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☆ Barbie and Ken, one of the hottest couples of the summer, were actually named after a brother and sister
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Ruth Handler's children resented the dolls named after them and didn't buy any for their own children. The plastic dolls were actually named after a sister and brother – the children of Mattel cofounder and Barbie creator Ruth Handler. Almost immediately after Barbie hit toy shop shelves in 1959, Mattel started receiving "hundreds of letters from little girls begging us to make a boyfriend for Barbie," Handler wrote. "If people did find out, she'd tell them in no uncertain terms that she was not the Barbie doll." Barbara, meanwhile, said: "I'm tired of being Barbie doll."

Persons: Barbie, Ken, Ruth Handler's, —, Greta Gerwig's, –, Ruth Handler, Frederic Neema, Handler, Babs, Barbara, Barbara Millicent Roberts, Ruth, Jens, Ulrich Koch, Stache, Cyrus McCrimmon, Lobel, Blaine, Mel Melcon, Mattel Barbara, Barbie Ken, Iris Schneider, Elliott Handler, Bettmann, Barbara Handler, Handler's, Barbies . Bork, bimbo, Timm Schamberger, hadn't Organizations: Service, Mattel, Getty, Los Angeles Times, Hulton, Valentine's, Express, DDP, Getty Images, Denver, Fair Locations: Europe, AFP, Nuremberg, Germany

☆ Chinese authorities slap comedy firm with $2 mln fine after military joke
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Casey Hall | Thomson Reuters | Casey Has Reported On China'S Consumer Culture Her Base In Shanghai For More Than A Decade | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The incident has strongly divided the Chinese public over what sort of jokes are inappropriate as performances such as stand-up comedy become increasingly popular and also highlighted the limits of appropriate content in China where authorities say it must promote core socialist values. In response to the fine, Xiaoguo Culture blamed the incident on "major loopholes in management" and said it had terminated Li's contract. Reuters could not immediately reach Li for comment and Weibo appears to have banned him from posting to his account there. Founded in Shanghai in 2015, Xiaoguo Culture's popularity has grown in sync with China's embrace of stand-up comedy and had known for raising the profile of hundreds of local comedians. (This story has been refiled to add a dropped word in the headline and fix a typo in paragraph 1)($1 = 6.9121 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Michael PerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Can the UK afford to host Ukraine’s Eurovision? It can’t afford not to
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

watch nowThe U.K. will host the 67th Eurovision Song Contest on May 13. What is the Eurovision Song Contest? The U.K. is hosting the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023, as the war remains ongoing in Ukraine, 2022's winners. For one, the competition can be a great advert for the host city — and country — which can endure well after the party is over. Electro-pop duo Tvorchi is representing Ukraine in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.

☆ Ron DeSantis is banning Chinese citizens from buying land in Florida, accusing China of taking up swathes of farmland: 'We don't want the CCP in the Sunshine State'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ron DeSantis has signed a new bill banning Chinese citizens from buying land in Florida. DeSantis cited concerns that Chinese investors have been buying up too much farmland in the state. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law on Monday that bans most Chinese citizens from purchasing land in his state. The new bill, SB 246, prevents Chinese nationals from buying land in Florida unless they are also American citizens or permanent residents. Investors from Canada own the most US land out of any foreign country, holding 12.8 million acres worth around $11.6 billion, per the department's 2021 report.

The last two times U.S. corn exports were lower than the 2022-23 expectations were 2019-20 (36.1 million tonnes or 1.78 billion bushels) and 2012-13 (16.5 million tonnes or 730 million bushels). CHINA BOWING OUTOn Thursday, USDA confirmed the week's second cancellation of U.S. corn sales to China, bringing the total to 560,000 tonnes (22 million bushels). As of April 20, China had 8.6 million tonnes of U.S. corn on the books for 2022-23 delivery, and 3.7 million still awaited shipment. Outstanding corn sales to China are comprised mostly of new purchases since March, implying those are among the ones now being cancelled. China only began accepting Brazilian corn shipments at the end of last year, though Japan frequently imports several million tonnes.

March 27 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's brain implant company Neuralink has approached one of the biggest U.S. neurosurgery centers as a potential clinical trials partner as it prepares to test its devices on humans once regulators allow for it, according to six people familiar with the matter. Barrow has helped standardize brain implant surgeries in which the patient can remain asleep, a key step in making it more acceptable to a broad set of the population, Ponce said. This is in line with Musk's vision for Neuralink's brain chip. The billionaire CEO of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and majority owner of Twitter has said Neuralink's brain implants will become as ubiquitous as Lasik eye surgery. Neuralink's implant is a brain computer interface (BCI) device, which uses electrodes that penetrate the brain or sit on its surface to provide direct communication to computers.

☆ The 'Harvard diet' may be the standard for living a long and healthy life—here's what to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Renée Onque | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

You've definitely heard of the Mediterranean diet and the MyPlate method , but what about Harvard University's Healthy Eating Plate ? The Harvard diet is actually Harvard's Healthy Eating Plate, and it can be used as a guide for "creating healthy, balanced meals," according to "The Nutrition Source," a section of Harvard's site that provides nutritional information. Add in whole grains (1/4 of your plate)In comparison to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPlate method, the Harvard diet specifies the type of grains that you should eat. Get some healthy protein (1/4 of your plate)More than most diets, the Healthy Eating Plate dives into which proteins are healthy for you and which you should limit in your diet. The Harvard diet encourages you to alternate between water, tea and coffee to pair with your meals, especially with little to no sugar.

☆ U.S. regulators rejected Elon Musk’s bid to test brain chips in humans, citing safety risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Rachael Levy | Marisa Taylor | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +19 min

Companies that do secure human-testing approval typically conduct at least two rounds of trials before applying for FDA approval to commercially market a device. "Everybody in the industry was saying: 'Oh my God, they're going to run straight into a brick wall,'" Ludwig said of Musk's bid for FDA approval. For example, NeuroPace, which makes the brain implant to treat epilepsy, received final FDA approval in 2013 – 16 years after the company's launch. Beyond grants, it provides access to government experts who advise on how to gain FDA approval and commercialize a device. Musk's emails to Neuralink staffers often come from his SpaceX address, said two people who reviewed them.

☆ China claims it successfully cloned 3 'super cows' that make vastly more milk than normal cows do
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

China claims it's cloned three cows that make up to 18 metric tons of milk per year. "Super cows" are hard to breed since they're identified at the end of their lives, per state-affiliated media. The scientists say they plan to build a herd of 1,000 super cows in the next two to three years. The calves were cloned from "super cows" — unusually productive cows that can make 18 metric tons of milk per year and 100 tons of milk in their lifetimes, pro-government tabloid The Global Times reported. "We plan to take two to three years to build up a herd comprised of over 1,000 super cows," Jin said, per The Global Times.

But to reach its ultimate destination - supermarket shelves - cultivated meat faces big obstacles, five executives told Reuters. California-based cultivated meat company GOOD Meat already has an application pending with the FDA, which has not been previously reported. Regulatory approval is just the first hurdle for making cultivated meat accessible to a broad swath of consumers, executives at UPSIDE, Mosa Meat, Believer Meats, and GOOD Meat told Reuters. But it will take hundreds of millions of dollars for GOOD Meat, for example, to build bioreactors of the size needed to make its meat at scale, Tetrick said. But cultivated meat companies have the advantage that they can claim their product is real meat, Tetrick said.

☆ The Asian nation where 35% of people say they’ll 'never travel' again
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Yet, no country came close to the travel reluctance shown in Japan, where some 35% of respondents said they don't intend to travel again. The survey asked about "any leisure travel" and did not differentiate between domestic or international travel plans, said Lindsey Roeschke, a travel and hospitality analyst at Morning Consult. The number of people who say they'll "never travel" again is nearly six times greater in Japan (35%) than in Germany (6%), according to Morning Consult's "The State of Travel & Hospitality" report. We expect to see a return to the pre-2020 demand for international travel sooner rather than later. The British artist known as Miles Takes told CNBC Travel that "international travel still seems a while away" for him.

☆ I styled Anna Sorokin while she was on house arrest. She was way funnier than her 'Inventing Anna' character, and her taste in fashion and art is incredible.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Eboni Boykin-Patterson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

He styled Anna Sorokin for an interview from her home, where she is on house arrest. Anna Sorokin, or Anna Delvey, as she was known as in her scamming days, is different from the character on "Inventing Anna." At the time, I had watched only the first half of "Inventing Anna" — just bits and pieces here and there. When we got there, there was a whole glam team of makeup artists and hairstylists who got to work on Anna and Kenneth. Pop culture has the ability to make anyone into an entire brand, and Anna has pop culture's attention.

☆ Elon Musk reportedly told workers at his brain-chip startup to imagine they had bombs strapped to their heads to make them work faster
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk told Neuralink staff to imagine they had bombs strapped to their heads to drive faster work, Reuters reported. Employees told Reuters Musk's push for speed led to an increase in the number of animals killed in testing. One former staffer said that Musk told workers he'd initiate a "market failure" at the company if employees couldn't speed up progress, Reuters reported. Earlier this year, Musk told workers in an email that the company wasn't moving fast enough, per Reuters. It's not the first time Musk has been known to push employees to work at a break-neck pace.

☆ 77-year-old celebrity fashion designer Norma Kamali’s 2 simple secrets for long-term career success
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Even if you don't know who Norma Kamali is, chances are, you've seen her work. "I had my heart set on being a painter growing up," the New York native tells CNBC Make It. The attire in London made Kamali feel free, and she wanted to share that joy with her friends in Manhattan. She began filling her suitcase with clothes from abroad, including vintage pieces from the 1930s and 1940s. Here, Kamali shares her best advice for building a long, successful career that you love.

☆ Here's what the Day of the Dead means, and why it endures
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Albinson Linares | Noticias Telemundo | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

The "Day of the Dead Parade" in Mexico City on Oct. 29, 2022. Claudio Cruz / AFP - Getty Images"In Mexico, Nov. 1 and 2 are very special days because they celebrate All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, respectively," said Diana Martínez, an academic at the Institute of Anthropological Research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, or UNAM. By the 13th century, the Roman Catholic Church established Nov. 1 as All Saints’ Day. People take part in the "Day of the Dead Parade" in Mexico City on Oct. 29, 2022. He's worked at the cemetery from a very young age and has witnessed many Día de los Muertos celebrations.

☆ Mississippi River water woes, retail overstock trailers: Latest supply chain stresses for economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The towboat Roberta Tabor pushes barges up the Mississippi River in Granite City, Illinois, US, on Friday, July 9, 2022. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAccording to the National Weather Service Memphis Office, the Mississippi River is projected to tie the all-time record of -10.70 feet, either later today or tonight. The Mississippi River is a vital waterway for trade and the lower water levels have impacted the amount of commodities that can be imported or exported out of New Orleans. "Our members depend upon adequate water levels in the Mississippi River system, to reach domestic and international export markets. The East Coast congestion has had a massive impact on vessel reliability.

U.S. corn and soybean yields will be of top priority in Wednesday's reports, due at noon EDT (1600 GMT). Corn yield was lower in just five of the last 20 Octobers, most recently 2016 and 2012, the latter decent company for 2022. The Midwest this year recorded its driest September since 1979, though drier Septembers have not necessarily promoted lower soy or corn yields in October. Nine of the 11 Crop Watch soybean fields yielded at or just below pre-harvest expectations. Crop Watch corn harvest is only starting, but nationally the pace is 1 point ahead of average.

☆ Mountain Girl’s heartbreaking memoir: An icon of the Sixties opens up about Jerry Garcia, Ken Kesey, and what the age of free love was really like
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-09 | by ( David Kushner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +40 min

Now 76 and living in Oregon, Mountain Girl has gave us an exclusive look at her memoir. Altamont, the free concert that Mountain Girl and Jerry Garcia helped organized, was meant to revive the spirit of the Sixties. Today, 60 years since she took that ride with Neal Cassady, Mountain Girl is still forging her own path. Before I leave Kesey's farm, Mountain Girl and I walk outside to the old brown barn where Furthur now rests. But for Mountain Girl, it lives forever, an emblem of everything her generation believed in, and all that they achieved.

"These defendants exploited a program designed to provide nutritious food to needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic." The alleged scheme was tied to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Federal Child Nutrition Program aimed at feeding needy children. The program, which was expanded during the pandemic, allows private restaurants to run federally funded food distribution sites, as long as they are sponsored by a non-profit organization. Prosecutors said restaurant owners and others paid bribes to Feeding Our Future employees to get the organization to sponsor sham distribution sites. Defendants created dozens of shell companies to run the fake distribution sites and to launder the proceeds of the scheme, prosecutors said.

☆ Feds charge dozens in Minnesota in alleged scheme to steal $250 million in pandemic aid
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Prosecutors say few meals were actually served, and the defendants used the money to buy luxury cars, property and jewelry. "This $250 million is the floor," Andy Luger, the U.S. attorney for Minnesota, said at a news conference. According to court documents, the alleged scheme targeted the USDA's federal child nutrition programs, which provide food to low-income children and adults. But during the pandemic, some of the standard requirements for sites to participate in the federal food nutrition programs were waived. Luger said the scheme involved more than 125 million fake meals, with some defendants making up names for children by using an online random name generator.

☆ What 'quiet quitting' is actually about
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-08 | by ( Aki Ito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Now, everyone and their mother has an opinion about "quiet quitting," whatever it is. Quiet quitting isn't about quitting our jobs. Slacking off vs. work-life balanceMuch of the debate around quiet quitting revolves around the definition of what it actually is. How should I feel about coworkers who are quiet quitting if I end up having to take up the slack? In a self-help sense, quiet quitting is only the first step on the road to fulfillment.

☆ The many faces of Scooter Braun
▼ + stars: | 2022-03-01 | by ( Anna Silman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +44 min

The former Yeezy associate said that West had offered Braun large percentages of Yeezy several times, which Braun always declined.) Singer told Insider that Braun "did not even see the final cut until the day before it came out." In 2012, Braun told The New Yorker that Geffen's advice to him was "Get out of the music business." Singer told Insider that Braun had only seen Jayne "once in his life, at a political event they both attended. And I couldn't fix it and I'm a fixer, and because I couldn't fix things I started to spiral," Braun told Shetty.

Persons: Scooter Braun, Kanye, West, Braun, Yeezy, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Marty Singer, Ben Rose, Taylor Swift, he's, I've, Braun you've, It's, Long, J Balvin, Psy, née Scott —, Ludacris, Eminem, Britney Spears, Matt Graham, Jason Salvador, He's, Bieber, Micah Smith, riffed, Harvey Levin, Perez Hilton, Lil Twist, Bieber's, Justin, Singer, Salvador, Selena Gomez, Gomez, Kevin Mazur, Swift, Selena, Scooter, Taylor, " Braun, kid's, Madison Beer, Etta James, Beer, Beer texted Braun, Todrick, Hall, Braun wasn't, Joseph Gordon, Levitt, hadn't, Pete Davidson, Grande, Davidson, Kris Jenner, —, didn't, J, Demi Lovato, Lovato, Critics, Rich Fury, Yael Cohen, Braun's, Marcus Aurelius, Maya Angelou, David Geffen, Jeff Bezos, playbook, Odysseus, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Matthew McNulty, Stephanie Simon, Jennifer Merlino, Simon, Brandon Creed, Bruno Mars, Troy Carter, Lady Gaga, Carter, Creed, George Floyd, Noam Galai, Moe Shalizi, missives, Scooter Braun playbook, Swift's, Taylor Swift's, Shamrock, Hybe, Justin Shin, Peter Comisar, Comisar, Laroi, Erika Jayne, Jayne, Yael Cohen Braun, Michael Kovac, Jay Shetty, Scooter Braun's, Shetty, Hoffman, I'd, I'm, Natalie Jarvey Organizations: Kanye, Ithaca Holdings, trailblazer, Spotify, South, YouTube, Emory University, segueing, eBay, DreamWorks, SB, TED, Hollywood's Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles Times, New Yorker, TMZ, Wall Street, Billboard, US Immigration, Customs, NME, Twitter, Todrick Hall, MTV, Amazon's, Ithaca Holdings —, Ventures, Atlas, CBS, Manchester, Grande, Nickelodeon, Untitled Entertainment, Untitled, British GQ, Hollywood, New York, Financial Times, behemoth, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Carlyle Group, litigating, Housewives, Beverly Hills, Gentleman's Locations: China, Yeezy, West, South Korean, Atlanta, hoodies, Hollywood's, Greenwich , Connecticut, Colombia, Yorker, Ithaca, California, Grande, Braun, British, Hybe, Korea, Korean

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