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☆ A former personal assistant to an Oscar-winning actress says the job comes with plenty of perks — but you have to set boundaries
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Mark Ellwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Bonnie Low-Kramen was the personal assistant to the actor Olympia Dukakis for 25 years. She shared with Insider how she made the leap into PA work, what it's like to work for a celebrity day-to-day, and how she pivoted into entrepreneurship. Good timing got her a role working alongside a starLow-Kramen with Olympia Dukakis and Dukakis' husband, the actor Louis Zorich. Prescription and dry-cleaning pickups are a constant request, Low-Kramen said, and it can cause unexpected issues. Today, Low-Kramen said, a starting salary for a celebrity PA on call 24/7 can typically hit the low six figures.

☆ Banks will pump H2O to top of climate agenda
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Antony Currie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

That’s when the United Nations’ first water confab in almost five decades starts in New York. Achieving that globally requires spending $1 trillion a year on the sustainable provision of drinking water and sanitation, and preparing for floods, scarcity and pollution, per the World Resources Institute. And 90% of climate change’s effects manifest through water, as recent floods and scarcity demonstrate. Knowing when to turn off the funding tap is important, too, just as many banks won’t back Arctic drilling or new coal mines. With some financial groups distancing themselves from umbrella climate change bodies, it’s a challenging time to make this case.

☆ Crime, Guns, Race, Bad Cops: 11 Law Enforcement Officers Discuss - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Adrian J. Rivera | Patrick Healy | Mr. Healy Is The Deputy Opinion Editor. Mr. Rivera Is An Editorial Assistant In Opinion. | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In our latest group, with 11 police officers and other members of law enforcement from around the country, one assumption we had at the start was that some or all of them would see crime as the most important issue in the country. Time and again, the conversation kept coming back to the humanity of those affected by crime, including, in some cases, the cops. Several told their own stories about being victims of violent crime growing up or early in their careers and how it shaped them. For anyone who has dealt with a police officer who seemed robotic, uncaring, unyielding, that image is not how many cops are, they said. They wanted people to understand that cops are human, are imperfect, have feelings and want to get home to their families.

☆ Final farewell: From Sidney Poitier to Pope Emeritus Benedict a look back at the influential figures who died in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +55 min

Other world leaders who died in 2022 include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in August. The final days of 2022 saw the loss of some exceptionally notable figures, including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2022 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___Dan Reeves, 77. A Cuban-born artist whose radiant color palette and geometric paintings were overlooked for decades before the art world took notice. A prolific character actor best known for playing villains and tough guys in “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and other films.

☆ The Oath Keepers promised to defend liberty — and ended up trying to overthrow American democracy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Oath Keepers were founded in 2009, pledging to stand up to tyranny. The Oath Keepers, to be sure, are not to be confused with a charming but a little bit problematic ex. A look at the list of 10 orders the Oath Keepers insisted its members — cops and soldiers — would not carry out reveals as much. Thanks to the magic of the Internet Archive, however, we can see just how they were received on the Oath Keepers' website at the time. But there is, in my take, nothing different about the underlying threat that Oath Keepers posed from day one."

☆ The 'world's coolest dictator' rounded up 60,000 people in a supposed crackdown on MS-13. A shrimp farming community is fighting back.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Danielle Mackey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

SISIGUAYO, EL SALVADOR — On the morning that Walber Rodriguez was arrested last May, he was just two minutes from his home in Sisiguayo, El Salvador. Outside El Salvador, Bukele is best known for adopting Bitcoin as a national currency. All around them in Sisiguayo and the surrounding Bajo Lempa valley, people were arrested with no satisfactory explanation. Residents of the Bajo Lempa who'd been touched by the arrests had begun meeting weekly at a nearby retreat center. A meeting of the Bajo Lempa families on June 17, 2022.

☆ The 'world's coolest dictator' rounded up 60,000 people in a crackdown on MS-13. A shrimp farming community is fighting back.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Danielle Mackey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

George Washington de Oliveira Sousa was arrested on Saturday, the day after police said they foiled his plot to set off an explosive device near the Brasilia airport. A 54-year-old gas station manager from the northern state of Para, Sousa told police that Bolsonaro's sowing of election doubts inspired his Dec. 12 journey to the capital. He added that he planned to share his weapons with other CAC-holders in the Brasilia camp. After the Dec. 12 attack, he said police and firemen near the camp told him they would not arrest any protesters for vandalism, as long as they did not attack cops. That same day, Sousa saw on the news that police had found the bomb near the airport.

☆ Central Park gate honors wrongly imprisoned ‘Exonerated 5’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

They arrived in the chill of a late fall morning, some singing hymns, to dedicate a park entry to the men once known as the Central Park Five, but now remembered as the Exonerated Five. Master drummer Baba Don Babatunde, left, and civil rights activist Queen Mother Moore, right, lead a spiritual moment, during the Central Park gate-naming ceremony on Dec. 19, 2022, in New York. Raymond Santana Jr., left, one of five men exonerated, during a naming ceremony for the northeast gateway of Central Park, Monday. Bebeto Matthews / APSoon after, the convictions of the Central Park Five were thrown out in 2002 after the men served six to 13 years in prison. Other entrances to the park have been labeled to reflect groups of people who live and work in the city, with names like Artisans’ Gate, Scholars’ Gate and Strangers’ Gate.

☆ F1 drivers barred from political statements unless approved
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Formula One drivers will need prior written permission from the sport's governing body to make 'political statements' from next season following an update of the International Sporting Code. Drivers who make such statements will now be in breach of the rules unless the FIA has granted previous approval in writing. Mercedes' seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, and now-retired four-times champion Sebastian Vettel, have been among those making political statements at races in recent seasons. This year he wore a shirt proclaiming 'Stop Mining Tar Sands' and 'Canada's Climate Crime' at the Canadian Grand Prix. An FIA spokesman said the update was "in alignment with the political neutrality of sport" as enshrined in the International Olympic Committee code of ethics.

☆ 'It never feels like you're out of poverty': comedian Moses Storm mines his trauma for laughs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Most recently, he debuted in his own comedy special on HBO Max, "Trash White," produced by his childhood icon, Conan O'Brien. They're coming in with their own anger and their own life. I don't think there's a topic in comedy that's off limits because it's too sad. AN: What is it hard to pitch a comedy special about poverty? MS: If you go in like, 'I'm going to do a hilarious comedy special about the economic and generational poverty in this country,' people are like, 'Boooo.'

☆ Hate Elon Musk all you want, but he's got one management trick that every boss should emulate
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Ed Zitron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Managers have become alarmingly distanced from the average worker, making calls based on guesses that aren't informed by actual labor. Musk has demanded that managers are able to create "good code" yet does not appear to be much of a coder himself. Jackson Palmer, a cocreator of dogecoin, said Musk was a "grifter" who "had trouble running basic code" in their interactions. He's targeted critical teams at Twitter and pushed others to quit, which have resulted in a huge upswing in hate speech on the platform. In fact, by his own logic of how managers can contribute to the company, Musk should be summarily firing himself any day now.

☆ Gun-loving Bolsonaristas challenge Lula's pledge to disarm Brazil
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Gabriel Stargardter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

The president-elect has pledged to "disarm" an increasingly gun-toting country where personal firearms have become a symbol of Bolsonaro's conservative base. Reuters interviewed eight other people working on, or advising, Lula's transition team on bolstering gun controls once he takes office on Jan. 1. The priority will be to reimpose civilian prohibitions on certain high-caliber weapons, including the rifle used by Jefferson, the sources said. The political context is a sharp departure from Lula's 2003-2010 presidency, when he passed sweeping gun laws to combat violent crime. Last week, they charged him with four counts of attempted murder, resisting arrest, and weapons charges.

A female police officer in Chicago says a supervisor forced her to perform oral sex on him inside a car. A female officer in Philadelphia says a sergeant grabbed her hand and placed it on the crotch of his pants. And a female officer in New York says one of her superiors hacked into her Snapchat account and showed off her intimate photos to a male commander. “How can you be in charge of male and female officers with the record that you have?”Marchese didn’t respond to requests for comment. Of the 87 NYPD officers accused in court papers of abusing female officers, 27 have since moved up in rank, according to an NBC News review.

☆ Trump has just a handful of vocal 2024 supporters in Congress. We asked them why they back him over Ron DeSantis and others.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Trump has just a handful of open supporters of his 2024 presidential bid in Congress. We asked some of them why Trump was preferable to DeSantis, who's been heralded as a savvier alternative. DeSantis, who's increasingly caught the former president's ire amid speculation that the popular governor could mount his own 2024 campaign, is viewed as a savvier, less problematic alternative to the twice-impeached former president. I think DeSantis will run, I think Trump will run, I think you'll have two or three of my friends here in the Senate will run," he added. "DeSantis hasn't announced he's running," said Greene, who's offered praise for his performance as Florida governor.

☆ ISIS 'matchmaker' called 'one of the most influential English-speaking terrorists of our time' on trial in NYC
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

ISIS 'Jamaican cleric' Shaikh Abdullah Faisal is on trial for terror in state court in Manhattan. The defense counters that Faisal's hate speeches and matchmaking for ISIS brides don't equal terror. Instead, he gave impassioned speeches in London and beyond about violent jihad, and played matchmaker for would-be ISIS brides. "Focus on the substance of this case," not all the "noise" about ISIS and terror, defense lawyer Alex Grosshtern told jurors. "The defendant in effect was ISIS before ISIS," which didn't declare a worldwide state, or "caliphate," until 2014, Galperin told jurors.

☆ Florida's attorney general says Americans from blue states are moving to the Sunshine State because it's tough on crime: 'It's not rocket science'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Isabella Zavarise | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Florida AG Ashley Moody says Americans are moving to Florida because it's a law and order state. Americans have flocked to the Sunshine State largely due to its low taxes, and business-friendly policies, according to the state's CFO, Jimmy Patronis. Using data from the FBI's 2018 Uniform Crime Reporting Program, USA Today ranked states from lowest violent crime rate to highest. Florida ranked 21st with a violent crime rate of 384.9 per 100,000 people, while California — the most populous state — ranked 14th with a violent crime rate of 447.4 per 100,000 people, according to the news outlet. New York was 25th on the list with a violent crime rate of 350.5 per 100,000 people.

☆ BBC journalist ‘beaten and kicked by the police’ as protests spread across China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Jennifer Deaton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN Business —Edward Lawrence, a journalist at the BBC, was arrested by police in Shanghai at the scene of protests on Sunday night, according to the BBC and as captured on what appears to be mobile phone footage of the arrest. The BBC statement reads in full: “The BBC is extremely concerned about the treatment of our journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai. During his arrest, he was beaten and kicked by the police. “China always welcomes foreign journalists to report in the country in accordance with the law and has provided lots of assistance,” Zhao said. At least two clips of the arrest were posted online by a Twitter user who says they witnessed the scene.

☆ ‘Fascism Comes to America’ Review: It’s Always Happening Here
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( D.G. Hart | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Popcorn doesn’t come with books published by respected university presses, but in the case of Bruce Kuklick’s “Fascism Comes to America,” maybe it should. Mr. Kuklick, a professor emeritus of history at Penn and an accomplished historian of ideas, turns his skills to Hollywood’s treatment of fascism. “Yet fascism has remained alive in Americanimaginations long after its eclipse in 1945.” Movies reveal popular sentiments in ways policy analysis does not. Hollywood’s use of farce to portray fascism illustrates a problem at the heart of this book. Another was “Red Heat” (1988), with Arnold Schwarzenegger (Soviet) and Jim Belushi (American) as “buddy-cops” catching a Georgian drug kingpin.

Michael Anderson, a bartender at Club Q, recalled that he heard "a few popping sounds" and initially assumed someone inside the club might have been clapping. In the dark of the club, Anderson saw "a silhouette of a person" clutching a long gun and heard one loud pop after another. "I don't know who stopped him," Anderson told NBC News, "but I'm grateful, because they most certainly saved my life last night." He has processed this much, Loveall said: "You don't need to take lives or cause pain and suffering to people that you don't know, you don't understand. "It's that adrenaline of, 'I can’t think, and I don’t know what to do.'

☆ Chris Christie says potential GOP challengers are acting like Trump is 'Voldemort': 'You're going to run against him? Say his name'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump's would-be rival, Chris Christie, says GOP challengers are failing the "leadership test." This is because they treat Trump like "Voldemort," Christie said, and don't name him while calling him out. This week, he also urged the GOP to "stop being afraid" of Trump, amid growing speculation that he will run against Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Meanwhile, Christie told the Washington Examiner he will decide in five to six months if he will run for president. A one-time Trump ally turned critic, Christie accused Trump of withholding a positive coronavirus test result and transmitting the virus to him.

☆ Jan. 6 rioter who filmed Pelosi laptop theft jailed after jury convicts her on 6 counts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Ryan J. Reilly | Daniel Barnes | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Williams was found guilty on six counts, but the jury deadlocked on two others, including whether she aided and abetted the theft of a laptop in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She also pushed up against cops and tried to organize other rioters inside the Capitol rotunda. But they deadlocked on obstruction of an official proceeding — a charge which would have carried the lengthiest potential sentence — and the charge of aiding and abetting the theft of Pelosi's laptop. Williams, who showed little emotion when the jury returned its verdict, was clearly upset by Jackson's decision to lock her up. About 900 people have been arrested in connection with the U.S. Capitol attack, with hundreds more arrests in the works.

“For these defendants, the attack on the Capitol was a means to an end,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Rakoczy told jurors. Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP fileBright told jurors there was not evidence of a "meeting of the minds" on seditious conspiracy. “We’ve had 50 witnesses in this case, not one person has testified to you there was a plan,” Bright said. Oath Keepers were upset about the results of the 2020 election, but them venting their frustrations to each other doesn’t constitute a conspiracy, Bright argued. Rhodes told you in his own words he was prepared to start a rebellion the day that president Biden took office,” Rakoczy said, referring back to Rhodes’ testimony in his own defense.

☆ "Stand and deliver," UN chief tells faltering COP27 climate summit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( William James | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Negotiators at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt must overcome a "breakdown in trust" between rich and poor nations to deliver a deal to save the world from the worst of global warming, U.N. chief Antonio Guterres said on Thursday. "The world is watching and has a simple message: stand and deliver." His speech was intended to rally negotiators that have become stuck on issues from whether a fund should be established to compensate poor nations for climate damage already ocurring, to language around fossil fuels use. "No one can deny the scale of loss and damage we see around the globe," he said. He also urged developed countries to deliver on a past pledge to provide $100 billion per year to help poor nations adapt to climate change and switch to clean energy.

☆ Talks at COP27 enter final stretch — but draft deal slammed for paving the way to ‘climate hell’
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Around 35,000 delegates from nearly 200 countries are expected to convene in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss collective action to tackle the climate emergency. Ahmad Gharabli | Afp | Getty ImagesAs talks at the COP27 climate summit enter the final stretch, government ministers and negotiators from nearly 200 countries are scrambling to build consensus on an array of issues critical to tackling the climate emergency. The U.N. climate agency on Thursday published a 20-page first draft of a hoped-for final agreement. It is highly likely to be reworked in the coming days as climate envoys in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh strive to reach an overarching deal before Friday's deadline. Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during the COP27 climate conference in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

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