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☆ Opinion: What ‘Unfrosted’ reveals about my growing unease about Jerry Seinfeld
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Gene | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

I love “Seinfeld.” As for the actual comedian Jerry Seinfeld, however it’s…complicated. In most of his activities outside his eponymous classic sitcom (1989-1998), Seinfeld bemuses more than amuses me. This ambivalence only obliquely affects my opinion of “Unfrosted,” Seinfeld’s recently-released feature-length Netflix comedy. Still, I’ve always had the disquieting sense of Seinfeld somehow always Getting Away With Something when he pulls off this suave, impeccably creased act. Seinfeld isn’t about unsettling his viewers and I’m in no way suggesting he should be.

Persons: Gene Seymour, —, Seinfeld, Jerry, George, Elaine, Kramer, Gene Seymour Jeremy Freeman, “, Jerry Seinfeld, he’s, I’d, ” Seinfeld’s, Barbie ”, ”, Seinfeld’s, Tony, Tiger, Hugh Grant, Thurl Ravenscroft, Andy Daly, Variety’s Owen Gleiberman, Unfrosted ”, Kyle Dunnigan’s Walter Cronkite, Bill Burr’s, Grant, Melissa McCarthy, James Marsden, Amy Schumer, Christian Slater, Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Larry David, David, don’t, that’s, I’ve, John Mulaney, snags, ” Seinfeld, he’d Organizations: The New York Times, Newsday, Entertainment, The Washington, CNN, Quaker Oats, Bill Burr’s JFK, Seinfeld, Netflix, Twitter Locations: Israel

☆ Hunter Biden demands that Fox News remove ‘intimate’ images from its platforms
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Holmes Lybrand | Dana Bash | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hunter Biden’s legal team has undertaken an aggressive legal and public relations strategy for several months. His lawyers have fired off letters demanding investigations into Hunter Biden’s opponents and filed a series of lawsuits against his detractors. Hunter Biden’s lawyers say they “anticipate” suing Fox but have not yet done so. This stepped-up strategy by Hunter Biden to defend himself against the onslaught of attacks initially stoked anxiety among some of President Biden’s political advisers. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to those criminal charges.

Persons: CNN — Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s, Hunter Biden, “, Biden, Hunter Biden’s, Hunter, ”, Biden’s, Fox, ” Hunter, Alexander Smirnov, Fox News “, Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, Jesse Watters “, don’t Organizations: CNN, Fox, Fox News, FOX Corp, FOX, FBI, Republican Locations: Delaware, California

☆ How Bob Iger vanquished a corporate raider in Disney’s most consequential boardroom battle in decades
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But over the last several months, the Disney chief made significant moves that took the wind out of those sails. Regardless, the course of action taken by Iger had the same effect, pouring cold water on Peltz’s public grievances. On streaming strategy: Iger moved to take full control of Hulu in a major deal with Comcast. Last week, Disney merged the service into Disney+, putting both libraries into a single app in a move once considered unthinkable. Disney investors overwhelmingly moved to elect Disney’s slate of directors, rejecting Peltz and former company exec Jay Rasulo.

Persons: Bob Iger, Nelson Peltz, shoring, Peltz, “, Iger, ” Iger, Ron DeSantis, ”, Bob Chapek, Morgan Stanley, James Gorman, Jay Rasulo, ” Trian, It’s Organizations: New York CNN, Disney, ESPN, Florida Gov, Hulu, Comcast, CNBC, Google, Partners, Company, Dow Jones Industrial Locations: New York, Magic, —, refocusing

☆ Judge denies Trump’s motion to delay NY hush money trial until Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Lauren Del Valle | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s upcoming New York criminal trial denied his motion to delay its start until after the US Supreme Court rules on Trump’s presidential immunity claim. Judge Juan Merchan denied the motion Wednesday calling it untimely and noting Trump’s lawyers had months to file a motion over the issue. “This Court finds that Defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024,” the order says. “The Court declines to consider whether the doctrine of presidential immunity precludes the introduction of evidence of purported official presidential acts in criminal proceeding,” the order says. When Trump filed the motion on March 7, the trial was still set to begin on March 25.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Judge Juan Merchan, “, Defendant, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Merchan Organizations: CNN, US Locations: New York

☆ Opinion: America isn’t cool anymore. Just ask the French
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Opinion Euny Hong | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

I asked her excitedly in French, “What do you think about the abortion rights thing?”“C’est fou, hein?” she said. She continued, “Trump, he wants to reverse abortion rights. Unbelievable.”“Oh!” I said, “I meant about how France is writing abortion rights into the Constitution.”“Oh that?” she said, less excitedly. On the other hand, French women were allowed to open their own checking accounts in 1965 — horrific until you realize that their American counterparts were not granted that right until 1974. But compared to today’s America, France looks like the version of a feminist utopia that could only be dreamed of by Greta Gerwig’s Barbie universe.

Persons: Roe, Wade, Laurence Rossignol, Le Monde, Rossignol, fou, hein, ”, “ Trump, “, Alexis De Tocqueville, America “, Barack Obama, George Floyd, Derek Chauvin, —, Congrès, I’ve, ” Claude Malhuret, she’d, Gabriel Attal, Greta Gerwig’s Organizations: CNN, CNN — America, US, Democracy, Communist, Minnesota, American, Equality, Fraternity Locations: Paris, America, France, French, Spain, Communist China, Versailles

☆ Trump Seeks to Dismiss Classified Documents Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Alan Feuer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Lawyers for former President Donald J. Trump launched a flurry of attacks on Thursday night against the federal charges accusing him of illegally holding on to classified documents after he left office, filing more than 70 pages of court papers seeking to have the case thrown out. In four separate motions to dismiss the case, Mr. Trump’s lawyers made a barrage of legal arguments in seeking to circumvent a criminal case that many legal experts consider the most ironclad of the four against him. Some of the arguments tested the boundaries of credulity and flew in the face of prior court rulings. Many appeared designed to delay the case from moving toward trial, a strategy that Mr. Trump has pursued in all of the criminal proceedings he is facing. In one of their most brazen motions, Mr. Trump’s lawyers claimed that he was immune from prosecution on the classified documents charges even though a federal appeals court roundly rejected that argument this month when he sought to use it in a separate case, in which he stands accused of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.

Persons: Donald J, Trump Locations: credulity

☆ Trader Joe's appeals dismissal of lawsuit claiming labor union violated trademark
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The appeal, filed Thursday, comes nearly a month after the judge accused Trader Joe's of trying to "weaponize the legal system to gain an advantage in an ongoing labor dispute" against the Trader Joe's United union. Trader Joe's, a lawyer for the company, and a spokeswoman for Trader Joe's United did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the company's filing at the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Trader Joe's Union logo pictured on pins. "Trader Joe's maintains that this is a purely commercial dispute and that the Union's designs are causing consumer confusion and diluting the Trader Joe's family of trademarks," Vera wrote. The Trader Joe's Union Logo Trader Joe's

Persons: Joe Raedle, Joe's, Trader Joe's, Hernan Vera, Vera, Norris Organizations: Getty, Trader Joe's United, Trader, 9th Circuit U.S, Appeals, tote, National Labor Relations Board, LaGuardia, Union Locations: Hadley , Massachusetts, Minneapolis, Los Angeles

A handful of centuries-old sponges from deep in the Caribbean are causing some scientists to think human-caused climate change began sooner and has heated the world more than they thought. Other scientists were skeptical of the study's claim that the world has warmed that much more than thought. He said this study also supports the theory that climate change is accelerating, proposed last year by former NASA top scientist James Hansen. Carbon dioxide and other gases from the burning of fossil fuels are what causes climate change, scientists have established. “They are cathedrals of history, of human history, recording carbon dioxide in the the atmosphere, temperature of the water and pH of the water,” Winter said.

Persons: Malcolm McCulloch, ”, ” McCulloch, “, —, Amos Winter, James Hansen, Natalie Mahowald, McCulloch, Winter, Michael Mann, credulity, ” Mann, El, La Nina, Michael Oppenheimer, ” ___ Teresa de Miguel, ___ Read, Seth Borenstein Organizations: University of Western, Associated Press, Indiana State University, NASA, Cornell University, United Nations, University of Pennsylvania, Caribbean, El Nino, La, Princeton University Locations: Caribbean, University of Western Australia, Mexico City, AP.org

☆ Opinion | Don’t Turn Away From the Charges of Genocide Against Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Megan K. Stack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

With the question of whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza now before the International Court of Justice, the Biden administration has struck a tone of glib dismissal. “Meritless” seems to be the agreed-upon term among U.S. officials. “The charge of genocide is meritless,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken intoned from a podium in Tel Aviv this week. “Meritless, counterproductive, and without any basis in fact whatsoever,” blustered the National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. Top Israeli political and military leaders have themselves helped to bolster the case against their government.

Persons: Biden, “ Meritless, Antony Blinken intoned, ”, John Kirby, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, —, “ Organizations: International Court of Justice, National Security, Gaza Locations: Israel, Gaza, ”, Tel Aviv, South Africa

☆ Claudine Gay speaks out about her Harvard exit with 'words of warning' about her loudest critics
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-03 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Claudine Gay has spoken out about her reluctant exit from Harvard in a message that appeared to call out critics like Bill Ackman. While Gay does not name those opportunists, one of the most outspoken voices calling for her resignation was billionaire investor Bill Ackman. "In her short tenure as President, Claudine Gay has done more damage to the reputation of Harvard University than any individual in our nearly 500-year history," Ackman wrote in one letter. Gay also addressed the plagiarism accusations, admitting that there was duplicative language in some of her academic writings and "promptly requested corrections" from the journals that published her work. "I have never misrepresented my research findings, nor have I ever claimed credit for the research of others.

Persons: Claudine Gay, Bill Ackman, Gay, Ackman Organizations: Harvard, The New York Times, Harvard University, Associated Press

☆ Elon Musk, the world’s richest man remains, desperate for attention
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Elon Musk desperately wants to be liked, despite his pronouncement Wednesday that he doesn’t mind being hated. The sentiment is, like so much of Musk’s public persona, a lie designed to keep the public’s focus squarely on him. Watching the interview, even online, you can feel the awkward energy of that moment — cringeworthy for some, but seemingly invigorating for Musk. On Wednesday, Musk sought to shrug off his most recent anti-Jewish post as a “foolish” mistake that got misinterpreted by the media. Musk clearly has “a fairly straightforward case of internet brain rot,” as the Atlantic writer Charlie Warzel put it in a Threads post.

Persons: New York CNN — Elon Musk, “, ”, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Musk, Rich Guy, White, —, shrug, Charlie Warzel Organizations: New, New York CNN, New York Times DealBook, New York Times, Whites Locations: New York, California, Eastern Europe, Israel, Atlantic

☆ Ruzwana Bashir Is Quietly Connecting the Tech World
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

Story by Melia RussellPhotography by Lelanie FosterRuzwana Bashir is ransacking her kitchen cabinet for just the right tea. Bashir wears an Erdem floral-printed bra top, Erdem skirt, Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, Old Jewelry earrings along with her own bracelet and ring. "Part of building a business was going out and sharing what you were doing with the world," Bashir says. For years Bashir's startup had been building muscle around these capabilities; now it had an eager audience. Eating at acclaimed restaurants is fine, but Bashir prefers the more-intimate affairs at tech executives' homes because, she says, "you can stay longer."

Persons: Melia Russell, Lelanie Foster Ruzwana Bashir, Peek, She's, she's, Andy Warhol, Picasso, Bashir, I'm, Andreessen Horowitz, Jack Dorsey, Eric Schmidt, Goldman Sachs, Giuseppe Zanotti, Lelanie Foster, Bashir isn't, Elon Musk, Ronan Farrow, Roelof Botha, Mustafa Suleyman, we've, Bennett Miller, Capote, " Miller, —, doesn't, didn't, Madeleine Albright, Tom Ford, Jared Cohen, Oskar Bruening, Forbes, Mark Zuckerberg, I've, Bashir wasn't, Travis Kalanick, Adam Neumann, Ty, Emily Weiss, Bashir refashioned, Donald Trump, Bruening, Laurence Tosi's, Miller, Beyoncé, shrugs, Anna Wintour, Anna, we're, Taylor Swift, Katie Haun, Marc Benioff, Reid Hoffman, Marissa Mayer, Dick Costolo —, Cohen, Katherine Maher, Maher, Daniel Kahneman, It's, Radel, Becky Akinyode, Elaine Winter, Tiffany Bloomfield, Dela, Chad Hilliard, Enmi, Kenny Aquiles Ulloa, Cyrenae, Madison Perez, Aidan Lapp, Bashira Webb, Bryan Erickson, Jinyoung Chang, Rodriguez, Rebecca Zisser, Claire Landsbaum, Emma LeGault, Joi, Marie McKenzie, Conner Blake, Kyle Desiderio, Victoria Gracie, Nicole Forero, Virginia Alves Organizations: Google, Museum of, Business, Elon, Vogue, Roelof, Oxford University, Oxford Union, Blackstone Group, Harvard Business School, Studios, Web, Young, Organization, Dela Revoluciøn, Enmi Yang Digital Tech Locations: Manhattan, SoHo, Bahamas, United States, Balthazar, England, Israel, Petra, Istanbul, Elle, Utah, COVID, Salt Lake City, Costa Rica, Atlanta, WestCap

☆ How Whitney Wolfe Herd's fateful deal with a Russian mogul deprived early Bumble employees of a stock windfall when she became a billionaire
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Ben Bergman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

I'm fucking done," she told a reporter at Time, who described Wolfe Herd as "blinking back tears" during the interview. "My hands are tied," Wolfe Herd told the audience, according to several people who were in the room. Wolfe Herd once called him her biggest mentor, saying, "He's become my family and one of my best friends." Some early employees said they only found out about the shadow-equity program, and who received it, years later. Based on the current share price, Wolfe Herd is no longer a billionaire, though her fortune still sits at an estimated $627 million.

Persons: Whitney Wolfe Herd, Andrey Andreev, Wolfe Herd, Bumble, Whitney Wolfe, Wolfe, Bumble wasn't, Charley Gallay, I've, Robbie McKay, McKay, Jerod Harris, Sarah Mick, Bumble's, That's, Mick, Justin Mateen, Tinder, Antoine Antoniol, Andreev, What's, He's, —, Jody Thelander, Alexandra Williamson, Samantha Fulgham, Chelsea Maclin, Caroline Ellis Roche, Michael Herd, they'd, Taylor, they're, Vivien Killilea, didn't, Charles Elson, Elson, Blackstone, Forbes, Ben Bergman Organizations: Worldwide Vision, Nasdaq, Carlton, Getty, Fortune, Andreev's, TechCrunch, Southwest, telltale, Founders, Chelsea, Austin, Ritz, Mailchimp, Intuit, University of Delaware, Twitter Locations: Russian, Austin, Los Angeles , California, Bumble, Northern California, Deer Valley , Utah, Punta Mita , Mexico, Tinder, London, Bermuda, WVL, San Francisco, Texas, Positano, Italy, Bay, Atlanta, MagicLab, Badoo, bbergman@insider.com

☆ Inside the courtroom as Donald Trump is forced to take the stand, is fined and then storms out
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Jeremy Herb | Lauren Del Valle | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Engoron asked Trump if he would like to be on the witness stand. Trump didn’t hesitate, pushing back his seat at the defense table instantly to stand and walk into the witness box. Once Trump was on the stand, Engoron put on his lawyer hat and launched into a calm interrogation of the former president, reading back what Trump had told reporters outside the courtroom only hours earlier. “You and Cohen,” Trump said. “We won this trial,” Trump said before leaving the hallway.

Persons: Arthur Engoron, Donald Trump, –, Engoron, Donald J, Trump, ” Trump, Michael Cohen, Trump’s, “, ” Engoron, Cohen, ”, Chuck Schumer, Cohen “, fining, Honig, couldn’t, Alina Habba, ” Habba, “ I’ve, Cliff Robert, Habba, Robert, would’ve, ” CNN’s Sabrina Souza Organizations: New, New York CNN, Trump, White House, CNN, New York Democrat, fining Trump Locations: New York, York, Trump, trier

☆ Trump Files More Motions to Derail Federal Jan. 6 Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Alan Feuer | More About Alan Feuer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Lawyers for former President Donald J. Trump fired off a barrage of new attacks on Monday night against the federal charges accusing him of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election, filing nearly 100 pages of court papers seeking to have the case thrown out before it reaches a jury. In four separate motions to dismiss — or limit the scope of — the case, Mr. Trump’s legal team made an array of arguments on legal and constitutional grounds, some of which strained the boundaries of credulity. The lawyers claimed, largely citing news articles, that President Biden had pressured the Justice Department to pursue a “nakedly political” selective prosecution of Mr. Trump. They asserted that prosecutors in the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith, had failed to prove any of the three conspiracy counts brought against the former president. And they argued that under the principle of double jeopardy, Mr. Trump could not be tried on the election interference charges since he had already been acquitted by the Senate on many of the same accusations during his second impeachment.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden, Jack Smith Organizations: Justice Department Locations: credulity

☆ Kenneth Chesebro, architect of fake electors plot, pleads not guilty in Georgia election case
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Attorney Kenneth Chesebro, the architect of the Trump campaign’s fake electors plot in 2020, pleaded not guilty Friday in the Georgia election subversion case, according to a court filing. Chesebro is facing seven criminal charges, including a violation of Georgia’s RICO act and conspiracy to commit forgery. In a court filing Friday, Chesebro’s attorney said he already gave Willis a hard drive for the evidence. The filing went on to say, “The State has publicly trumpeted that it is ready to go to trial immediately. Some defendants are attempting to move the case into federal court.

Persons: Kenneth Chesebro, Chesebro, Fani Willis, Chesebro’s, Willis, ”, Scott Grubman, Donald Trump Organizations: CNN, Trump, State Locations: Georgia, Fulton County, ” Fulton

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

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

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

☆ Analysis: Donald Trump's legal drama grows by the day
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —Donald Trump’s already daunting legal predicament gets grimmer by the day as new details emerge of the depths to which he was prepared to stoop to reverse his defeat in the 2020 election. And as the former president’s legal team juggles court dates in different cities this week, their task in defending Trump is getting ever more complex. The stampede of developments around Trump’s cases is providing only a hint of the political and legal collision that is likely to unfold next year. But data from Trump’s account could potentially provide information about which phone – and potentially person – posted tweets to the account. Twitter data might also show any direct messages sent to or from Trump’s account.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Trump, Fani Willis, Jack Smith’s, Carlos De Oliveira, Walt Nauta, Biden, Craig Robertson, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Stormy Daniels, Bragg, George Soros, Robertson, ”, General Merrick Garland, Willis –, –, Willis, Gov, Geoff Duncan, ” Duncan, CNN’s Erin Burnett, Georgia Biden, Brad Raffensperger, CNN’s Sara Murray, Elie Honig, Smith, “, Renato Mariotti, Jake Tapper, Trump ‘, ’ ” Trump, Joe Biden’s DOJ, ” Trump Organizations: CNN, Trump, Twitter, New York Times, FBI, Democratic, Manhattan, Attorney, Republican Locations: Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, Washington, Mar, Florida, Trump’s, Utah, Fulton, Coffee County , Georgia

☆ Stunning new Trump charges up the stakes of an already existential 2024 election
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Remarkable new charges against Donald Trump and two associates in the classified documents case Thursday significantly deepened the ex-president’s legal plight and dragged the 2024 election further into an unprecedented legal quagmire. “It’s a stunning development,” said former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who is now a CNN legal and national security analyst. Trump responds with a new political assaultThe ex-president, whose legal strategy has become enmeshed with his campaign strategy, poured fuel on the political fire. The sudden new dimension in the classified documents case will have profound political and legal dimensions. The Florida governor was asked about the possibility of a third indictment of Trump, in reference to the 2020 election interference case.

Persons: Donald Trump, quagmire, Jack Smith, Trump, Honig, “, ”, Andrew McCabe, –, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Kaitlan Collins, Richard Nixon, Biden, Hunter, they’ll, Walt Nauta, Carlos De Oliveira, Iowa Republican Party’s Lincoln, Ron DeSantis, We’ve, ” DeSantis, it’s Organizations: CNN, White, FBI, Trump, Justice Department, Fox News Digital, Republican, GOP, Iowa Republican, Biden White House, Congressional, Republicans Locations: Lago, Manhattan, Georgia, Des Moines, Iowa, Florida, Ukraine, China

Blinken told reporters that he had sent a letter to every member of the Senate urging swift confirmation of dozens of nominees for State Department positions. The nominations are being held back by Republican Senator Rand Paul while he seeks information from the administration on the origins of COVID-19. The department said it currently has 62 nominees outstanding with the Senate, including 38 ambassadorial nominees. Separately, nominations for more than 250 positions in the U.S. military are also being delayed by a single Republican - Senator Tommy Tuberville. Most nominations are approved by Senate committees, and eventually reviewed by the full Senate, which is controlled by Biden's fellow Democrats.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Joe Biden's, Blinken, Rand Paul, Paul, Tommy Tuberville, Tuberville, Patricia Zengerle, Simon Lewis, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: State Department, Republican, Senate, Defense Department, Thomson Locations: U.S

☆ Europeans Are Capable of Defending Themselves Against Russia - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Rajan Menon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

The contention that the wealthy, technologically advanced European nations cannot join forces to acquire enough military power to deter or defeat Russia strains credulity. But Russia has been unable to transform its massive advantage in troops and arms into anything resembling victory. Compare Europe and Russia on any metric typically used for gauging power, and Europe proves vastly superior. That means the European Union, even without Britain, has an economy more than seven times as large as Russia’s. The mixed record of some top-shelf Russian equipment used in Ukraine’s battlefields bears this out.

Persons: —, Russia’s Organizations: Kyiv School of Economics, United Nations, Press, NATO, Ukrainian Army, European Union Locations: Russia, Finland, Sweden, United States, Europe, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Kyiv, European, Japan, South Korea

☆ Republicans question BlackRock fund governance, revisiting old concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Ross Kerber | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 7 (Reuters) - A group of 15 Republican state attorneys general have questioned whether directors of BlackRock mutual funds are sufficiently independent of the world's largest asset manager. The letter was addressed to ten individuals listed in a BlackRock filing as nominees to a board that oversees BlackRock closed-end mutual funds. Among other things, they said BlackRock fund trustees who serve as directors of companies where BlackRock owns more than 5% of shares could lead to independence concerns. They also cite how BlackRock fund directors are responsible for dozens of funds - exceeding BlackRock's own "overboarding" guideline for public company boards. Critics have raised similar issues in the past about whether well-paid mutual fund directors are positioned to speak up.

Persons: Austin Knudsen, Ross Kerber, Diane Craft Organizations: Republican, Reuters, Montana Attorney, BlackRock, AGs, Thomson Locations: Montana, BlackRock

☆ JPMorgan fails Jeffrey Epstein stress test
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Jeffrey Goldfarb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

At least, that’s the impression left by Jamie Dimon’s answers to recent questioning in relation to Jeffrey Epstein, the dead sex-trafficker who was a JPMorgan (JPM.N) client for 15 years. Taken altogether, the case is a sign that the bank is simply too big for one person to manage. Epstein was a JPMorgan client from 1998 until 2013. Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Litigation related to Epstein is still pending between the U.S. Virgin Islands and JPMorgan, as are claims by JPMorgan against its former head of investment banking, Jes Staley.

Persons: Jamie Dimon’s, Jeffrey Epstein, ” Dimon, “, Dimon, Epstein, Stephen Cutler, JPMorgan’s, Jes Staley, Mary Erdoes, Staley, fraudster Bernard Madoff, Cleave, Wells, Morgan Stanley, Jeffrey Epstein’s, John Foley, Streisand Neto Organizations: YORK, Reuters, JPMorgan, U.S, Securities, Exchange Commission, Department of Justice, Federal Reserve, Reuters Graphics, London Whale, Citigroup, U.S ., U.S . Virgin Islands, Thomson Locations: Wall, U.S, U.S . Virgin, Manhattan

☆ Opinion: The dubious MLK Jr. quote about Malcolm X
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Opinion Peniel E. Joseph | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, long a contentious backdrop to the history of civil rights and anti-racist activism in America, is under new scrutiny after the bombshell news that a quote denigrating Malcolm X, published in Playboy and attributed to King, is apparently fraudulent. This new information adds to the ongoing rethinking of the relationship between King and Malcolm X. Of course, this is not to suggest that we stop teaching “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” since all memoir and autobiography is an act of literary creation. The complexity of his relationship to Malcolm X is handled judiciously. Balancing the bitter and beautiful parts of the relationship between King and Malcolm X helps us come to terms with past and contemporary historical traumas.

☆ DeSantis signs law to cover up records of his travel and visitors ahead of anticipated 2024 presidential run
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

DeSantis signed a bill into law that will hide his travel records from public view. DeSantis signed the bill into law unceremoniously on Thursday afternoon, among more than 35 other bills. The security argument was nonsensical to Ben Wilcox, research director and co-founder of the good government organization Integrity Florida, given that the new law will apply to past travel records. "It strains credulity to suggest that hiding travel records could somehow prevent a security breach in the future," Wilcox told Insider. Another elections related bill is headed for DeSantis that will allow him to maintain his seat as governor while running for president.

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