DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Some 19 of the 50 U.S. states have now at least partially blocked access on government computers to TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd. Jamf Holding Corp (JAMF.O), which sells software to organizations to enable filtering and security measures on iPhones and other Apple (AAPL.O) devices, said its government customers have increasingly blocked access to TikTok since the middle of this year. TikTok on Monday reiterated a statement, saying the company was "disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States." West Virginia State Auditor JB McCuskey said he did the same for his agency. U.S. officials and TikTok have been in talks for months about a national security pact that would address the concerns about China's access to data on TikTok's more than 100 million U.S. users.

☆ Schumer reflects on how Senate Democrats went from infighting to big policy wins and a larger majority
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Sahil-Kapur-Headshot.Jpg | Sahil Kapur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The 50-50 majority, which has been unkind to Senate leaders in the past, seemed to be slipping from his grasp. “Everyone said Democrats are gonna lose a whole ton of seats,” Schumer said during a wide-ranging interview in his Capitol Hill office. Democrats may have held the Senate, but they narrowly lost the House majority to Republicans, which could spell the end of the party’s biggest legislative goals. And despite Schumer’s confidence that he’ll hold the Senate majority again in 2024, the map presents enormous challenges. Schumer said he isn’t giving up on working with moderate House Republicans, including some who won swing districts in his home state of New York.

☆ Organized retail crime has ballooned into a $100 billion problem — and store employees are dying over it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Avery Hartmans | Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Organized retail crime increased by 26.5% in 2021, according to the National Retail Federation. It's organized retail crime, and it's a nearly $100 billion problem for the industry. A 2022 study the National Retail Federation conducted found that organized retail crime at retailers surged by 26.5% in 2021 compared to the year prior. Organized retail crime is not the $10,000 jewelry heist you see in the movies, Jake Stauch, the director of product for the security company Verkada, said. The rise of e-commerce has, in large part, fueled organized retail crime.

☆ Dem. Senator Joe Manchin dodges question on whether he plans to change parties: 'I'll let you know later what I decide to do'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Kenneth Niemeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sen. Joe Manchin dodged questions about whether he will remain in the Democratic party. "I'll let you know later what I decide to do," Manchin told Margaret Brennan on CBS "Face the Nation." Brennan then asked Manchin if he saw any value in becoming an Independent and not being affiliated with a political party. "Now, I'll let you know later what I decide to do. Manchin's comments follow Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's announcement earlier this month that she will leave the Democratic Party and register as an independent.

☆ U.S. Northeast braced for arrival of sprawling winter storm
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Vehicles are covered by snow in Murdo, South Dakota, U.S., December 16, 2022 in this screen grab taken from a social media video. Rick Dorion/via REUTERSDec 16 (Reuters) - A massive winter storm that spawned deadly tornadoes in the South and pummeled the Northern Plains with blizzard-like conditions earlier in the week was expected to arrive in the Northeast on Friday, bringing heavy snows and fierce winds. The conditions will make driving "very difficult to impossible" as slushy snow covers roadways during the day and into the afternoon commute, the NSW warned. The weight of the wet snow could also bring down trees and power lines, causing widespread power outages, forecasters said. Some 33,000 homes and businesses were without power in Pennsylvania and West Virginia as of Friday morning, Poweroutage.us reported.

News of the FTX's fall first prompted questions to lawmakers about Bankman-Fried's political donations. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Boozman of Arkansas said they would donate Bankman-Fried’s campaign contributions, though they did not specify the charities they intended to donate the money to. Bankman-Fried also poured millions into super PACs that support candidates outside of their campaigns, including the Senate Majority PAC, or SMP, a super PAC supporting Democratic Senate candidates. The disclosed sums likely don't capture the full breadth of Bankman-Fried's political spending. "The candidates who received money from dark money organizations don't really have to answer for it," Sherman said.

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, beaming with confidence after having proved his doubters wrong and expanded his majority in the midterm elections, vowed without hesitation that the Democratic Party will keep control again in two years. Democrats are defending three seats in the Republican-leaning states of West Virginia, Montana and Ohio. To get there, Schumer promised that Democrats will govern and campaign over the next two years as pragmatists, not ideologues. Schumer pointed to the newly conservative Supreme Court, which rolled back abortion rights and expanded the right to carry guns this year. Instead, Democrats expanded their Senate majority from 50 to 51 seats.

Just because rural areas are less populated doesn’t mean it’s cheaper to provide health services there. She recommends that rural counties explore lower-cost, evidence-based options like distributing naloxone, funding syringe service programs, or connecting people to housing or employment. “We couldn’t function if we didn’t partner for lots of different services.”In Colorado, pooling funds is built into the state’s model for managing opioid settlement money. “Nobody has paid any attention to our rural areas and this problem for years,” Laske said. They cross-referenced the results with a list of allowable uses for the $9 million in settlement funds they’ll receive over 18 years to create a priority grid.

2 Democrat, told CNN when asked if party leaders should stay out of the race. “I’m just not worried about folks who may not like this approach,” Sinema told CNN on Thursday. On Monday, he wouldn’t say if he believes Democratic leaders should try to knock her off in 2024. Like Sinema, party leaders are now watching Manchin closely as he weighs whether to run in 2024. “I worked very closely with Sen. Sinema – two years now to get stuff done,” Kelly said.

☆ Mystery deepens as friends reveal accused 'catfisher' visited longtime girlfriend in days before killing a teen's family
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Tim Stelloh | Tim Stelloh Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

Efforts to reach Edwards’ family have been unsuccessful. Neither Gates nor the second friend knew about the trip ahead of time, a move Gates described as unusual. The second friend said he learned of it from Edwards' father after Edwards didn't let him know he was heading home. In a text message with the second close friend, the girlfriend described Edwards' trip as "spontaneous" and said everything had gone well, the second friend said. He wanted to move back to southwestern Virginia, where he could be closer to friends and family, Gates said.

The sky was darkening above Hazelton federal penitentiary in West Virginia when a prison van rolled up carrying an elderly gangster. ‘I’m deteriorating’His final hours were described in detail for the first time in a Justice Department Inspector General report released Wednesday. The news somehow got out among the Hazelton inmates, the report says, a detail that had been previously disclosed by federal prosecutors. The facility, known as Misery Mountain, was among the most violent in the federal prison system. Two hours passed before a prison staffer went into the cell and found Bulger’s lifeless body.

☆ Bernie Sanders blasts Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema as a 'corporate Democrat' who has 'sabotaged enormously important legislation'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday blasted fellow Sen. Kyrsten Sinema as a "corporate Democrat." Sanders on CNN's "State of the Union" said Sinema has "sabotaged enormously important legislation." Sinema on Friday announced that she was leaving the Democratic Party to become an Independent. "She is a corporate Democrat who has, in fact, along with Senator Manchin sabotaged enormously important legislation." Sinema will retain her committee assignments through the Democratic Party going forward, meaning that 51-49 balance will hold despite her switching to become an Independent.

☆ Child tax credit: Democratic lawmakers make last-ditch effort to enhance benefit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Tami Luhby | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Buoyed by the steep drop in child poverty last year, a group of Democratic lawmakers and progressive advocates are pushing hard to restore at least part of the enhanced child tax credit that stabilized many families’ finances in 2021. GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, a longtime advocate of the child tax credit, crafted an enhanced version earlier this year, along with fellow Republican Sens. The 2021 enhancementThe American Rescue Plan made three significant changes to the child tax credit for 2021. A reduction in child povertyThe expansion lifted 2.1 million children out of poverty in 2021, according to the Census Bureau. It helped drive child poverty to 5.2%, a drop of 46%, according to the bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure.

☆ Business groups optimistic Congress may finally strike immigration deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Shannon Pettypiece | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

WASHINGTON — Some of the largest business groups in Washington are making a last-ditch effort to get Congress to pass immigration legislation before the end of the year and are optimistic a bipartisan agreement could fall into place. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., began circulating the contours of a possible deal. Businesses have been calling on Congress to change the immigration system and make it easier for them to hire foreign workers for years, but the situation has grown increasingly dire since the pandemic. We hope it can be successful.”Republicans who have been involved in past efforts to change immigration laws poured cold water on the Sinema-Tillis push. I appreciate them working on it — there’s a deal to be done down the road — but it’s not money, it’s policy.”

☆ The 2024 Senate map just got even more difficult for Democrats
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Harry Enten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Sinema’s interests are no longer necessarily the Democrats’ best interests in the next Congress, and the 2024 Senate map became even more complicated for Democrats with Sinema’s decision. The Democrats who run against independent Sen. Angus King in Maine have not gained traction in recent elections. Having two people in the race who are going to caucus with the Democratic Party likely makes it more difficult for the Democrats to win. All that said, the Democrats already have a difficult map heading into 2024. With Sinema’s break from the Democratic party, the road is, if nothing else, curvier for Democrats.

☆ Kyrsten Sinema's Democratic defection without a difference
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Specter’s switch from the Republican to the Democratic Party briefly gave Democrats a filibuster-proof majority and allowed them to pass the Affordable Care Act. Joe Lieberman, the moderate Democrat and former longtime senator, lost a Democratic primary in Connecticut in 2006, largely over his support for the Iraq war. A defection without a differenceArizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema appears to be different as she becomes the 22nd senator to change party affiliation while in office. A Senate independence trioSinema will be the first independent senator who isn’t from New England in more than a generation. The most complete political evolution may be that of Lincoln Chafee, the Rhode Island politician who was a Republican senator, independent governor and failed Democratic and Libertarian presidential candidate.

☆ Sen. Kyrsten Sinema leaves Democratic Party and registers as an independent
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Mike-Memoli-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has announced she is leaving the Democratic Party and officially registering as an independent. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema leaves the Capitol building on Oct. 27, 2021. After joining the Democratic Party, she served in the Arizona state Legislature and went on to win a seat in the U.S. House in 2012 representing the Phoenix area. The Biden administration was informed of Sinema’s decision to leave the Democratic Party “mid-afternoon” on Thursday, a senior administration official said. Biden did acknowledge Sinema in his remarks, however, saying: “I want to thank Senator Sinema, who can’t be with us today.

☆ Kyrsten Sinema once ripped then-Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman for trying to win over Republican voters: 'What kind of strategy is that?'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Kyrsten Sinema once slammed a Democratic senator for trying to court Republican voters. Sinema — then a social worker — said in 2003 of presidential-hopeful Joe Lieberman. In 2003, the now-Arizona senator was outside of a meeting for presidential-hopeful Sen. Joe Lieberman from Connecticut, the Hartford Courant reported at the time. Then a social worker, Sinema disagreed with Lieberman's stances on the war — and even more so, his campaign strategy. Sen. Sinema announced Friday morning she is leaving the Democratic party to become an independent herself.

☆ Flu surged in the United States after Thanksgiving, data shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Deidre Mcphillips | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Flu surged in the United States after Thanksgiving, bringing the most severe week yet in a season that hit the county extra early. The latest update captures data through December 3 and is the first full week of data post-Thanksgiving. Nearly 26,000 people were admitted to the hospital for flu last week, filling about 6,000 more beds than the week before. Data from Walgreens that tracks prescriptions for Tamiflu and other flu treatments suggests that flu hotspots spread from El Paso to southwest Virginia. But now, only about 6% of beds are in use for Covid-19 patients, according to the HHS data.

☆ Sinema's exit from the Democratic Party could hand Manchin back some power over Biden's agenda
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party to become an independent. It changes the balance of power in the Senate, though Sinema sought to downplay the extent. But Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's announcement early Friday that she is leaving the Democratic Party to become an independent soured that victory, and again altered the balance of power. Though that group already included two independents — Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Angus King — it was signed-up Democrats, Sinema and Manchin, who caused the most trouble. "Becoming an independent won't change my work in the Senate; my service to Arizona remains the same," she said in an op-ed announcing her departure from the Democratic Party.

☆ Kyrsten Sinema leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Jeremy Herb | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as a political independent, she told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an exclusive TV interview. While Sanders and King formally caucus with Democrats, Sinema declined to explicitly say that she would do the same. She also brushed aside criticism she may face for the decision to leave the Democratic Party. “Nothing about the last two years indicates a major effort would’ve made helped – the exact opposite actually,” a White House official said. After a vote against filibuster changes in January, the Arizona Democratic Party’s executive board censured Sinema.

Biden had been hopeful that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be more apt to free Griner once America’s midterm elections were done, a calculation that proved correct. Still detained in Russia is Paul Whelan, a businessman whom the White House has also been working to free without success. In a 2012 interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” when he was vice president, Biden came out in favor of same-sex marriage, and he is expected to sign the measure into law. White House officials acknowledged the headwinds and worried that the midterm elections would be a repudiation of Biden’s record. “When I look at what the Biden White House has done, I think experience and patience really paid off,” said Jennifer Palmieri, who served as White House communications director during the Obama administration.

WASHINGTON — The House passed legislation Thursday that enshrines federal protections for marriages of same-sex and interracial couples. Thirty-nine House Republicans supported the legislation Thursday and one voted present. The revisions to the bill meant the House had to vote again after passing an earlier version in July. It reflects the rapidly growing U.S. public support for legal same-sex marriage, which hit a new high of 71% in June, according to Gallup tracking polls — up from 27% in 1996. In the Senate, 12 Republicans voted with unanimous Democrats to pass the bill, which sent it back to the House.

☆ Hospitals in the US are the fullest they’ve been throughout the pandemic – but it’s not just Covid
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Deidre Mcphillips | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Hospitals are more full than they’ve been throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a CNN analysis of data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. But as respiratory virus season surges across the US, it’s much more than Covid that’s filling beds this year. More than 80% of hospital beds are in use nationwide, jumping 8 percentage points in the past two weeks. Pediatric hospital beds also have been more full than usual for months. About 76% of pediatric hospital beds are in use, up from an average of about two-thirds full in recent years.

He got away with it because in a 50-50 Senate, Manchin had a ton of leverage and could force Senate Democratic leaders to make numerous concessions or else get nothing passed. Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images fileA 51-49 Senate majority doesn’t completely quell Democratic headaches over having to corral their own. Like Manchin, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona has bucked her Democratic colleagues. In a 51-49 Senate, Democrats also will have unilateral power to issue subpoenas. This leaves Senate Democrats in a much rosier position concerning chickens and just about everything else.

Search resuls for: "West Virginia"

25 mentions found