’ve created a monster, but there’s no way to kill off tech.

☆ 'M3GAN' is an internet star thanks to her TikTok-esque dance. Director Gerard Johnstone calls the viral reaction 'unbelievable.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Kahlan-Rosenblatt.Jpg | Kalhan Rosenblatt | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Before she ever hit the big screen, M3GAN was a social media icon. The killer android doll is the star of the film "M3GAN," which released nationwide Friday. Models perform the viral dance at a special screening of "M3GAN" in New York on Wednesday. Like other viral phenomena before it, M3GAN’s social media success was a happy accident — something Johnstone didn't see coming. "That’s incredible”He credits some of the film's early praise to social media buzz.

The most chilling moment in Gerard Johnstone’s new horror film, “M3GAN,” comes early. Its wildly popular — and immediately viral — trailer seems to give away the entire story, beat by beat, but what it can’t convey is the picture’s delightfully oddball tone, which is poised at a peculiar juncture of slasher horror and self-aware satire. Gemma, dressed in flannels, so you know she’s an antisocial nerd, has developed M3GAN, short for Model 3 Generative ANdroid. As a character, M3GAN is a marvel of design, combining body actor (Amie Donald), voice (Jenna Davis), animatronics, makeup and special effects. (“Humanity kills every day, just to make its existence more bearable,” M3GAN cackles, presumably after doing some online reading about Apple and Foxconn’s Longhua facility.)

☆ M3GAN Is Already the New Boss of Scary-Doll Movies. Can She Deliver Audiences?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( John Jurgensen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Late one night in New Zealand, while director Gerard Johnstone was typing up plans for a horror movie about a toy android that turns evil, a menacing funk tune came on and triggered a thought: What if the doll could dance? “I wasn’t sure if it was one of those ideas that would seem terrible when I woke up the next morning,” he said. His whim would help make the movie “M3GAN” a viral marketing hit long before its Jan. 6 release.

☆ Brazil's Goldfajn elected to replace ousted IDB president
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said on Sunday its board of governors has elected Brazil's Ilan Goldfajn as president of the financial institution, after Mauricio Claver-Carone, the first American to lead it, was ousted over ethics violations. Headquartered in Washington, the IDB is a key investor in Latin America and the Caribbean, responsible for $23.4 billion in financial commitments in 2021 and hundreds of infrastructure, health and tourism projects. In a statement, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen congratulated Goldfajn and said the United States stands by the IDB as the region's premier development finance institution. "We are counting on President Goldfajn to lead this organization to be an engine of change and progress for our neighbors across Latin America and the Caribbean," Yellen said. Brazil's outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro nominated Goldfajn, the former president of the country's central bank and currently the head of the International Monetary Fund's Western Hemisphere department.

☆ Brazil's Goldfajn elected to replace ousted IDB president, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have elected Brazil's Ilan Goldfajn as president of the financial institution after Mauricio Claver-Carone, the first American to lead it, was ousted over ethics violations, two sources told Reuters. Headquartered in Washington, the IDB is a key investor in Latin America and the Caribbean, responsible for $23.4 billion in financial commitments in 2021 and hundreds of infrastructure, health and tourism projects. The scandalous ouster of Claver-Carone had made it more likely that the next candidate would hail from Latin America, following prior precedent. Brazil's outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro nominated Goldfajn, the former president of the country's central bank and currently the head of the International Monetary Fund's Western Hemisphere department. IDB shareholders have underscored the importance of rebuilding trust in the institution after Claver-Carone's rocky, nearly two-year tenure.

☆ ‘M3GAN,’ the next generation of creepy doll movies, is not playing around
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Dan Heching | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“M3GAN” doesn’t hit theaters until January, but the movie’s quick, zeitgeist-piercing creepiness as seen in the teaser is something to behold. “I was always thinking of her as real,” “M3GAN” director Gerard Johnston told CNN of his approach. Universal PicturesJohnstone set out to make Megan (short for “Model 3 generative android,” Williams explains in the trailer) more than just a creepy inanimate doll. “Because she is a living doll… [‘M3GAN’ is a] cautionary tale about A.I. Like creepy doll movies, stories that explore evil and/or self-aware technology call to mind the troublesome and blurry line where the inanimate object ends, and where something akin to humanity – but somehow different – begins.

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