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☆ AI drive-thrus may be good for business. But not for the rest of us
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New AI technology at the drive-thru at a Carl's Jr. location. In real-world situations, reactions to AI drive-thrus are still mixed. “We expect AI to augment the competitive advantages of restaurants with digital culture.”Short-staffed restaurants may see AI as a way to fill in the gaps. “There aren’t enough at-scale examples of voice AI in action, especially in this use case,” to say that people would prefer AI to an employee, said McAllister. By the time those examples exist, AI in drive-thrus may already be the norm.

Persons: CKE, Carl’s Jr, Wendy’s, Joel Angel Juarez, it’s, ” Thomas Kurian, ”, Christina McAllister, Forrester, upsells, Krishna Gupta, Presto, “, Todd Penegor, Penegor, Yong Suk Lee, “ it’s, Brandon Bell, McAllister Organizations: New, New York CNN, Google, USA, Wall Street, Indiana White, Wall Street Journal, Presto Automation, CKE, Presto, Presto Voice, University of Notre Dame, Intouch Locations: New York, White, Wendy’s, Columbus , Ohio, The Republic

WASHINGTON, June 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will consider a bill Wednesday that would allow regulators to claw back compensation for executives at failed banks. The bill, which also would require banks to include in their bylaws standards around responsible bank management, comes in response to the abrupt failures of Silicon Valley Bank and other banks in recent months, which set off broader turmoil in the banking sector. "Americans have watched executives take their money, run banks into the ground, and get away with it too many times before. It’s time for CEOs to face consequences for their actions, just like everyone else," said Brown in a statement. Reporting by Pete Schroeder, editing by Deepa BabingtonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sherrod Brown, Tim Scott, Brown, Pete Schroeder, Deepa Babington Organizations: U.S . Senate, Republican, Valley Bank, Thomson

WASHINGTON, June 13 (Reuters) - A key House Republican lawmaker said Tuesday that he intends to hold a committee vote on a comprehensive bill to establish a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency products in the coming weeks. Representative Patrick McHenry, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said he expects to put a bill forward for the panel to consider after lawmakers return to work on July 11. McHenry has been leading an effort by some Republicans in Congress to pass a bill establishing clear rules for the crypto industry. Democrats on the panel say they are considering the measure but have concerns. And in the Senate, which must also pass any crypto legislation, key lawmakers like Senators Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren have expressed even more skepticism about crypto products.

Persons: Patrick McHenry, McHenry, Maxine Waters, Sherrod Brown, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Schroeder Organizations: Republican, Financial Services, Securities and Exchange Commission, Thomson

[1/2] U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas poses during a group portrait at the Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., October 7, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinWASHINGTON, June 7 (Reuters) - Conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, under scrutiny following revelations that he did not disclose luxury trips paid for by a billionaire Dallas businessman, has received an extension to file his mandatory annual financial disclosure, the court said on Wednesday. Some congressional Democrats have proposed imposing new ethics standards on the Supreme Court following reporting on conduct by some of the justices, in particular Thomas. Supreme Court justices are not bound like other federal judges by a code of conduct that includes avoidance even of the "appearance of impropriety." The three conservative justices appointed by former President Donald Trump drew additional income as law professors.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Evelyn Hockstein WASHINGTON, Samuel Alito, Thomas, Harlan Crow, Crow, Frederick Douglass, Neil Gorsuch, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Sonia Sotomayor, Sotomayor, John Roberts, Donald Trump, Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, George Mason University's Antonin Scalia, Amy Coney Barrett, Roberts, Andrew Chung, John Kruzel, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Supreme, REUTERS, Conservative U.S, Judicial Conference, Politico, Liberal, Vogue, Random, Charter Communications, Texas, University of Notre Dame Law School, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Dallas, Crow, Colorado, New York, Washington

☆ Oklahoma approves first publicly funded Catholic school in US
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Brad Brooks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 5 (Reuters) - An Oklahoma school board on Monday approved the Catholic Church's application to create the first taxpayer-funded religious charter school in the U.S. Oklahoma's Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved the plan to create the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in a 3-2 vote. Charter schools are publicly funded, independently run schools established under the terms of a charter with a local or national authority. The school would cost Oklahoma taxpayers up to $25.7 million over its first five years of operation, its organizers said. The law school at the University of Notre Dame, a Catholic institution in Indiana, helped with the application.

Persons: Isidore of, Isidore, Brad Brooks, David Gregorio Our Organizations: U.S, Charter School Board, Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, Roman, Supreme, Catholic Archdiocese of, Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, University of Notre Dame, Thomson Locations: An Oklahoma, Isidore of Seville, Maine and Montana, Oklahoma, Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma, Indiana, Lubbock , Texas

☆ These Activists Distrust Voting Machines. Just Don’t Call Them Election Deniers.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Stuart A. Thompson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Ms. Friesdat and other activists like her fear that their work may become too closely tied to conspiracy theorists and Mr. Trump’s cause, making potential allies, like progressives, wary of joining the fight. “You sow a seed of doubt, and that will grow and fester into a conspiracy theory,” said Tim Weninger, a computer science professor at the University of Notre Dame who studies misinformation on social media. It is now happening in New York, where officials are considering certifying new voting machines made by Election Systems & Software, a manufacturer based in Omaha. The company has been targeted in Mr. Trump’s voting fraud narrative, alongside competitors like Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic. Yet, ES&S and its machines have also come under scrutiny by election activists and security experts.

Persons: Friesdat, ” Ms, ”, Tim Weninger Organizations: University of Notre Dame, Election Systems, Software, Mr, Dominion Voting Systems Locations: New York, Omaha

WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Friday it had dismissed 42 pending enforcement cases after discovering enforcement staff had improper access to materials meant for commission officials ruling on those cases. The enforcement and in-house ruling arms of the SEC are supposed to be kept completely separate from each other regarding such matters. It added that in most cases, the problematic materials were not uploaded to enforcement staff until after a decision had been handed down. An internal SEC review found that there was no evidence that the improper access had any effect on decisions made by either enforcement staff or officials reviewing those cases, according to SEC officials. Nonetheless, the agency decided to dismiss all pending cases, primarily against individuals and smaller firms, who were impacted by the improper access.

Persons: Pete Schroeder, Chizu Nomiyama, Diane Craft Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Thomson

WASHINGTON, May 31 (Reuters) - U.S. banks saw total deposits decline by a record 2.5% in the first quarter of 2023, and industry-wide profits were relatively flat after taking into account the effects of two large bank failures, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said Wednesday. The FDIC said the $472 billion in deposit outflows in the first quarter was the largest it had recorded since it began collecting such data in 1984. The decline was primarily from uninsured funds, as insured deposits actually rose $255.1 billion, or 2.5%, amid the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The decline in deposits was offset by increased wholesale funding, which rose 14.4% in the first quarter. The results showed banks shrinking the amount of unrealized losses on their books and maintaining strong capital ratios.

Persons: Martin Gruenberg, Gruenberg, Pete Schroeder, Sinead Carew, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, FDIC, Valley Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic Bank, Comerica, Citizens, Thomson

Senator Elizabeth Warren is questioning federal bank regulators on their decision to sell First Republic Bank to the nation's largest bank, JP Morgan Chase. In a letter sent to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Wednesday, Warren said the deal was "deeply troubling," and sought details on how the agencies decided to arrange that particular sale, allowing JPM to grow even larger. This is a troubling outcome, leaving me with numerous questions," she wrote. The FDIC announced this month it had seized First Republic and sold it to JPM in a deal that it estimated would cost its deposit insurance fund $13 billion. Warren also pressed the matter with Michael Hsu, the acting Comptroller of the Currency, at a hearing Thursday.

☆ A new CEO won’t fix Twitter’s biggest problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —During his six months as Twitter’s CEO and owner, Elon Musk decimated its ad business, alienated some news publications and VIP users, and plunged the platform into a constant state of chaos. But she may struggle to address Twitter’s biggest problem: Elon Musk. On Tuesday, Musk said he “didn’t care” if his controversial tweets drew the ire of Twitter advertisers or Tesla shareholders. She may struggle to undo the damage Elon Musk has done to the company's ad business. That could only add to the difficulty Yaccarino will face in shoring up Twitter’s business.

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - Top U.S. banking regulators plan to tell lawmakers the government will be open to future bank mergers, but are committed to establishing tougher rules after recent turmoil. Barr maintained his commitment to overhauling bank rules to ensure firms do not escape stricter oversight because they are smaller or viewed as less risky. "The prudential regulation and supervision of these institutions merits additional attention, particularly with respect to capital, liquidity, and interest rate risk," he said in prepared testimony. While vowing to draft tougher rules, the agencies have also been criticized for not identifying and preventing weaknesses before the lenders failed. In prepared testimony, he said rapid interest rate increases and social media-fueled rumors drove the "unprecedented" bank run that sank his firm.

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - A U.S. banking regulator plans to tell lawmakers his agency is "open-minded" when it comes to potential bank mergers and would act on any proposed deal in a timely fashion. Recent turmoil has added "urgency" to the OCC's work on updating bank merger guidelines, Hsu said. Tuesday's hearing will be the first for regulators since the FDIC agreed to sell failed First Republic Bank to JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) this month. Watchdogs have been under intense scrutiny after the collapses of SVB and Signature set off fears of contagion. In prepared testimony, he said rapid interest rate increases and social media-fueled rumors drove the "unprecedented" bank run that sank his firm.

In prepared testimony published on Monday by the Senate Banking Committee, Becker said he believed the bank was responsive to regulator concerns about managing risk and working to address issues before an "unprecedented" bank run led to its failure. Becker said he did not believe "that any bank could survive a bank run of that velocity and magnitude." The former executives for New York-based Signature Bank, which also failed in March, maintained the bank could have survived had regulators not chosen to close it, according to separate testimony. California banking regulators moved quickly to shut SVB down on March 10 after depositors withdrew $42 billion in 24 hours. Regulators closed Signature on March 12 after it also experienced liquidity issues following SVB’s collapse.

☆ 'I got a check the other day for $8': TV and film writers share why they're on strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Gili Malinsky | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

TV and film writers at the picket line in New York on the first day of the WGA strike, May 2, 2023. Every three years, the Writers Guild of America, the TV and film writers' union, negotiates a contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. "You go from job to job," and each contract can look different from writer to writer depending on their experience, for instance. TV writer Sheri Holman on strike in New York. TV and film writer Chisa Hutchinson.

[1/3] Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Martin Gruenberg testify at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on the response to the recent bank failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 29, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueMay 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Banking Committee said on Tuesday it would hear from former top officials at the failed Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, as well as top U.S. banking regulators at separate hearings later this month. Gregory Becker, the former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, and Scott Shay and Eric Howell, former senior executives for Signature Bank, will appear on May 16. On Monday, regulators closed a third firm, First Republic, which then was sold to JP Morgan Chase. The panel will also hear from top regulators for the states of New York and California, which helped oversee the two failed firms.

WASHINGTON, May 1 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co's (JPM.N) deal to buy First Republic Bank pushed the Biden administration into a corner, leaving officials scrambling to explain how their stance against mergers squared with allowing the largest U.S. bank to get even bigger. At a White House event on small business on Monday, President Joe Biden hailed the sale of the troubled San Francisco-based lender, saying it would protect all depositors and avert a government bailout. "A poorly supervised bank was snapped up by an even bigger bank — ultimately taxpayers will be on the hook," Warren tweeted. "No recent administration has done more to promote competition, address (the) concentration process across industries," she told a White House briefing. Jean-Pierre added that Biden administration officials valued the fact that community banks offer services to those who might not otherwise have banking access.

Summary A relatively small number of law schools dominate federal clerkships(Reuters) - A quarter of Stanford Law School’s 2022 graduates landed federal clerkships—the highest percentage among all U.S. law schools, according to new data from the American Bar Association. The University of Notre Dame Law School and the University of Virginia School of Law round out the top five with 15% and nearly 13% of 2022 graduates in federal clerkships. The latest ABA data shows that just 3% of the 36,078 law graduates in 2022 are clerking for federal judges. Some federal judges hire law students for clerkships that won't begin for a year or two, allowing them to gain experience first. Read more:These law schools aced the job market in 2022Large U.S. law firms love hiring from these schoolsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Oklahoma to vote on first religious charter school in US
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Brad Brooks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

April 11 (Reuters) - An Oklahoma school board is set to vote on Tuesday on whether the state will allow the first taxpayer-funded religious charter school in the U.S. - a decision that promises to ignite a legal battle testing the concept of separation of church and state. The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board will vote on an application backed by the Catholic church for the creation of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, planned by its organizers to offer an online education for kindergarten through high school initially for 500 students and eventually 1,500. The board is a state entity that considers applications for charter schools - publicly funded but independently run - that operate virtually in Oklahoma. Laser disagreed and said her organization would fight the Catholic church in any court over St. Isidore and any other publicly funded religious school. "There is an attack being waged on public schools in Oklahoma, and that attack is to convert public schools into religious schools," Laser said.

☆ With Dueling Rulings, Abortion Pill Cases Appear Headed to the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Abbie Vansickle | Pam Belluck | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — The dramatic dueling rulings by two federal district judges on Friday about access to a widely used abortion pill set up a lower court conflict that legal experts say will almost certainly send the dispute to the Supreme Court. “It really turbocharges the imperative for the Supreme Court to step in and to do so sooner rather than later,” said Stephen I. Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin. A federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary ruling on Friday invalidating the Food and Drug Administration’s 23-year-old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, which could make it more difficult for patients across the country to access the medication. Less than an hour later, a federal judge in Washington State issued a ruling in another case that contradicted the Texas judge by ordering the F.D.A. The Texas judge, Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, an appointee of President Donald J. Trump, stayed his order for seven days to allow the F.D.A.

[1/3] FDIC representatives Luis Mayorga and Igor Fayermark speak with customers outside of the Silicon Valley Bank headquarters in Santa Clara, California, U.S. March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Brittany Hosea-SmallNEW YORK/WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has retained advisers to sell the securities portfolios that the new owners of failed Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank rejected, according to people familiar with the matter. Silicon Valley Bank's and Signature Bank's securities portfolios carry a face value of around $90 billion and $26 billion, respectively, according to regulatory filings and statements by government officials. The FDIC estimates the sale of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank will cost the deposit fund $20 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively. It will release final figures once sales of the loan books of the banks and their securities portfolios are complete.

The White House's push for more regulation comes after days of turmoil in the banking sector after the collapse of U.S. lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. "This ... is really about making sure that we are protecting the resilience and stability of the banking system going forward," the official added. Silicon Valley bank had $209 billion in assets at the end of last year. According to Federal Reserve data, about 30 banks had assets of more than $100 billion at the end of last year, a list that included Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The Fed and other bank regulators have indicated they are already looking to strengthen bank rules, particularly for firms between $100 billion and $250 billion in assets.

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - The secretive world of Federal Reserve bank supervision has been laid bare by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and critics say it needs an overhaul to make it more nimble, transparent and decisive. Typically, bank supervisors do most of their work behind closed doors. Bank supervision is typically conducted behind closed-doors because of concerns that publicizing bank missteps could spur bank runs and undermine confidence in the overall system. SVB's rapid growth also was a factor for Fed supervisors. Barr said part of his review would look at whether Fed supervision was appropriate for the bank's "rapid growth and vulnerabilities."

☆ This is the personality test you should take, says psychologist—it's a 'better predictor of behavior'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Aditi Shrikant | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Personality tests are often treated as objective assessments of one's innermost intentions. There is something that personality tests such as the Enneagram and Myers-Brigg aren't telling you, though: It is possible to have a bad personality. There is one test that might be better at reflecting what personality traits you have and how that could affect your behavior, he said: the International Personality Item Pool Test, or IPIP. This is often a "better predictor of behavior," he said, than the more popular personality tests. [Personality tests] don't get into the dirty underbelly of personality.

☆ Fact Check-Bill Gates was not issued an arrest warrant in the Philippines
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

One tweet said: “An arrest warrant was just issued for BILL GATES? Some users are sharing the claim alongside a March 2 story on NewsPunch that says: “Bill Gates Arrest Warrant Issued in Philippines For ‘Premeditated Murder’ Linked To Vaccine Roll Out” (archive.is/azhdX). A Gates spokesperson told Reuters that a Philippines court had not issued an arrest warrant for Gates due to the COVID-19 vaccine. The NewsPunch story says the Heinous Crimes Court in Manila, Philippines, issued the supposed arrest warrant for Gates. Bill Gates was not issued an international arrest warrant by a Philippine court, a Gates spokesperson told Reuters.

☆ Lindsey Graham says you won't find any classified documents at his home, just 'Chick-fil-A bags all over the floor'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Lindsey Graham says there aren't any classified documents at his home, just "Chick-fil-A bags all over the floor." The only thing I think you'll find at my house is a bunch of Chick-fil-A bags on the floor," Graham said during a news conference. Classified documents have been found at the homes of President Joe Biden, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former President Donald Trump. The spokesman added that Graham was "joking about the bags" — but just "a bit" — and sent several links documenting occasions where Graham was seen eating Chick-fil-A. In a tweet on July 14, 2021, Graham called the anti-Chick-fil-A protests at Notre Dame a "dangerous precedent."

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