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☆ Analysis: Tony Bennett sang in a key that Jason Aldean’s song can’t reach
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

White jazz artists were antiracists before the term was inventedMany of the tributes to Bennett mentioned his disdain for bigotry. Many White jazz artists were antiracists, long before the word was invented. Frank Sinatra, Bennett’s musical mentor, recorded with and relentlessly championed Black jazz artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. He hired a Black jazz bassist, Eugene Wright, and refused to play in segregated venues. There are countless photos of a beaming Bennett hanging out with Black jazz artists.

Persons: Tony Bennett, Ed Sullivan’s, Bennett, ”, Duke Ellington, “, ’ ” Bennett, there’s, Jason Aldean, Aldean, Dick Gregory, Coretta Scott King, Rick Diamond, Bennett —, ” Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Bennett’s, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Dave Brubeck, Eugene Wright, Benny Goodman, Jim Crow, Ellington, Louis Armstrong, don’t, It’s, that’s, Lionel Hampton, Goodman, Michael Ochs, Amy Winehouse, Winehouse, fidgety, “ We’ll, “ You’re, ” Winehouse, Lady Gaga, John Mayer, Elvis Costello, Bennett’s unflappability, Bennett wasn’t, Brubeck, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Bill Evans, Mark Allan, Greg Thomas, ” Thomas, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, Willie Nelson, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lil Nas, Wynton Marsalis, Bennett –, Anthony Dominick Benedetto, –, Thomas, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Toronto Star, MLK, Atlanta Civic Center, US Army, Carnegie Hall, Michael Ochs Archives, Jazz, Studios Locations: New York, Tennessee, America, Atlanta, Nazi, African, British, Turkey, Japan, London, Aldean, American, Europe, United States

☆ A Biden Peace Deal Between Saudi Arabia and Israel? - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Thomas L. Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Help may be on the way from talks between the United States and Saudi Arabia. When I interviewed President Biden in the Oval Office last week, my column focused on his urging Netanyahu not to ram through the judicial overhaul without even a semblance of national consensus. The president is wrestling with whether to pursue the possibility of a U.S.-Saudi mutual security pact that would involve Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel, provided that Israel make concessions to the Palestinians that would preserve the possibility of a two-state solution. Closing such a multinational deal would be time-consuming, difficult and complex, even if Biden decides to take it to the next level right away. But the exploratory talks are moving ahead now — faster than I thought — and they’re important for two reasons.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Biden, Netanyahu, that’s, Jake Sullivan, Antony Blinken, Brett McGurk, Sullivan, McGurk, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, — Organizations: White House Locations: United States, Saudi Arabia, U.S, Saudi, Israel

☆ Unseen photos taken by Paul McCartney show Beatlemania
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Sarah Mills | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, July 5, (Reuters) - Personal and previously unseen photographs taken by musician Paul McCartney as 'Beatlemania' was soaring in the 1960s have gone on display at The National Portrait Gallery in London. "They document this period in which they went from sort of Beatlemania in Britain through to global fame - through... their first ever visit to America," exhibition curator Rosie Broadley said. There are over 250 photographs from McCartney's archive on display, which even his team hadn't seen for decades. "A lot of (the photographs are) very intimate and personal....which is why it's called 'The Eyes of the Storm,'" Broadley said. With photographs taken in London, Paris and across America, the exhibition is on until October 2023.

Persons: Paul McCartney, McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Rosie Broadley, Broadley, show's George Harrison, Ed Sullivan, George, it's, Sarah Mills Organizations: Beatles, McCartney, Storm, Thomson Locations: London, America, Miami, New York, Britain, Washington, Paris

☆ Opinion | The Many Minds Behind Biden’s Biggest Economic Idea
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Gina Raimondo, as secretary of commerce, is responsible for several of the Biden administration’s biggest swings at industrial policy, so it’s little surprise that she’s on board. I’ve assembled quotes from a variety of administration officials to give a sense of the diversity of thinking on worker-centric industrial policy. I’m giving the most space to Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, because his April 27 speech at the Brookings Institution was rightly seen as supplying intellectual scaffolding for Biden’s agenda. “Protecting our foundational technologies with a small yard and high fence.” The small yard means protecting only technologies that are truly matters of national security. He quoted Biden as saying that the two nations can and should cooperate on climate, macroeconomic stability, health security and food security.

Persons: Biden, Janet Yellen, ” She’s, Katherine Tai, Gina Raimondo, I’ve, Jake Sullivan, Sullivan, ”, What’s, ” Tai Organizations: Treasury, Biden, Brookings Institution, National Press Locations: U.S, United States, China, ”

☆ Overlooked No More: Lou Sullivan, Author and Transgender Activist
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Megan Milks | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

He also published his first article, “A Transvestite Answers a Feminist,” in the group’s newsletter — a kind of coming out. Sullivan moved to San Francisco in 1975 with his longtime partner, a cisgender man who encouraged Sullivan’s gay identity but did not see himself as gay. Sullivan’s first few years in San Francisco were difficult: He found the L.G.B.T.Q. community much larger and more diffuse than Milwaukee’s, and his relationship was collapsing amid tensions around his desire to medically transition. Walker came to rely on Sullivan’s knowledge and often sent clients to him for peer counseling.

Persons: Milwaukee’s, ”, Sullivan, Sullivan’s, “, Steve Dain, Paul Walker, Walker Organizations: Milwaukee’s Gay People’s Union, Stanford, Dysphoria Clinic, Institute for, Janus Information Locations: San Francisco

May 9 (Reuters) - Indicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has renewed his attacks on the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange’s law firm as he mounts his defense against a raft of fraud, money laundering and campaign finance charges. Bankman-Fried late Monday asked a judge to designate FTX’s current leadership and the exchange’s attorneys at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell as part of the “prosecution team” in the criminal case against him. FTX and Sullivan & Cromwell provided such extensive cooperation to the government that prosecutors had “effectively deputized the company to aid the prosecution,” Bankman-Fried argued. Sullivan & Cromwell, a prominent Wall Street law firm with about 900 lawyers, represented FTX on transactions and regulatory matters before its collapse last year. In Monday’s filing, Bankman-Fried’s defense team said Ray and FTX’s bankruptcy lawyers have acted as “public mouthpieces” for the prosecution and have turned over “cherry-picked” information incriminating Bankman-Fried.

The court in a 6-3 decision authored by liberal Justice Elena Kagan decided that because the rig supervisor, Michael Hewitt, was paid a daily rate of $963 and not a salary, an overtime pay exemption in federal wage law for highly paid workers did not apply to him. Circuit Court of Appeals that Helix must face Hewitt's 2017 lawsuit seeking overtime pay. A ruling favoring Hewitt would require companies to pay overtime premiums and invite a flood of lawsuits from highly paid workers, the groups added. That coupled with his management duties made him exempt from overtime pay, Kavanaugh said. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch in a separate dissent said Helix's appeal should have been dismissed for procedural reasons.

Former top FTX attorney Daniel Friedberg also opposed Sullivan & Cromwell's hiring, saying Thursday that the law firm had conflicts of interest stemming from its connections to Miller. Sullivan & Cromwell has told the court it should not be disqualified simply because it performed some pre-bankruptcy work for FTX. A Sullivan & Cromwell spokesperson has said the firm had a "limited and largely transactional" relationship with FTX prior to the bankruptcy and never served as primary outside counsel to any FTX entity. Serving as primary bankruptcy counsel to FTX would likely allow Sullivan & Cromwell to reap hundreds of millions of dollars in fees, legal experts have said. FTX has sought bankruptcy court permission to pay top Sullivan & Cromwell attorneys more than $2,000 per hour.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried says he sometimes worked at the offices of the lawyers now investigating FTX after criticism of their past links
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Law firm Sullivan & Cromwell has been criticized for its involvement in FTX's bankruptcy having worked with the crypto exchange before. In a Substack Thursday, however, Sam Bankman-Fried said he sometimes worked out of the firm's New York offices. He added that he believes FTX customers could have been reimbursed if it didn't file for bankruptcy. Andrew Dietderich, of Sullivan & Cromwell, told the court that line of credit was used to fund political donations and lavish purchases. Sullivan & Cromwell did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, sent outside normal working hours.

[1/2] The logo of FTX is seen at the entrance of the FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, U.S., November 12, 2022. FTX declared bankruptcy on Nov. 11, collapsing amid a wave of customer withdrawals. New York-based law firm Sullivan & Cromwell is representing FTX in its Chapter 11 case and guiding its efforts to return assets to customers. Court-approved billing rates for bankruptcy attorneys did not cross the $2,000-per-hour mark until earlier this year, when a U.S. bankruptcy judge approved a $2,035-per-hour fee in the bankruptcy of cosmetics giant Revlon. Before FTX's bankruptcy, Sullivan & Cromwell represented the company in U.S. regulatory inquiries and on potential acquisitions, including its proposed acquisition of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital.

☆ Miami Beach hotel that hosted JFK, Beatles imploded
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — A once-luxurious Miami Beach hotel that hosted the Beatles and President John F. Kennedy during its 1960s heyday was imploded Sunday after falling into disrepair and abandonment in recent years. The Beatles performed there in 1964, recording six songs for “The Ed Sullivan Show,” drawing an estimated television audience of 70 million people. The Beatles at the Deauville Hotel where they performed for the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Miami Beach officials and the family that owned the hotel sparred over millions of dollars in fines for various code violations. City officials say Ross may still be interested in purchasing the lot if an alternate plan can be worked out.

☆ Suspicious packages, white powdery substances, and a 'swatting': Inside the threats federal judges are facing across the country
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

The US Marshals Service has been responding to a remarkable rise in threats against federal judges. At least three times this year, the federal court in Washington, DC, received suspicious packages. Arriving just months apart, the packages sent to DC's federal courthouse served as reminders of threats judges are increasingly facing across the country. Lawmakers have blamed Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, for blocking legislation to help protect federal judges. Greg Nash/AP ImagesCongressional solutionsCongress has approved additional funding for bolstering the security of federal judges.

☆ I was a writer on 'The Office' but ended up selling shirts at Macy's. Landing another TV writing job after the hit show was shockingly hard — and my race absolutely had something to do with it.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Eboni Boykin-Patterson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

After a successful run on the show, he couldn't land another writers room job for over two years. It was my first TV writing job. A few years later, I got my first job on "The Office" through NBC's diversity program. Ryan Koh started working again fairly quickly as well. It was a race thing, for sureLooking back, I think that part of why I couldn't get another TV writing job after "The Office" was because the writers rooms were smaller.

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