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☆ Affirmative Action in Contracting Faces Legal Peril
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Judge Glock | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Wonder Land: Democrats said decades ago they alone would run policies for black Americans. Now comes the reckoning. Images: AP/Getty Images Composite: Mark KellyIn Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the Supreme Court held that “racial balancing” was “patently unconstitutional,” and that affirmative action has to have a “logical end point.” There’s been a lot of commentary about how that will apply to employment law but less about another program of racial discrimination: favoritism to racial minorities in government contracts.

Persons: Mark Kelly, ” There’s Organizations: Harvard

☆ Delays and Cancellations: Know Your Rights
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Christine Chung | More About Christine Chung | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It can help to know what airlines your carrier partners with, in case you need to be rebooked on another airline. This information isn’t always readily available online; experts suggest calling an airline’s customer service for more guidance. Go deeper than the dashboardThe Transportation Department’s airline cancellation and delay dashboard is a helpful resource that spells out what 10 of the larger domestic airlines offer passengers. Customer-service plans for specific airlines (located on their websites, and with links from the D.O.T. If a room is not available at the airline’s hotel, and you must find another accommodation, United will reimburse you for “reasonable hotel costs.” There’s nothing on the United customer-service site indicating that food receipts or taxi receipts will be reimbursed.

Organizations: Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines, United

☆ Opinion | The Church of Group Fitness
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Jessica Grose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Some talked about clubs that formed organically in their neighborhoods or towns, like that Colorado hiking group. But they found community — and more — in CrossFit, a group class that involves a variety of high-intensity exercises and weight lifting. CrossFit also has parallels with some religious organizations in terms of the potential to alienate people who disagree with conservative-aligned beliefs. Petrzela described an unsavory side of group fitness involving entitled star instructors and the businesses that profit from them. Still, there are many positives to glean from group fitness.

Persons: Jeffrey Johnson, Louis, ” Johnson, ” Casper ter Kuile, ”, Johnson, CrossFitters, There’s, CrossFit, Greg Glassman, George Floyd, Covid, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Petrzela, Ter Kuile, Angie Thurston Organizations: Harvard Divinity School Locations: Colorado, Illinois, St, Haiti, CrossFit

☆ Analysis: How Michael Flynn went down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

When you have General Flynn and Sidney Powell suggesting somehow the military should indeed seize voting machines. As we say in the podcast, Trump called him publicly at a recent conference in May, where he vowed to bring back Mike Flynn again, implying that Flynn would be part of his national security team. WOLF: Do you have any insight into how this kind of conspiracy theory fever afflicts a person? Why does it happen to Michael Flynn and not retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who I learned from your podcast was a mentor to Flynn in Afghanistan? From intelligence work to conspiracy theoriesWOLF: You talk in the podcast about encountering Flynn in his previous line of work – somebody involved in the intelligence community.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Michael Flynn, Patrick Byrne, Giuliani, Powell, Flynn, Byrne, Jack Smith, Peter Bergen, ”, who’s, Smith, WOLF, “, ” He’s, President Trump, Mike Flynn, It’s, Covid, Stanley McChrystal, Richard, Hofstadter, ” There’s, that’s, You’ve, they’re, Vladimir, Putin, That’s, Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Locher, Osama bin Laden Organizations: CNN, … Prosecutors, Trump, Twitter, New, Apple, Spotify, White, Defense Intelligence Agency, World Economic, Army, State Department, Republican, New America, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Black Panthers, Puerto Locations: New America, Bergen, BERGEN, Washington ,, United States, America, Davos, Switzerland, Afghanistan, Russian, Ukraine, Bedford , New Hampshire, New York, Miami, Puerto Rican

☆ In Business, ‘Flat’ Structures Rarely Work. Is There a Solution?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But do flat structures work? Clifford Oswick, a professor of organization theory at Bayes, pointed out “inherent risks” of discrimination in companies with extremely flat structures. The companies may reflect the same biases as society, without safeguards to avoid them. He pointed to Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, her health care technology start-up. In a 2015 interview, Ms. Holmes said that Theranos was “a very flat organization and if I have learned anything, we are only as good as the worst people on our team.”

Persons: André Spicer, ” there’s, aren’t, Andrew Rae, Jeri Ellsworth, ”, Ellsworth, Clifford Oswick, Oswick, “ you’ve, Mr, Spicer, Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos, Holmes Organizations: Bayes, School, Valve, People Make Locations: London, ‌

☆ How a Mentor to At-Risk Young Men Spends His Sundays
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Tammy Lagorce | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Before Toddrick Brockington got his job at the Henry Street Settlement, a nonprofit that supports Lower East Side residents, he served 26 years in prison for homicide. Sometimes I lay there; sometimes I stand in the window and look out and try to orient myself for the day. That’s a peaceful time for me, because it’s like I’m the only one up and I have the world to myself. I’m in the process of reading “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell for the third time. When I went to prison, I didn’t have a G.E.D., so I obtained my G.E.D.

Persons: Toddrick Brockington, ”, Brockington, Malcolm Gladwell, Henry, James Allen Organizations: Henry, Henry Street, La Guardia, Reading Locations: Lower, Side, West, Bronx, La

☆ John Early Brings a Deliriously Over-the-Top Sensibility to Stand-Up
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Jason Zinoman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The key to his persona, I think, can be found in the joke he tells about the always-be-selling vanity of his generation, presenting himself as its avatar. “I don’t know how to do my taxes, but I do know how to be a badass.” Then he clarifies, “A shell of a badass.”That’s the role Early plays here. “If we’re honest,” he says, “Donald Trump is not a sensual person.” It’s the way he says “If we’re honest” that cracks me up. The grainy film stock and chunky red font of this special remind me of a Tarantino movie. In one revealing nostalgic riff, Early yearns for the days of Bob Fosse, when louche choreographers were on talk shows and dance could be “kinky and mysterious.”

Persons: ”, “, Trump, “ Donald Trump, Apple, There’s, Bob Fosse

☆ In the Age of Trump, It’s Hard to Be Humble - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Nicholas Kristof | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +15 min

OK, now wait, listen, when I hear the words “housing policy,” I tend to sort of doze off. And I’m talking, like, the most regressive, meaning, Texas, which is the conservative bastion of anti-taxes, is more progressive than Washington State, liberal Washington State. So over here in Illinois, which is the quintessential liberal state, there’s this one county that contains the city of Chicago. Blue states are the places where tens of thousands of homeless people are living on the streets. Blue states are the places where economic inequality is increasing most quickly in this country.

Persons: I’ve, they’ll, there’s, Binya Appelbaum, He’s, There’s, it’s, ” “, Binya, ”, “, they’re, Don’t, — you’ve, Let’s, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, It’s, you’re, don’t, We’re Organizations: Republican, Times, Democratic Party, Republican Party, House Democrats, City Council, Palo Alto, Washington State, Democratic, Republicans Locations: U.S, America, California, San Diego County, Palo Alto, Calif, San Francisco, Palo, Washington State, Texas, Washington, Nevada, Illinois, Chicago, Cook County, Connecticut

☆ Murder in a Moneyed Fire Island Enclave
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Sarah Lyall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Rosenblum snaps back to the beginning of the summer, where she lays out her rogues’ gallery of gossips, hypocrites, cheaters. “As the summer went on, the women’s fillers and injectables wore off,” she writes. (Except for the part about the possible murder.) With so many objectionable characters, it’s anybody’s guess who will end up dead before the summer is over. And there are enigmatic ancient writings and rituals that speak to the nature of God and existence itself.

Persons: Rosenblum, She’s, ”, “, Danielle Trussoni’s, Mike Brink, ” There’s, — Organizations: Labor Locations: Saltaire

☆ A Small Town’s Tragedy, Distorted by Trump’s Megaphone
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Charles Homans | Ken Bensinger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In phone calls, Mr. Brandt and Mr. Ellingson both made a reference to some sort of political dispute. In his 911 call after he hit Mr. Ellingson, Mr. Brandt said the teenager had said “something about some Republican extremist group,” but he did not claim Mr. Ellingson was a member. Mr. Brandt told the dispatcher he believed the teen was “calling other guys to come get me.” There’s no evidence Mr. Ellingson did so. In the 911 call, Mr. Brandt described trying to leave in a panic only to be blocked by Mr. Ellingson. At one point he said he knew his running over Mr. Ellingson had been “more than” an accident.

☆ Opinion | Dooce and Other ‘Mommy Blogs’ Deserve Credit for Shaping the Internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Jessica Grose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In the past few months, several internet giants have fallen. BuzzFeed News folded. Vice is headed for bankruptcy. And with the recent publication of Ben Smith’s “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral,” there’s been a resurgence of chatter about Gawker Media, which went kaput in 2016. (I worked at Jezebel, which was under the Gawker Media umbrella, from 2007 to 2008.)

☆ Opinion | Here’s How Wall Street Is Preparing for a U.S. Debt Default
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I asked her how confident she was in the contingency plan for a default that’s been developed by the Treasury Market Practices Group (more on that later). Damage is already being done, she said, pointing to the spike in interest rates on Treasury securities that mature around the time the Treasury is expected to run out of ways to delay hitting the debt ceiling. You try to prepare because you want to create the least disruption to the market.”SIFMA has written a playbook for what do in case of a disruption in Treasury payments. Two occur the evening before that date, at 6:45 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. The next three occur on the day that payments were scheduled to occur, at 7:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

☆ Things to do in Nagoya, Japan
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( John Walton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

In the years since, the city has proven the opposite is true, according to Nagoya residents Lena Yamaguchi and Elisabeth Lloris. Ruben Earth/Getty ImagesIf you’ve traveled by Shinkansen bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka, you’ve passed through Nagoya, and might even remember the skyscraper district around its central railway station. Just 45 minutes from Nagoya Station on the private (non-JR) Meitetsu railway, the area between Inuyama station and its castle has been sympathetically restored in recent years. Back in Nagoya, a few kilometers east of Nagoya Castle you’ll find the Tokugawa Art Museum, one of Japan’s finest private museums, which holds several National Treasures of Japan thanks to its connection with the Tokugawa clan dynasty. If cars are your thing, then the Toyota Automobile Museum, about 45 minutes east of Nagoya Station, features some 140 historical vehicles.

☆ How Do We Ensure an A.I. Future That Allows for Human Thriving?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +16 min

Some of us would like to slow this down because we are seeing more costs every day, but I don’t think that means that there are no benefits. We may someday have a technology that revolutionizes science and technology, but I don’t think GPT-5 is the ticket for that. Combine that human overattribution with the reality that these systems don’t know what they’re talking about and are error-prone, and you have a problem. I don’t think we should go after an individual who posts a silly story on Facebook that wasn’t true. I don’t think, however, that the technology we have right now is very good for that — systems that can’t even reliably do math problems.

☆ In This Satire, Televised Blood Baths Offer Prisoners a Path to Freedom
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Giri Nathan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

What all these fighters seek is freedom, a word that appears capitalized throughout the book, like a term of art or faith. It comes in two types: Low Freedom (death, however it might find them) and High Freedom (pardon, commutation or clemency after three years survived on the circuit). If you recoil at that unholy fusion, that’s kind of the point; and the author keeps pulling off this shock, page after page. Adjei-Brenyah has a fine intuition, an almost spatial sense for what we need to see and what we don’t. His names are crisp, like Sunset Harkless (a man) and Spinifer Black (a spear), and his compact euphemisms a gift.

☆ Spooked dealmakers scurry back into their foxholes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Jeffrey Goldfarb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Jonathan Kanter, a lawyer by training, has become something of a magician. Pay closer attention, however, and Kanter is methodically rewriting a decades-old regulatory playbook. Last year, these breakup charges reached their highest level in a decade, at an average 4.5% of deal prices. The Department of Agriculture partnered with the DOJ on the case, another feature of Kanter’s plan of attack. As legal weaknesses emerge, dealmakers should be in position to better structure transactions and defend themselves at trial.

☆ Warren Buffett’s greatest hits lose their verve
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - After writing bangers for decades, it makes sense to keep playing them over and over. Warren Buffett mostly trotted out his greatest hits over the weekend in his latest annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) shareholders. It’s a testament to Buffett’s proven ability to ride out economic storms, even though the $670 billion company’s size makes it ever harder to outperform the market. Buffett’s missive accompanying the financial results was among his shortest, at fewer than 3,500 words, in nearly 60 years of writing them. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Alejandro Jodorowsky’s ‘Dune’ Was Never Made, but With A.I., We Get a Glimpse of His ‘Tron’ - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Frank Pavich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

I was recently shown some frames from a film that I had never heard of: Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1976 version of “Tron.” The sets were incredible. However, Mr. Jodorowsky, the visionary Chilean filmmaker, never tried to make “Tron.” I’m not even sure he knows what “Tron” is. caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption Generation Text prompt The A.I. caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption Generation Text prompt The A.I. If A.I.s were eligible for the Academy Awards, I’d vote for “Jodorowsky’s Tron” for best A.I.

In TV, the top 10 list ranges from the indefinable second season of “The White Lotus” to laugh-out-loud comedies and smoldering fantasy shows. “Catch the Fair One” is available on Hulu and various video-on-demand platforms. “Paris, 13th District” is available on Amazon Prime Video and various video-on-demand platforms. “Peter Von Kant” is available on various video-on-demand platforms. “Tár” is available on various video-on-demand platforms.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried Becomes an ESG Truth-Teller
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Crypto dark knight Sam Bankman -Fried may have deceived investors, customers and various journalists and politicians. But now the FTX founder is at least telling the truth about a few things. Lo, he says that environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is a fraud, and so was his progressive public posturing. Mr. Bankman-Fried on Wednesday tweeted a rambling account attempting to explain how he managed to lose billions of dollars in FTX customer funds. As a result, “we got overconfident and careless.” There’s an understatement for the digital ages.

But after his 19% margin win on Tuesday over Democrat Charlie Crist, DeSantis may in fact be the Republican Party’s savior. Somebody needs to deliver the GOP from Trump, and from that victory margin to his polling ahead of the former president, signs point to DeSantis as The One. The cheeky right-aligned New York Post on Wednesday ran a “DeFuture” cover of the DeSantis family (“Young GOP star DeSantis romps to victory in Florida”). Trump versus DeSantis is a fight between two men with messiah complexes who want us to believe each is the leader America needs. Could DeSantis win a national election?

☆ Their children went viral. Now they wish they could wipe them from the internet.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Morgan Sung | Morgan Sung Is A Trends Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +15 min

Kodye Elyse, a cosmetic tattoo artist, said she "really wasn’t on social media" before then so she barely had any followers. As social media usership increases — especially on video platforms like TikTok — the potential viewership of each video is limitless. Some allege that being so prominently featured on their parents’ social media accounts negatively impacted them. It’s taken a toll on their mental health and shaped how they navigate their own social media presence. They also use their account to advocate for better protections for children online.

☆ Bono Is Still Trying to Figure Out U2 and Himself
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +28 min

Mamadi Doumbouya for The New York Times Talk Bono Is Still Trying to Figure Out U2 and HimselfThere are different Bonos to different people, including the man himself. You say, “But you’re U2 — you don’t need that.” What’s interesting is that we want that. But I also wrote the book to try to figure out what was going on with U2. They sound like U2 songs. Do they sound like U2 songs?

☆ 'Don't Worry Darling' review: Florence Pugh isn't enough to redeem Olivia Wilde's tabloid-friendly second movie
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Florence Pugh makes the strongest case for seeing the film, but given how in-demand she is, if you miss this one, don’t worry. (The film is being released by Warner Bros., like CNN, a unit of Warner Bros. By that measure “Don’t Worry Darling” feels more like a modest setback than a major disappointment, but ultimately, it’s hard to call this project as a victory. “Don’t Worry Darling” premieres in US theaters on September 23. It’s rated R. The film is distributed by Warner Bros. Studios, which like CNN is part of Warner Bros.

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