DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Consumers continue to lack confidence in the US economy ahead of holiday shopping season
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Minneapolis CNN Business —Heading into the all-important holiday shopping season, American consumers still aren’t feeling very confident about the state of the US economy. Strong incomes have thus far helped consumers, particularly lower-wage workers, cope with high inflation,” Hsu said in a statement. About 83% of respondents to the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers said that it was a bad time to buy a home. The survey also showed that consumers’ inflation expectations for this year and five years out remained relatively unchanged at 4.9% and 3%, respectively. If consumers believe prices will remain high, that could factor into increased wage demands, which could cause businesses to raise prices.

☆ Marijuana smoke harms lungs in tobacco smokers, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Smoking weed while being a tobacco smoker may increase damage to the respiratory system, a new study found. Scans from an additional 57 nonsmokers with no preexisting lung disease, chemotherapy or other history of lung damage were used as controls. Lung damage was greater in those who smoke marijuana and tobacco compared with tobacco-only smokers, a preliminary study found. “We just don’t know if it’s a synergistic effect between the marijuana and the tobacco versus the marijuana alone.”Irreversible damage? In addition, tobacco smokers quickly exhale, while marijuana smokers often inhale and hold their breath to maximize the high, she said.

☆ Analysis: Ron DeSantis' big election night shakes 2024 White House field
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( James Oliphant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Trump would be the favorite in a primary matchup against DeSantis or any other Republican. Although he has been coy about a presidential run, supporters at his victory party chanted "Two more years!" Even if Trump mounts another presidential run, he will continue to face a dizzying array of legal headaches, including probes of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his removal of classified documents from the White House. I don't like him," said two-time Trump voter Gordon Nelson, 77, as he voted for Republican candidates in Michigan on Tuesday. At a Wednesday press conference, Biden seemed amused at the prospect of Trump and DeSantis going head-to-head.

Many Republicans managed to run ahead of former President Donald Trump’s 2020 performance in their districts. The shift in voter preferences can be seen in those districts that most directly reflect the national mood. The partisan voter index, or PVI, compares the vote in each congressional district with that of the nation, based on the past two presidential elections. For example, Mr. Trump’s average share of the vote in 2016 and 2020 was 49% in Michigan’s 8th congressional district. That is one point better than his average share of the vote nationally across those two elections, giving the district a PVI of R+1.

☆ Stubborn inflation puts Fed on deadline
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Inflation is coming down in the United States, but is still too high for comfort. The year-over-year inflation rate eased more than expected – economists polled by Refinitiv had expected 8% - but the cost of food, energy, and housing still increased dramatically. Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned on Nov. 2 that there’s a risk that expectations of higher inflation become entrenched. When Americans expect higher inflation, businesses are inclined to raise prices and workers are liable to ask for higher wages, which amplifies the increase still further. If Powell really wants to tackle the fear of inflation as well as inflation itself, something bolder might be in order.

Voters in states from across the political spectrum chose to enshrine abortion rights on Tuesday, a major victory for reproductive rights advocates in the first national election since the fall of Roe v. Wade in June. While the amendment’s defeat will not change whether Kentucky residents have abortion access if the state Supreme Court continues to allow a ban that is currently being challenged, abortion rights advocates were thrilled by voters’ support. Meanwhile, voters in two Democratic states, California and Vermont, chose to officially protect abortion rights in their constitutions. Democrats said they care most about abortion rights, while Republicans said their biggest concern was inflation, according to the poll. “Until there’s a new federal right, state constitutions are really the best avenue to ensure reproductive rights and abortion rights in any given state,” she said.

Gretchen Whitmer defeated Republican challenger Tudor Dixon on Tuesday, securing her bid for re-election and keeping a Democrat atop the critical swing state, NBC News projects. But Whitmer held on, boosted by tens of millions of dollars in ad spending that Dixon, a former right-wing commentator endorsed by former President Donald Trump, never matched. Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Whitmer, who made the shortlist as Joe Biden searched for a running mate in 2020, has been the subject of future White House speculation. Despite Michigan's swing-state status, Republicans were slow to invest there and never caught up with the other side's spending.

Efforts to investigate the 2020 election and institute changes to the state’s election procedures — the promises that helped propel DePerno onto the political map and won him former President Donald Trump’s endorsement. In Arizona, GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake has repeatedly called the 2020 election “rigged” and “stolen” during the primary only to spend most of the general election talking about immigration, education, the economy and crime. After trailing in earlier polling, both Lake and Masters appeared neck-and-neck with their opponents in the campaign’s final days. Doug Mastriano, the GOP nominee who was outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 and whose campaign paid to bus people to the pro-Trump protest that proceeded the riot, has kept the 2020 election near the forefront of his campaign. “It’s people like her,” Whitmer said of Dixon, who has baselessly raised doubts about the 2020 election results, “who are the greatest threat to our democracy right now.”Dixon has defended her use of such rhetoric.

Trump’s mendacity is arguably the Second Big Lie. Four years earlier, the Hillary Clinton campaign and leading Democrats refused to acknowledge the outcome of the 2016 election, by claiming Donald Trump was not a legitimate president. “He knows he’s an illegitimate president,” said Clinton, also three years later. She repeated this sentiment in 2020, telling The Atlantic the election “was not on the level,” and again when she called Trump’s win illegitimate. These two phenomena are inextricably linked: The 2016 election denial paved the way for Trump’s lies four years later.

☆ A Michigan judge tried to block an abortion rights measure. His ex-wife says he helped her get an abortion in college.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Jonathan-Allen-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Jonathan Allen | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

On May 18 that year, Jones said, Zahra drove her to the clinic and paid for her abortion. Michigan Supreme Court Justice Brian Zahra. Michigan CourtsAside from Zahra, Jones said she did not immediately tell anyone that she was pregnant in May 1983. The abortion-rights coalition sued to place it on the ballot, and the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of the coalition — ordering state officials to put the proposed amendment to voters on Nov. 8. She calculated her menstrual cycle and told Zahra she thought she might be pregnant.

MIDLAND, Mich. — The closing days of Michigan’s midterm elections for governor and other statewide offices have erupted into a scramble, with tightening polls, hostile tones and dire warnings from both parties. “As the state of Michigan goes, so goes the whole country, and as the United States of America goes, so goes the globe,” Democratic Gov. “It’s really about power for them,” Dixon said Wednesday night at a rally here in Midland. “I will always follow the Constitution,” Dixon told reporters after her rally in Midland. “So we got six days, six more days.

But the door knockers didn't explain where to vote or promote a candidate, the usual work of canvassers ahead of a big election. At another, they listed names of registered voters and demanded to know if they still lived at the address. In at least one state, Michigan, they plan to use their list of alleged irregularities to challenge voters in the Nov. 8 election. Reuters identified at least 23 state-wide or local efforts where canvassers may have crossed the line into intimidation, according to election officials and voting rights lawyers. This August, people affiliated with USEIP were also canvassing in La Plata County, according to the county clerk.

☆ Election Day is Nov. 8, but the legal challenges have already begun
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

The suits, largely by Republicans, target rules over mail-in voting, early voting, voter access, voting machines, voting registration, the counting of mismarked absentee ballots and access for partisan poll watchers. But their legal effort ahead of the election focuses on making voting easier and helping those denied a chance to vote, through legal hotlines and volunteers. But the bulk of this litigation generally occurs after the votes have been cast, not before Election Day. Trump’s own leadership found the election was fair, and state election officials nationwide saw no widespread evidence of fraud. There’s growing concern among election officials and law enforcement about overly aggressive poll watchers or people pretending to be poll watchers intimidating voters.

☆ 3 men convicted of supporting plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Whitmer
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Three men accused of supporting a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor were convicted of all charges Wednesday, a triumph for state prosecutors after months of mixed results in the main case in federal court. They held gun drills in rural Jackson County with a leader of the scheme, Adam Fox, who was disgusted with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other officials in 2020 and said he wanted to kidnap her. Prosecutors said COVID-19 restrictions ordered by Whitmer turned out to be fruit to recruit more people to the Watchmen. Defense attorneys argued that the three men had broken ties with Fox by late summer 2020 when the Whitmer plot came into focus.

☆ Omicron subvariants pose a new threat to people with immune deficiencies
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Benjamin Ryan | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Troubling recent reports reveal the emergence of new omicron subvariants that not only evade AstraZeneca’s Evusheld, the antibody drug authorized to prevent Covid infection, but also the sole antibody drug that has retained effectiveness as treatment for Covid, Eli Lilly’s bebtelovimab. Doctors have cautioned that should Laura get Covid, this could aggravate her autoimmune disease and lead to catastrophic kidney damage. Evusheld is a long-acting antibody injection given every six months that studies have suggested provides a robust buffer to the immunosuppressed. For now, immunocompromised people are anxiously watching the pandemic forecast to see if the subvariants that research indicates evade monoclonal antibodies will become predominant. “If fewer people are prescribed Evusheld,” she said, “there’s less incentive for drug companies to start developing newer therapeutics.

A Michigan family of four who were reported missing after the father displayed what officials called paranoid behavior were spotted this week at a gas station, police said Friday. Family members last had contact with the Ciriglianos on Sunday, officials said. Missing Cirigliano family members, from top left, Suzette, Anthony, bottom left, Noah and Brandon. Earlier Sunday, Anthony Cirigliano called 911 and reported he had information about Sept. 11. Gulliver, where the family stopped at a gas station, is around 170 miles north of Fremont, which is a city of around 4,100 north of Grand Rapids.

☆ New York Financial Regulator Wants to Lead on Crypto, Climate Change
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Mengqi Sun | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

New York’s financial regulator, which oversees insurance companies and state-chartered banks, already plays an outsize role in financial services, with many other states following its lead on regulation and enforcement. Ms. Harris seeks to bring that leadership role to other areas, including crypto and climate change. She served as a senior adviser at the Treasury Department and as head of an Obama administration financial task force. One of the benefits of being a state regulator is that you can move fast and be nimble; you can respond to changes in the marketplace. The other thing that we’ve done is really calling out the tension between climate goals and fair-lending and equity goals.

He’s scheduled to headline a Saturday rally for Dixon and other GOP candidates in the state. Through Nov. 8, Whitmer and the Democrats have reserved $24 million in ads for the Michigan governor’s race. And the two most recent polls have shown Whitmer leading Dixon by double digits. “Isn’t that sad that Democrats have to spend so much money?” Dixon said at a news conference Tuesday when asked if she was disappointed in the lack of assistance for her campaign. The Republican Governors Association still has $3.6 million budgeted for ads in Michigan, though a spokesperson acknowledged the funding gap.

☆ GOP nominee jokes about 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Tudor Dixon, Michigan’s GOP nominee for governor, joked about a 2020 kidnapping plot against rival Gov. Gretchen Whitmer during a pair of campaign events Friday, sparking swift denunciations from Democrats. For someone so worried about getting kidnapped, Gretchen Whitmer sure is good at taking business hostage and holding it for ransom,” Dixon said at one event. Later that day, in describing a recent appearance by Whitmer, Dixon said, “The look on her face was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is happening. “Multiple people were convicted in a domestic terrorist plot to kidnap the Governor and Tudor Dixon thinks it’s a laughing matter,” Newton tweeted.

Ron DeSantis overpowered his own Legislature to pass a map that adds an additional four GOP seats. Nationally, Republicans are likely to net three to four House seats from new maps alone — most of the five seats they need to regain the majority. There are 36 House Democrats not running for re-election, mostly because many opted to retire rather than risk serving in the wilderness of the minority. And there’s state Sen. Jen Kiggans, a nurse practitioner and former Navy pilot challenging Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria in Virginia Beach. MAGA primary takeoversIn a handful of races, Republicans have nominated hardcore pro-Trump candidates who could jeopardize their ability to win swing seats.

☆ The Covid-19 emergency may end, but there’s no rule to say when the pandemic is over
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

For now, it remains a public health emergency in the United States, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, and it’s still a public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC, according to WHO. Each country, in turn, declares its own public health emergency – declarations that carry legal weight. In the United States, for example, the end of the public health emergency will have ramifications for health care coverage and cost-sharing of Covid-19 tests and treatments. At this point, WHO is not saying whether it will recognize an end to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, he said, WHO will continue to assess the need for the public health emergency, and an expert committee meets every three months to do that.

☆ Father's Day: 5 animal dads worse than you
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-19 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Glenn Boozan's "There Are Moms Way Worse Than You: Irrefutable Proof That You Are Indeed a Fantastic Parent" features a few "bad" animal fathers, too. Workman PublishingQuestionable animal fathers include grizzly bears that eat their young when food is scarce, and lions that primarily stand guard and look tough while female lions venture out to hunt and kill. Male pipefish that were less interested in the pipefish mothers were less nurturing toward their young, investing fewer resources in them. David Tipling/Education Images/Universal Images Group/Getty Images“Horses seem like super dads, but, eh, they’re not the best,” Boozan wrote. “Buying a specific swaddling blanket or a different kind of Binky isn’t going to make you a better or worse parent,” Boozan said.

Persons: Glenn Boozan’s, ” Priscilla Witte, Glenn Boozan's, ” Boozan, Pipefish, David Tipling, “ They’ll, Diamanto, can’t, Guenter Fischer, “, Boozan Organizations: CNN, Workman Publishing, M University, Royal Society B, Stallions, Diversity, University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology Locations: Stigmatopora, Edithburgh, Yorke, South Australia, Texas, Camargue, Provence, France, Peru

☆ (foto) Doi fotografi NASA au surprins ultima eclipsă inelară până în anul 2023. Cum au văzut fenomenul internauții
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-18 | by ( Onixmedia Srl | ) diez.md time to read: +1 min

(foto) Doi fotografi NASA au surprins ultima eclipsă inelară până în anul 2023. Astfel, pentru toți cei care au fost departe de locurile în care s-a manifestat eclipsa, fotografii NASA Bill Ingalls și Aubrey Gemignani au făcut publice o serie de fotografii, care demonstrează fenomentul în toată frumusețea lui. Pe lângă fotografiile realizate de Ingalls și Gemignani, au existat alte numeroase persoane care s-au trezit devreme pentru a surprinde eclipsa de soare. The annular #solareclipse2021 rose perfectly through Michigan’s mighty Mackinac Bridge this morning at sunrise. pic.twitter.com/d4fM3gCdvI — Brady Kenniston (@TheFavoritist) June 10, 2021Sunrise was a bit different this morning… #solareclipse2021 pic.twitter.com/S8x32UnIS6 — Berry Gordy La Forge (@noblerzen) June 10, 2021

Persons: NASA Bill Ingalls, Aubrey Gemignani, Brady, June, Berry Gordy Organizations: NASA, sunrise Locations: Canadei, Groenlanda, Forge

Search resuls for: "Michigan’s"

23 mentions found