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☆ Cormac McCarthy, dark genius of American literature, dead at 89
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Rosalba O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The book was made into a movie - as were 2005's "No Country for Old Men" and 2006's Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Road." He granted a rare exception for Oprah Winfrey in 2007, telling her: "I don't think (interviews) are good for your head. In a statement, Nihar Malaviya, CEO of Penguin Random House, said, "Cormac McCarthy changed the course of literature. McCarthy was married three times, divorcing his third wife Jennifer Winkley in 2006. Writing by Rosalba O'Brien; additional reporting by Joseph Ax; editing by Diane Craft and Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Cormac McCarthy, McCarthy, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John McCarthy, Little, Oprah Winfrey, God, Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr, Cormac, Lee Holleman, Anne DeLisle, Faulkner's, Joel, Ethan Coen, Stella Maris, Nihar Malaviya, Jennifer Winkley, Cullen, John, Rosalba O'Brien, Joseph Ax, Diane Craft, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: YORK, Penguin Random, New York Times, Air Force, Thomson Locations: American, Santa Fe , New Mexico, Providence , Rhode Island, Tennessee, America, Europe, Knoxville , Tennessee, El Paso , Texas, Santa Fe, Texas

☆ Former exec at TikTok's parent company says Communist Party members had a 'god credential' that let them access Americans' data
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Zen Soo | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Yintao Yu said Communist Party members accessed data on US users as well as protesters in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a semi-autonomous region in China with its own government. Some American lawmakers have expressed concern that TikTok's ties to ByteDance means the data it holds is subject to Chinese law. It was also available in Hong Kong until TikTok pulled out of the market in 2020 following the imposition of a sweeping national security law. Anyone who tries to open TikTok from within Hong Kong will see a message that reads "We regret to inform you that we have discontinued operating TikTok in Hong Kong."

Persons: Yintao Yu, ByteDance, —, Yu, Charles Jung, Jung, Shou Zi Chew, Chew, TikTok Organizations: Communist Party, ByteDance, San Francisco Superior, British, Hong, Flipagram, Oracle, Chinese Communist Party, Communist Locations: Hong Kong, HONG KONG, U.S, China, Beijing

☆ An explosive new lawsuit claims TikTok's owner built a 'backdoor' the CCP could exploit
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Dan Whateley | Ashley Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

ByteDance allowed a Chinese Communist Party unit to censor content and access data, a new lawsuit alleges. ByteDance built a "backdoor channel" to enable CCP access to US user data, the suit alleges. An explosive new lawsuit claims TikTok owner ByteDance built a "backdoor channel" in its code that allowed Chinese Communist Party members access to user data hosted in the US. Yu is a former engineering lead for ByteDance in the US who worked at the company between 2017 and 2018. The complaint alleges the "Committee continued to have access" to US user data even after ByteDance walled off access for individual engineers in China.

☆ Ex-ByteDance employee claims company stole content from competitors in earlier days
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —An ex-ByteDance employee claimed he was wrongfully terminated after raising concerns about what he believed were illegal practices by the company, such as allegedly stealing content from its competitors Snapchat and Instagram. “The Committee maintained supreme access to all the company data, even data stored in the United States,” the complaint obtained by the New York Times said. Yu claimed that shortly after starting his job, he realized ByteDance had been embroiled in a “worldwide scheme” to steal from the app’s competitors such as Instagram and Snapchat. Painting a picture of the company’s early days in 2018, he claimed ByteDance would take videos from its competitors and use them to populate its own video services. “We plan to vigorously oppose what we believe are baseless claims and allegations in this complaint,” the spokesperson said.

☆ Designing for This Month’s Other Coronation: Queen Charlotte’s
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Callie Holtermann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

How did you tell the story of Queen Charlotte’s character development through her costumes? There was a Met Ball about 10 years ago based on the work of the designer Charles James, who I’m obsessed with. Queen Charlotte’s elaborate wigs, and the depiction of her hair as a Black monarch, have been praised since the first season of “Bridgerton.” Tell me about the decision for young Charlotte to wear her natural hair. The original sketches that we did for Queen Charlotte, before any of the casting process was done, had her with big, natural, curly hair. She had said, “Do you think we can do this?” So she and Shonda spoke and decided to do it.

☆ A researcher said she named a new butterfly species after the 'Lord of the Rings' villain partly because spending 10 years on the study felt like the eye of Sauron looking at her
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two newly-discovered butterfly species were named after Sauron, the "The Lord of the Rings" villain. Tolkien's magical "The Lord of the Rings" universe includes hobbits, elves, wizards, and now, a new genus of butterflies called Saurona after the dark lord Sauron. But in an article from The Washington Post, Huertas drew other connections to "The Lord of the Rings" that suggest there may be additional reasons behind the butterfly's name. "Ten years dealing with this study is a lot of strain looking at me like Sauron," she told the Post. The world needs an "army" of people to "get involved in getting worried about nature," she told the Post.

Prince William honored his father with a few words during Sunday night's concert - the first ever to be staged at Windsor Castle, home to monarchs for almost 1,000 years. Royals dance the night awaySeveral members of the royal family got their groove on throughout the concert. Chris Jackson/Getty ImagesMesmerizing drone displayA fabulous drone display lit up the sky over the coronation concert, earning audible gasps from the crowd below. Crowds watch illuminated drones creating a light display above Windsor Castle. But when Miss Piggy, dressed in a cerise pink evening dress and glittering necklace, recognized “Downton Abbey” star Bonneville she had other things in mind, thinking he was a real lord.

Jeremy Selwyn/WPA Pool/Getty Images Camilla stands next to Queen Elizabeth II during a Diamond Jubilee pageant on the River Thames in June 2012. Chris Jackson/Getty Images From left, Camilla, Charles, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip attend the state opening of Parliament in May 2013. From left are Camilla, Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Louis, Duchess Catherine, Princess Charlotte, Prince George and Prince William. Frank Augstein/WPA Pool/Getty Images In pictures: Britain's Queen Camilla Prev NextShe reportedly met Prince Charles at a polo match in Windsor in 1970 and they became friends. From left are Camilla, Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Louis, Duchess Catherine, Princess Charlotte, Prince George and Prince William.

☆ Asian Americans are anxious about hate crimes. TikTok ban rhetoric isn’t helping
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

And the Chinese government’s authoritarian approach to numerous other issues clashes with important American values, said many Asian Americans interviewed for this article. Concerns about China have gone mainstream as US national security officials and lawmakers have publicly grappled with state-backed ransomware attacks and other hacking attempts. People rallied during a "Stop Asian Hate" march to protest against anti-Asian hate crimes on Foley Square in New York, on April 4, 2021. But to Chu, the incident was an example of the way politics surrounding China, technology and national security have fueled anti-Asian sentiment. “Asian American issues are American issues, and all Americans deserve to be treated with respect.

☆ 22 Unique Valentine’s Gifts for Men Who Have Everything
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +12 min

From the cocktail gadget that will level-up his drinks to the ultimate undershirts, these are presents you can purchase with confidence—no gift receipt required. This edition has a wood cabinet with metal plaques, die-cast metal houses and hotels, gold-foil stamping and money-holding drawers. Buy Side’s favorite automatic cocktail maker works with pre-measured pods and his favorite spirits to dispense cocktails at the push of a button. For more great gadget ideas, check out our roundup of the top gifts for your favorite techie. Even better, the jean material “came ready-to-wear with no awkward break-in period, plus a custom liner.”—Additional reporting by Leslie Yazel

☆ 'Wonders of Wrexham': King Charles meets Hollywood stars at lowly Welsh club
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WREXHAM, Wales, Dec 9 (Reuters) - King Charles toured the grounds of the lowly Welsh soccer club Wrexham owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney on Friday, talking to the Hollywood actors about their dream of steering the team to sporting glory. Wrexham are currently second in the league and fighting for promotion. Charles and his wife Camilla were in Wrexham to celebrate its new status as a city and to hear about the redevelopment of the club. "A little earlier today, I had the opportunity to see one of the other wonders of Wrexham, namely the football club, which is busy putting Wrexham on the map as never before," Charles told dignitaries later in the day. Reporting by Farouq Suleiman; Editing by Kate Holton and Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fired startup CEO says he was tarnished as the 'LSD CEO' for accusing investors of anti-Asian bias, and now he's suing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Iterable's former CEO Justin Zhu said he was removed due to racial bias, not his use of LSD in 2019. "The 'LSD CEO' label is deliberate, but it's a wrong characterization," Zhu told Insider. "While Andrew is half Asian American, I don't think his experiences — better, worse and similar — change what I went through," Zhu told Insider. One particularly tense encounter with investors took place in June 2020, Zhu told Insider, during an unusual meeting in person during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zhu's attorney, Charles Jung, told Insider that the goal of the lawsuit was to shed light on legal protections that allow workers to report their experiences of bias.

☆ Georgia voters have their final say in the 2022 midterms, rejecting misinformation and the state of modern politics: 'There are just too many crazy people out there'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

While some pointed to their civic duty and a dislike of the GOP for voting, others cited trust. "We just can't have it where people can just spill out false information," an Atlanta-area voter told Insider. Another voter, Dani, who declined to giver her last name, decried the state of negative advertisement in modern politics. "There's no way that Herschel Walker should represent any city, state, country, you name it," he told Insider. At Druid Hills High School in suburban DeKalb County, Jim Perkins told Insider that there were "too many crazy people" in politics and he had to cast a ballot because of it.

☆ Fact Check-As of Oct. 20, no suspected or confirmed cases of Ebola in the U.S., officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Chicago Public Health Department (CPHD) told Reuters that as of Oct. 20 “no suspected, probable, or confirmed cases of Ebola” had been reported in Chicago, contrary to claims online. Bert Kelly, a spokesperson for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also told Reuters that “there are no suspected Ebola cases in the U.S.” as of Oct. 20. Health authorities in Uganda confirmed an outbreak of the Sudan strain of Ebola on Sept. 20 (here). The Chicago Public Health Department told Reuters no “suspected, probable, or confirmed cases of Ebola” had been reported in Chicago as of Oct. 20. The U.S. CDC similarly said no suspected Ebola cases in the U.S. had been reported as of that date.

☆ 13 Unique Gifts for Men Who Have Everything
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-05 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +8 min

From the cocktail gadget that will level-up his drinks to the ultimate undershirts, these are presents you can purchase with confidence—no gift receipt required. While both the V-neck and crew come in black, white and gray, she prefers the beige shade because it doesn’t show under a white shirt. For utilitarian typesLike the little black dress of menswear, this casual blazer made of knit cotton will take him from the office to date night. “Top Chef” finalist and Washington, D.C.-based chef and restaurateur Spike Mendelsohn is a fan of the contraption. Even better, the jean material “came ready-to-wear with no awkward break-in period, plus a custom liner.”

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