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☆ Bluesky's 'acceleration is tremendous' as users flock to the new 'old Twitter'
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-19 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Many new Bluesky users are praising the feeling on the site as being similar to "old Twitter." This week, the app shot to the top of Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store, and a Bluesky spokesperson told Business Insider it hit 18.3 million registered users. Advertisement"Consumers, time and time again, show us that they will put a brand in jeopardy if the leadership is associated with ideology the consumers don't care for," Lind told Business Insider. A spokesperson for Bluesky told Business Insider that the platform aims to give users more choice and offer creators independence from being locked into specific platforms. A few weeks ago, Bluesky had less than 1 million daily users in the US, "so the acceleration is tremendous," said David Carr, an editor at Similarweb.

Persons: Bluesky, Elon Musk's, Jonathan Bellack, Mark Cuban, he'd, That's, Stephen Lind, Lind, We've, Jack Dorsey, Twitter, Dorsey, David Carr Organizations: Social, Business, Applied Social Media, Cuban, Meta, USC Marshall School of Business, Bluesky, Twitter Locations: Similarweb

☆ Sweden told people to open their hearts to immigrants 10 years ago. Its U-turn has been dramatic
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-07 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Sweden registered 81,301 asylum seekers in 2014, data shows. Jonas Ekstromer | Afp | Getty Images"It pains me that Sweden is no longer capable of receiving asylum seekers at the high level we do today. Since then, Sweden's immigration policy has been on a one-way street. A decade ago, all member states of the European Union were encouraged to welcome asylum seekers and refugees fleeing conflict zones in the Middle East, notably Syria but also Iraq and Afghanistan. This year, Sweden is expected to have its lowest number of asylum seekers since 1997.

Persons: Laurie Noble, Sweden's, Fredrik Reinfeldt, Jonas Ekstromer, Stefan Löfven, Jimmie Akesson, Ulf Kristersson, Ebba Busch, Johan Pehrson, Kristersson, Linnea Rheborg, Jacob Lind, " Lind, Lind, Lesbos Spencer Platt, Migration Maria Malmer Stenergard Organizations: Stone, Getty, Afp, Sweden Democrats, Sweden, Moderate, Liberal, Christian Democrats, Malmö University, CNBC, European, UN Refugee Agency, Swedish Migration Agency, EU, Migration, Nurphoto Locations: Stockholm, Sweden, Europe, Syria, Malmo, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Afghanistan, Swedish, Sundbyberg, Germany, Lesbos, Stockholm City

☆ Opinion | Trump’s Transformation of the Republican Party Is Complete
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-20 | by ( Michael Lind | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The selection of Senator JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate suggests that the answer is yes. Even the most successful political parties are coalitions of odd bedfellows and competing interests. The Republican Party we saw in Milwaukee this past week has been fundamentally changed. With Mr. Vance at his back, leading a new counterestablishment that Mr. Vance helped shape, Mr. Trump has cemented his legacy — and transformed the Republican Party. Until recently, there was no counterestablishment in the Republican Party.

Persons: Trumpism, Donald Trump, JD Vance, Ohio, Trump, Ronald Reagan, Mitt Romney, Trump’s, Vance Organizations: Republican, Republican Party Locations: Milwaukee

While millions of people recover from the morning wakeup call of a 4.8-magnitude earthquake rocking the East Coast, a small group of people are feeling seriously left out. That's because some people said they completely missed the earthquake that rocked apartment buildings and shook homes. Posts flooded onto X with people declaring they had earthquake FOMO (fear of missing out). Some posted on X and said their group chats were blowing up with texts about an earthquake that they had missed. Many simply said they felt left out.

Persons: Sara Lind, Spencer Platt, Lind, Lind isn't, Veronica Phillips, Phillips, ” “, ” Lind, — Organizations: New, NBC, New York University Locations: Coast, Manhattan, New York City, New Jersey, New York

☆ They moved into floating homes and houseboats — and discovered a world of adventure and hidden expenses
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Amanda Goh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Read previewMoving into their 360-square-foot floating home a year ago was a dream come true for Sarah Spiro and Brandon Jones. In 2023, there were 70 floating home sales reported on the Regional Multiple Listing Service, or RMLS, which covers the Portland area and a significant part of northwest Oregon, Portland Floating Homes real-estate broker John McPherson told BI. Lily and Dylan Rose moved onto their houseboat on Lake Union in Seattle in June 2019. AdvertisementHome insurance for a floating house tends to be about double what it is for a regular house on land, McPherson said. Additionally, the float — the part of the floating house that's equivalent to a foundation — deteriorates over time, McPherson said.

Persons: —, Sarah Spiro, Brandon Jones, Spiro, keepingafloatwiththejoneses Spiro, Jones, keepingafloatwiththejoneses, Adam Lind, @adam.floatinghome, It's, John McPherson, Lily, Dylan Rose, Elizabeth Earle, BI's Jordan Pandy, Earle, Elizabeth Earle Earle's, McPherson, Daryl Fairweather, Redfin's, Realtor.com, Hannah Jones, it's, Laura Woodley, Woodley, isn't, Kate Fincham, Fincham, Lily Rose, Dylan, Rose, she's Organizations: Service, Business, Portland Floating Homes, Realtor.com, Union, Trust, England & Wales, Lake Union Locations: Fontana Lake, North Carolina, Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Sausalito , California, Johns Island , South Carolina, England, Bluffers Park, Toronto, Lake, Boston

☆ AI, autonomous systems, and digital connectivity could help ships cut emissions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Amanda Paule | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Autonomous and AI systems could help reduce ships' fuel use. "The only time the maritime industry is ever on the front page of a paper is when there's an accident. Sea Machines RoboticsJohnson said he saw that decarbonization was not only a bonus of Sea Machines' technology but its best value proposition. The Sea Machines Robotics team can monitor (and celebrate) autonomous vessel operations from a control room. Smart-Ship's "Throttle & Bow Buster" is one of three force-feedback levers they offer to help ships increase safety and fuel savings.

Persons: —, AP Moller, Michael Johnson, Johnson, who's, Sea Machines Robotics Johnson, decarbonization, they've, Jelle, Jelle Tiemensma, Sofia Fürstenberg Stott, Stott, Mikael Lind, Lind Organizations: Service, International Maritime Organization, AP Moller, Maersk, AP, AP Moller Holding, Business, Companies, Crowley, Machines, Sea Machines Robotics, Machines Robotics, Smart, Sofia, Sustainable Shipping, Research Institutes of Sweden, International

☆ SAS secures $1.2 billion from consortium led by Castlelake, Air France for restructuring
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The tail fin of a parked Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) airplane is seen on the tarmac at Copenhagen Airport Kastrup in Copenhagen, Denmark, July 3, 2022. The winning bidder consortium which also includes Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA), Lind Invest ApS and the Danish state, increased its proposed investment by $25.26 million. The airline's credit agreement for $505.25 million with Castlelake will be used to refinance its loans, increase liquidity and support its exit from voluntary restructuring proceedings, according to the statement. SAS's chief executive, Anko van der Werff, said: "By entering into this investment agreement, SAS is taking the next step in its Chapter 11 process in the U.S."The company now seeks U.S. Court approval of the investment agreement and the new debtor-in-possession financing as soon as possible in November. Castlelake and Lind Invest did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Lind, Castlelake, Anko van der Werff, Gursimran Kaur, Emelia Sithole, Philippa Fletcher, Ira Iosebashvili, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Airlines, SAS, Copenhagen, REUTERS, Scandinavian, Castlelake, Apollo Global Management, Air France, KLM, Lind Invest ApS, Air, U.S, Apollo Global, Lind Invest, Thomson Locations: Copenhagen, Denmark, Danish, Air France, U.S, United States, Bengaluru

Deb Perelman, the best-selling cookbook author and creator of Smitten Kitchen, tends to focus her social media posts on her work, like pasta or chocolate chip cookie recipes. Of course, many people see immense importance in posting on social media about the war. Social media feeds have focused on major news events many times before. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a uniquely thorny and divisive issue to navigate on social media, though, particularly for those not educated about the region or its history, or who are still forming their opinions. People of both faiths have asked her to post about the war on social media, she said, and sending her graphic images.

Persons: Deb Perelman, “, ”, Perelman, ” Ms, —, outpourings, Israel, Phoebe Lind, Maddie Coppola, Israel ”, Coppola, Ms, Andrey Romanov, Nazhath Faheema, Faheema, — they’re, Minaa, ’ ”, Agneez Kang, Kang, ” Yiwen Lu Organizations: Harvard, Artforum, Harper’s, Facebook, LinkedIn Locations: Israel, Gaza, Washington, New York, Singapore, ”

For more than a decade, work had been nonstop in Atlanta’s booming film industry thanks to Georgia’s extremely generous tax break. Having now gone nearly five months without film work, O'Hare has been relying on a combination of savings, unemployment checks and odd jobs he's been doing for his grandmother's neighbors, including lawnmowing and pressure washing. He hopes the actors will soon reach a deal, though a recent breakdown in negotiations had quelled some optimism. Even with a deal, O'Hare knows it could still be months before he's back on set. She feels Atlanta-based actors are frequently overlooked by casting agents who still focus on New York and Los Angeles talent pools.

Persons: soundstages, they’ll, ”, Ed O'Hare, O'Hare, Del, “ I've, It's, he's, Alex Buhlig, Buhlig, IATSE —, ’, “, ” Buhlig, —, Ethan Embry, Embry, “ Grace, Frankie, “ It’s, ” Bethany Anne Lind, Atlanta's, ” Lind, it's, Lind, I’m, I'm, There’s, it’s Organizations: ATLANTA, Marvel, International Alliance, IATSE, O'Hare, Screen, American Federation of Television, Radio Artists, AP, New, SAG Locations: ”, Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Del Toro, L.A, LA, Georgia, Angeles, Netflix's, Hollywood

☆ A GOP congressman says he received a notice of eviction for one of his district offices over his opposition to Jim Jordan's now-derailed speakership bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Ken Buck was opposed to Rep. Jim Jordan's now-unsuccessful bid for the House speakership. Buck received heavy backlash for his stance, and his district offices were flooded with calls. The GOP congressman told NBC News he received an eviction notice for one of his offices over his position. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. I have a notice of an eviction because the landlord is mad with my voting record on the speaker issue."

Persons: Ken Buck, Jim Jordan's, Buck, —, wouldn't, Kevin McCarthy of, Jordan, Kristen Welker, I've, Martin Lind, Lind —, Donald Trump, Sen, Cory Gardner, Herschel Walker, Lind, Joe Biden's, Donald Trump didn't Organizations: GOP, NBC News, Service, Colorado Republican, NBC, Pelican, Colorado, Colorado Sun Locations: Weld County, Kevin McCarthy of California, Colorado, Windsor , Colorado, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Georgia, Castle Rock , Colorado

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCOPENHAGEN, Oct 13 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Apollo Global Management (APO.N) is seeking to join the consortium that Scandinavian airline SAS (SAS.ST) last week picked to take it through bankruptcy proceedings, according to a source familiar with the matter. Long-struggling SAS, ravaged by the pandemic and pressured by low-cost rivals, sought bankruptcy protection last year. SAS announced last week that Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) and U.S. investment firm Castlelake would become new major shareholders alongside the Danish state. Total investments by new shareholders, which also include Danish investment firm Lind Invest, in the reorganized SAS would amount to 12.9 billion Swedish crowns ($1.18 billion). SAS, Castlelake, Air France-KLM and Apollo all declined to comment.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Lind, Tim Hepher, Greg Roumeliotis, Josie Kao Organizations: Airlines, SAS, Copenhagen, REUTERS, Rights, Apollo Global Management, Scandinavian, Air France, KLM, U.S ., Lind Invest, Castlelake, Apollo, Thomson Locations: Copenhagen, Denmark, Rights COPENHAGEN, Danish, U.S, Air

☆ SAS slides 95% as Scandinavian airline's shareholders wiped out
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Louise Rasmussen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

COPENHAGEN, Oct 4 (Reuters) - SAS shares slumped by as much as 95% on Wednesday after the airline announced a financial restructuring on Tuesday to prevent bankruptcy, bringing on board big new investors and wiping out the stakes of its more than 250,000 owners. SAS (SAS.ST) said U.S. investment firm Castlelake and Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) would become new major shareholders alongside the Danish state, and that the airline's stock will be delisted from the Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo exchanges. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) flights are seen listed at Copenhagen Airport Kastrup in Copenhagen, Denmark, July 3, 2022. Shares in SAS, which have tumbled in recent years, traded down 83% at 1144 GMT to 0.05 Swedish crowns ($0.0045). "Management itself has come out to say there was a risk that the shares will become worthless.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Lind, Jacob Pedersen, Pedersen, Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Anna Ringstrom, Terje Solsvik, Alexander Smith Organizations: SAS, Air France, KLM, France, Scandinavian Airlines, Copenhagen, REUTERS, Lind Invest, Thomson Locations: COPENHAGEN, United States, Danish, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Amsterdam, Paris, Denmark

☆ SAS stock dives 95% as restructuring announced
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) flights are seen listed at Copenhagen Airport Kastrup in Copenhagen, Denmark, July 3, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCOPENHAGEN, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Shares in SAS (SAS.ST) tumbled 95% at market open on Wednesday after the Scandinavian airline announced new big shareholders late on Tuesday in a restructuring that will see the group delisted from bourses and existing ownership stakes erased. SAS said U.S. investment firm Castlelake and Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) would become new major shareholders in the airline alongside the Danish state following bankruptcy proceedings. Castlelake will take a stake of about 32%, Air France-KLM will own around 20%, Lind Invest 8.6% and the Danish state will hold about 26%, SAS said. SAS shares, which already tumbled in recent years traded down 79% at 0742 GMT to 0.06 Swedish crowns ($0.0054).

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Lind, Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Anna Ringstrom, Terje Solsvik Organizations: Scandinavian Airlines, SAS, Copenhagen, REUTERS, Rights, Air France, KLM, Lind Invest, Thomson Locations: Copenhagen, Denmark, Rights COPENHAGEN, Danish, United States, Stockholm

☆ European airline SAS tanks 95% after restructuring deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Sophie Kiderlin | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Shares in Scandinavian airline SAS plunged by 95% as markets opened on Wednesday, after the company announced a restructuring deal late on Tuesday that will see it delisted from exchanges. Losses have since pared back, with shares last down by around 83% at 7:26 a.m. The Danish government is expected to own roughly 26% of SAS, whilst Danish investment firm Lind Invest will have a 8.6% stake, according to SAS. "All of SAS AB's common shares and listed commercial hybrid bonds are expected to be cancelled, redeemed and delisted," SAS said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that this process is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2024. The airline filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. in July 2022 amid mounting pressures from pilot strikes and low demand in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Persons: Castlelake, Lind Organizations: SAS, Air France, KLM Locations: U.S

☆ Airline SAS says investment firm Castlelake, Air France-KLM to become new shareholders
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TT News Agency/Johan Nilsson via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCOPENHAGEN, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Scandinavian airline SAS (SAS.ST) said on Tuesday that investment firm Castlelake and Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) would become new major shareholders in the airline alongside the Danish state following bankruptcy proceedings. Castlelake will take a stake of around 32%, Air France-KLM's will be around 20%, while the Danish state will hold about 26%, SAS said. Lind Invest, a Danish investment firm, will hold 8.6% of equity, SAS said. The company said total investments in the reorganized SAS would amount to 12.9 billion Swedish crowns ($1.16 billion). ($1 = 11.1283 Swedish crowns)Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Louise Rasmussen, editing by Gwladys FoucheOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Johan Nilsson, Castlelake, Lind, Carsten Dilling, Dilling, Jacob Gronholt, Pedersen, Louise Rasmussen, Gwladys Organizations: SAS Airbus, Kastrup, Scandinavian Airlines, TT News Agency, REUTERS, Rights, Scandinavian, SAS, Air France, KLM, Air, Lind Invest, Apollo Global Management, Thomson Locations: Kastrup, Denmark, Rights COPENHAGEN, Danish, Air France, Stockholm, United States

So you may have heard about girl dinner, hot girl walks, girl rotting. When we haven’t been hot girl walking, we have been girl rotting or laying in our beds and doing nothing for hours and hours on end. We’ve been having our hot girl dinners, as I mentioned. The trick of a hot girl walk and girl dinner and hot girl summer and even girl rotting in our beds is that these things happen outside the influence of the male gaze. You should go out on your hot girl walk, and you should certainly think about the things you’re grateful for and how hot you are.

Persons: —, We’ve, Mia Lind, It’s, millennials, they’re, I’ve, chafing, ” They’re, Dobbs, You’re, Girlhood, we’re Locations: United States

"Increasingly we are going to turn used clothes into raw material from Europe for fashion companies." Also in Spain, rivals including H&M, Mango and Inditex have created a non-profit association to manage clothing waste, responding to an EU law requiring member states to separate textiles from other waste from January 2025. OBSTACLESThe obstacles to significantly reducing clothing waste are formidable, despite the EU crackdown, industry sustainability commitments and initiatives like the Moda Re expansion. Adidas (ADSGn.DE), Bestseller, and H&M (HMb.ST) have invested in Finnish start-up Infinited Fiber Company, which manufactures fibre out of textile waste, cardboard and paper. As in Spain, textile waste associations would be set up in each country.

Persons: Albert Alberich, Inditex, Dijana Lind, Hugo Boss, Lind, Moda, Aissatou Boukoum, Mauro Scalia, Corina Pons, Helen Reid, Horaci Garcia, Nacho, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: BARCELONA, Moda, Caritas, Union, European Commission, Union Investment, Adidas, McKinsey, Reuters, EU, ReHubs, Moda Re, United Nations, Inditex, Puma, Infinited Fiber Company, Thomson Locations: Spain, Barcelona, Spanish, Europe, Zara, Bilbao, Valencia, EU, Frankfurt, ReHubs Europe, Mali, Sant, AFRICA, Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, Africa, Senegalese, Germany, Texaid, Switzerland, Vestisolidale, Italy, France, EURATEX, Madrid, London, Nacho Doce

☆ It's Hot Girl Walk versus Hot Girl Walk after TikTok trend-starter says a Florida company is infringing on her trademark
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Hot Girl Walk is suing a company formerly known as Hot Girl Walk Miami for copyright infringement. The lawsuit claims that Hot Girl Walk Miami created confusion between the two brands. The Hot Girl Walk trend, which originated on TikTok, encourages four-mile outdoor walks for women. Hot Girl Walk asks that the pair be permanently banned from selling merch with the Hot Girl Walk Miami branding. The company also asks to recoup any profits made by their competitor while selling Hot Girl Walk Miami merchandise.

Persons: Monica Villegas, Lucia Di Tore, Lind, Amelia Lind, Villegas, Di Tore Organizations: Service, Miami, Walk Locations: Miami, Wall, Silicon, Delaware, Florida, Walk Miami

☆ Taylor Swift should be making even more money, but the economics of today's music industry hold her back, says Paul Krugman
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

By historic standards, Taylor Swift should be making much more money, Paul Krugman wrote. But live performances "serve a smaller niche of demand than they used to," he said in a NY Times op-ed. It's a question Paul Krugman posed on Tuesday in his most recent New York Times column, which is titled "Is Taylor Swift Underpaid?" It has allowed Swift concerts to book between $11 million-$12 million a night on her current tour. "As I said, the real question, arguably, is why Swift isn't making even more money."

Persons: Taylor Swift, Paul Krugman, —, Swift, Krugman, Jenny Lind, Lind, That's Organizations: Service, New York Times

☆ The ‘breakout travel trend’ of the decade: What to know about expedition cruising
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Helen Iatrou | Chris Dwyer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Instagram posts — which often showcase trips to Antarctica — may have given expedition cruising more publicity, but this form of cruising isn't new. Today, there is stiff competition among expedition cruise lines to launch more technologically advanced vessels and to secure onboard talent. Source: Aurora ExpeditionsNoah Brodsky, chief commercial officer of Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic, described expedition cruising as the "breakout travel trend of the decade." Expedition cruising is also a good option for the growing number of solo travelers. "Unfortunately, this has meant the new expedition cruise ships have become larger and the expedition experience itself has been sacrificed," he told CNBC.

Persons: LIND, Costa, Greg Mortimer, Carlo Raciti, Bronwyn Stephenson, Aurora expeditioner, Lindblad, Mensun, Robert Bindschadler, Hayley Peacock, Gower, Aurora's Hayley Peacock, Noah Brodsky, James Cole, Hillary, Cousteau, Shackleton, Cole, Xers, hadn't, Carl Raciti, Andrew Marsh, Commandant Charcot, Stefanie Schmudde Organizations: Aurora Expeditions, Panama's UNESCO, Expeditions, Lindblad Expeditions, NASA, Aurora, Geographic, CNBC, Expedition, Cruisers, Environmental, Abercrombie, Kent Locations: Australia, Panama, Costa Rica, Aurora, Antarctica, Its, Greenland, Alaska, Galapagos, French Polynesia, Western, Kimberley, Central, South America

☆ The American Asylum Lottery Is, Shockingly, a Rare Border Success Story - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Dara Lind | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

And it must work toward evaluating everyone’s asylum claims on the merits. The lottery doesn’t determine who wins asylum; it chooses who’s allowed to apply for it. Hundreds of slots a day are assigned to asylum seekers waiting on the Mexican side of the border, who’ve signed up for the lottery using the CBP One app, run by Customs and Border Protection. Those who are selected are given an appointment time 13 days in advance, at a port of entry. Everyone else has to meet a far higher standard to be allowed to file a full asylum application and face an immigration judge.

☆ Japan Is America’s Most Essential Ally - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Jennifer Lind | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ever since World War II ended, Japan has been passing the buck. Sheltered by the postwar U.S. security alliance, Japan provided bases for American forces but kept its own military spending remarkably low for a country of its size and wealth, resisting American urging to share more of the burden. But Japan is the linchpin of today’s paramount geopolitical competition — China’s push for regional dominance of East Asia — and it is America’s most essential ally. for decades), and a Japanese public still traumatized by defeat in World War II. It also reassured Asian nations that Japan would not again embark on overseas aggression.

☆ Through Catastrophe, and in Community, the Art of Daniel Lind-Ramos
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Holland Cotter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I often remember big museum roundups of new art for a single standout entry. In the case of the 2019 Whitney Biennial, the memory of a regally enigmatic sculpture titled “María-María” by the Puerto Rican artist Daniel Lind-Ramos won’t let go. The head was a lacquered coconut; her oceanic cloak was a plastic FEMA tarp. Whatever the work’s meanings, the Whitney curators accurately gauged its potency. They set it apart from everything else, as if on an altar, in a niche-like west-facing window, with open sky and the Hudson River as backdrop.

☆ America Pays a High Price for Low Wages
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Michael Lind | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

In “The Wealth of Nations,” the founding text of free-market economics, Adam Smith took it for granted that workers should be paid enough to cover the living costs of themselves and their dependents. “A man must always live by his work, and his wages must at least be sufficient to maintain him,” wrote Smith. “They must even upon most occasions be somewhat more, otherwise it would be impossible for him to bring up a family, and the race of such workmen could not last beyond the first generation.”In the last half-century, policy makers of both parties in the U.S. have successfully refuted Adam Smith. It turns out that it is indeed possible to pay wages to workers that are too low for their own maintenance, much less that of their families. This depends on using means-tested welfare programs like the earned-income tax credit (EITC), food stamps and housing vouchers, all of which compensate for wages that are too low for workers to live on.

☆ Inside the Rise and Fall of Kittyhawk, Larry Page's Failed Flying Car Company
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Hugh Langley | Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

Killing off projects had become something of a tradition at Kittyhawk, the secretive flying-car startup launched by the Google cofounder Larry Page. Larry Page has used his Google money to found a series of flying car companies with one common goal: "to free the world of traffic." "When Bloomberg did their original exposé, that's when urban air mobility became a thing," a former Kittyhawk employee recalled. Everyone thought: If Larry Page is in this space, there must be something here." Interpreting "Larry-isms" or "learning to speak Larry" were essential skills for any Kittyhawk employee who wanted to retain their sanity.

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