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☆ Why Elon Musk's push to cut federal waste might succeed where others failed
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are promising to tame the federal government. Substantial changes to the federal budget would most likely require action from legislators, though Trump transition officials are reportedly looking for ways to short-circuit Congress' power over spending. AdvertisementPast presidents have tried to cut the federal budget with mixed successThe federal government isn't a business. AdvertisementClinton took another stab at cutting federal spending and improving government processes with his National Performance Review, which was led and staffed by federal employees instead of the private sector. AdvertisementSocial Security and Medicare are the two single biggest areas of federal spending, and changing them could be politically unpopular.

Persons: Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, they've, Trump, Reagan, Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, David Walker, J, Peter Grace, Grace, didn't, Musk, Ramaswamy, Thomas Schatz, hasn't, Lex Fridman's, Veronique de Rugy, —, de Rugy Organizations: Government, Department of Government, Trump, Congress, Government Waste, Grace, Office, Citizens, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Aviation Administration, SpaceX, Social, Cato Institute, Social Security, GOP

Support for left-wing parties surged unexpectedly in nationwide legislative elections on Sunday, pushing the nationalist, anti-immigration National Rally into third place. The electoral map showed enduring divisions — with Paris and its suburbs voting for the left and center, and the regions in the far north and south along the Mediterranean voting for the far right. The country’s political outlook appeared more muddled than before, with three large political blocs, each with a vastly different vision and plan for the country.

Organizations: Rally Locations: Paris

☆ People are too optimistic about the prospect of many rate cuts, says Mercatus' Veronique De Rugy
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailPeople are too optimistic about the prospect of many rate cuts, says Mercatus' Veronique De RugyVeronique De Rugy, political economy chair at the Mercatus Center, Ben Harris, Brookings Institution economic policy director, and CNBC's Steve Liesman join 'Squawk Box' to react to May's PCE report and more.

Persons: Mercatus, Veronique De Rugy Veronique De Rugy, Ben Harris, Steve Liesman Organizations: Mercatus, Brookings, PCE

☆ The Mushroom Hunters Can’t Stop Finding Mysterious Fungi
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Rachel Bujalski | Veronique Greenwood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Strange things appear in the forests and chaparral of California after a big rain. Invigorated by the damp, fungi living quietly in the soil sprout fruiting bodies. With each emergence comes a chance for mushroom hunters to identify new species. As many as 95 percent of the planet’s fungal species have yet to be described, according to a 2023 report from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. With sequencing, fungus enthusiasts often identify fungi that are the first examples of their kind in the databases.

Persons: Mandie Quark Organizations: Royal Botanic, California’s, Survey Locations: California, Kew

☆ What is shrinkflation? Here’s why consumers may be getting less for their money
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Pixelseffect | E+ | Getty ImagesSome grocery store products are providing less for your money. At the State of the Union, he again took a stand against shrinkflation, complaining that Snickers bars have become smaller. on X earlier this month, the White House responded, "C is for consumers getting ripped off." Where consumers may see shrinkflationFor now, it's up to consumers to spot the changes companies may make to their products. Why critics say shrinkflation is the wrong focusWhile shrinkflation is now under the political spotlight, not all experts agree the emphasis is correctly placed.

Persons: Joe Biden, Cookie, Biden, hasn't, Cookie Monster, Mara Weinraub, Weinraub, Shrinkflation, shrinkflation, Veronique de Rugy, de Rugy, David Doyle, Justin Sullivan Organizations: State, Union, shrinkflation, White, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, of Labor, Finance, Social, Federal, Labor Statistics, of Labor Statistics, George Mason University, Costco, Getty Locations: U.S, California, Macquarie, Novato , California

☆ Daddy Longlegs Have Been Hiding Extra Eyes From Us
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Veronique Greenwood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Guilherme Gainett, then a biologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was looking through a microscope at the embryo of a daddy longlegs when he saw it — or, rather, saw them. Daddy longlegs, the group of splendidly leggy arachnids also known as harvestmen, have been thought to have just two eyes. Arachnids include spiders, scorpions, harvestmen and other arthropods, and divining the relationships among this sprawling group of organisms is tricky. For the current study, Dr. Gainett used fluorescent tags to study the development of harvestman eyes. These findings suggest that the neural architecture that handles the daddy longlegs’ vision may be quite old.

Persons: Guilherme Gainett, Daddy longlegs, Gainett, Prashant Sharma Organizations: University of Wisconsin, Boston Children’s Hospital Locations: Madison

☆ A New Creature Emerges From a Forest Drowned by the Gulf of Mexico
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Veronique Greenwood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But this mussel was tiny and pale and, strangest of all, lived a mere 60 feet or so down. Dr. Distel and his colleagues discovered the mussel while they were investigating an ancient underwater forest off the coast of Alabama. During the last ice age, bald cypresses grew in what was then a swamp a hundred miles from the ocean. Then, sometime between 45,000 and 70,000 years ago, as sea levels rose, the trees were swallowed by the advancing sea. For millenniums, all was still in the forest, until heavy waves stirred up by one of the hurricanes of 2004 scooped away the sand.

Persons: Dan Distel, wasn’t, Distel, Vadumodiolus, cypresses, Ben Raines Organizations: Genome, Northeastern University Locations: Boston, Alabama, Gulf of Mexico

☆ Clothing brands failing to eradicate forced labor risk in supply chains, research finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

(Photo by Edward Berthelot/Getty Images)Many of the world's major fashion brands are failing to address forced labor in their supply chains, according to a report, with French luxury giant LVMH among the worst performers. The research from KnowTheChain, an organization focused on forced labor in supply chains, analyzed 65 companies for exposure to forced labor risk. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, KnowTheChain said companies scored on average 21/100. "They remain largely reactive to human rights violations, rather than evidencing robust, embedded human rights and environmental due diligence practices designed to prevent them," it added. "As such, it demonstrates that a corporate strategy which embeds human rights due diligence does not have to come at the cost of long-term sustainable growth or investor returns."

Persons: Louis, Yayoi, Louis Vuitton, Edward Berthelot, KnowTheChain, Veronique Rochet Organizations: Louis Vuitton's, Human, Puma, Adidas, P Retail, CNBC, PUMA, Fair Labor Association, Fair Labor Locations: Paris, France

PARIS (AP) — In a dazzling universe where high-art, fashion and celebrity collide, Jonathan Anderson’s latest collection for Loewe explored modern masculinity, set against the backdrop of our social media-saturated world. Amidst the audience, actor Jamie Dornan was spotted, amusedly gazing at fleeting images of himself woven into pulp fiction video collages that spanned from paparazzi shots to art history and social media. LOEWE’S SOCIAL MEDIA COLLAGECentral to this digital-age collection was the theme of divergence. Anderson skillfully eschewed the idea of one single aesthetic, presenting a full, fabulous collage of social media characters, each uniquely styled — and seemingly caught off-guard, as they might be by the lens of TMZ or Us Weekly. His latest display shows how the ever-evolving dynamics of social media and celebrity are reshaping modern masculinity.

Persons: Jonathan Anderson’s, Loewe, Richard Hawkins, Jamie Dornan, Anderson, Hawkins, HERMES, Hermès, Prince, Nichanian Organizations: PARIS, MEN Locations: Wales

☆ The Ancient Back Story of the Slimiest Animal in the Sea
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Veronique Greenwood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The hagfish, a deep-sea scavenger about the size and shape of a tube sock, has the curious ability to smother itself in its own snot. The mucus is a defense mechanism, released into the water (or in one unfortunate incident, all over an Oregon highway) when the fish feels threatened. A shark trying to take a bite of a hagfish will find itself suddenly unable to breathe, its gills clogged with the slime. “We have to be removing the mucus all the time on the ship, or they will die,” he said. The hagfish has no jaw, making it part of a group that diverged long ago from the ancestors of jawed vertebrates like ourselves.

Persons: Juan Pascual, Anaya, ” Organizations: University of Málaga Locations: smother, Oregon, Spain, Japan

Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was told by the NHL he could not wear a custom mask for the team’s Native American Heritage night, his agent said Friday. Allan Walsh confirmed his client was informed he couldn’t wear the mask, even for warmups. The league prohibits players from wearing specialty jerseys, masks, stickers, decals or tape for theme nights. With the Wild celebrating Native American Heritage night Friday against Colorado, Fleury wanted to honor his wife, Véronique, who is Native Canadian, with a specially designed mask. Political Cartoons View All 1265 ImagesFleury, 38, is a three-time Stanley Cup champion and won the Vezina Trophy in 2021 as the league's top goaltender.

Persons: Marc, Andre Fleury, Allan Walsh, couldn’t, Fleury, Véronique, Walsh, ___ Organizations: Minnesota Wild, NHL, Colorado, Stanley, Vezina

Infowars founder Alex Jones arrives to speak to the media after appearing at his Sandy Hook defamation trial at Connecticut Superior Court in Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S., October 4, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones cannot use his personal bankruptcy to escape paying at least $1.1 billion in defamation damages stemming from his repeated lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, a U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled Thursday. Courts in Connecticut and Texas have already ruled that Jones intentionally defamed relatives of school children killed in the mass shooting, and they have ordered Jones to pay $1.5 billion in damages. Lopez ruled that more than $1.1 billion of those verdicts, awarded for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, cannot be wiped away in bankruptcy. Attorneys for Jones and the Sandy Hook families did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Alex Jones, Sandy Hook, Mike Segar, Christopher Lopez, Jones, Lopez, defaming Leonard Pozner, Veronique De La Rosa, Noah, Dietrich Knauth, Diane Craft, David Gregorio, Alexia Garamfalvi, Rod Nickel Organizations: Connecticut Superior, REUTERS, U.S, Sandy Hook Elementary, Free Speech Systems, CNN, Thomson Locations: Waterbury , Connecticut, U.S, Houston , Texas, Connecticut, Texas, Newtown , Connecticut

☆ If You’ve Ever Heard a Voice That Wasn’t There, This Could Be Why
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Veronique Greenwood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“There is actually a continuum of these experiences,” Dr. Orepic said. Some recordings contained recorded bits of their own voice, while others had fragments of someone else’s voice or no voice at all. The study found that when people were already experiencing the peculiar feeling of a ghostly presence, they were more likely to say they had heard a voice when there was none. What’s more, hearing a nonexistent voice was more likely if, earlier in the experiment, they had heard bursts of noise with someone else’s voice in them. That suggests the brain was linking the hallucinated presence and the voice, Dr. Orepic said.

Persons: ”, Orepic, Intriguingly

☆ Brainless Jellyfish Demonstrate Learning Ability
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Veronique Greenwood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the dappled sunlit waters of Caribbean mangrove forests, tiny box jellyfish bob in and out of the shade. Box jellies are distinguished from true jellyfish in part by their complex visual system — the grape-size predators have 24 eyes. On Friday, researchers published a report in the journal Current Biology indicating that the box jellyfish species Tripedalia cystophora have the ability to learn. Because box jellyfish diverged from our part of the animal kingdom long ago, understanding their cognitive abilities could help scientists trace the evolution of learning. How do box jellies tell when they are getting too close?

Persons: Anders Garm Organizations: University of Copenhagen

☆ I'm a child psychologist in the Netherlands, home to the world's happiest kids—6 things Dutch parents never do
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Veronique Van Der Kleij | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

While each approach has its benefits, Dutch kids are consistently ranked as the happiest in the world. Based on my research as a psychologist and experience raising two young daughters, here are six things Dutch parents never do:1. It's very common to see Dutch kids run free on the playground without too much supervision. Dutch parents make a point to have at least one meal together every day. Dutch children are consistently given a clear daily schedule that allows for plenty of naps for the little ones and prioritizes stability.

Persons: I've, —, they'll Locations: Dutch, Netherlands, It's

☆ Sandy Hook Families Say Alex Jones Cannot Hide Behind Bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Elizabeth Williamson | More About Elizabeth Williamson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families who won historic defamation damages against the Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones told a federal bankruptcy judge in Houston on Tuesday that Mr. Jones should not be allowed to use his Chapter 11 filing to evade $1 billion-plus verdicts made against him. If the judge rules in the families’ favor, Mr. Jones would likely be working the rest of his life to pay the debt. Mr. Jones spent years spreading lies that the 2012 shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., was a hoax aimed at gun control. Families of 10 victims sued him for defamation, and in trials in Texas and Connecticut were awarded about $1.4 billion in damages. As the cases went to trial, Infowars declared bankruptcy, and Mr. Jones declared personal bankruptcy late last year.

Persons: Sandy Hook, Alex Jones, Jones, Christopher Lopez, Infowars, Jones’s, Chris Davis, Veronique De La Rosa, Noah Pozner Organizations: Sandy Hook Elementary Locations: Houston, Sandy, Newtown, Conn, Texas, Connecticut

☆ Fitch's downgrade of U.S. debt unlikely to have much economic impact — for now
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

While financial markets on Wednesday took a break from their monster rally of 2023, economists largely expect the impact on the economy to be minimal. Some even questioned the timing of Fitch's action, saying it seems to come after the biggest scare to whether the U.S. would meet its debt obligations has passed. Overall, this announcement is much more likely to be dismissed than have a lasting disruptive impact on the US #economy and #markets." It also cited the battles that warring congressional factions have had over the debt ceiling as well as budget standoffs. Goldman also said it does not see a meaningful impact on holders of Treasurys or other government-sponsored or municipal debt.

Persons: Mohamed El, Erian, Fitch, Veronique de Rugy, de Rugy, that's, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, There's Organizations: Poor's, Fitch, Allianz, Twitter, AAA, Mercatus, George Mason University, Treasury, Federal Reserve, Congressional, Moody's, Service Locations: U.S

☆ Hermes defies luxury slowdown with strong sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Mimosa Spencer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Hermes' results come as luxury stocks have come under pressure due to uncertainty over the pace of China's post-pandemic recovery, while a months-long spending frenzy in the U.S. market cools amid rising inflation. "We've seen no interruption in (growth) trends," Hermes Executive Chairman Axel Dumas told journalists. "Strong print across the board," said Exane BNP Paribas, citing fast sales growth and consensus-beating margins. Analysts said the results showed the strength of Hermes' business model, which entails careful management of production and stocks. Hermes shares traded up 3.3% in early morning trading, while rival Kering was up 1% and LVMH was down 0.5%.

Persons: Veronique Nichanian, Gonzalo Fuentes, Birkin, Hermes, Richemont, We've, Axel Dumas, Dumas, Bernstein, Kering, LVMH, Mimosa Spencer, Silvia Aloisi, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, BNP, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, U.S, China

☆ What Benjamin Franklin Learned While Fighting Counterfeiters
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Veronique Greenwood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Benjamin Franklin moved to Philadelphia in 1723, he got to witness the beginning of a risky new experiment: Pennsylvania had just begun printing words on paper and calling it money. The first American paper money had hit the market in 1690. Franklin, who started his career as a printer, was an inveterate inventor who would also create the lightning rod and bifocals, found paper money fascinating. During his printing career, Franklin produced a stream of baroque, often beautiful money. He created a copper plate of a sage leaf to print on money to foil counterfeiters: The intricate pattern of veins could not easily be imitated.

Persons: Benjamin Franklin, Franklin Locations: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, England

☆ What’s Really Happening When a Cuttlefish Seems to Vanish
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Veronique Greenwood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Put a cuttlefish on the spot — or, to be more exact, a series of spots — and it will disappear. But no one is quite sure how a cuttlefish brain takes what the eyes see and gets the muscles of the skin to copy it. Are they watching their own skin as it changes and tweaking it to fit the sand? In an effort to answer this question, scientists have turned to high-resolution videos that can show what individual skin cells are up to as a cuttlefish changes color. The findings are a glimpse at what’s going on in a fundamentally different form of life as it does something that, to our eyes, seems almost magical.

Persons: they’d Locations: —

Since Jones and his company are bankrupt, the trials would not normally be allowed to proceed without bankruptcy court permission. Jones has said that he can not afford to pay the Sandy Hook defamation judgments, and is attempting to resolve all legal claims against him through a settlement in bankruptcy. Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, whose six-year-old son Noah was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting, would proceed to trial in October. Without a placeholder value, the Texas defamation claims could be given far less weight than the defamation claims that have already resulted in $1.5 billion in verdicts, according to Jones’ court filings. The case is Alex Jones, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, No.

Persons: Sandy Hook, Alex Jones, Jones, Christopher Lopez, Lopez, Sandy, Leonard Pozner, Veronique De La Rosa, Noah, De, De La Rosa, Marcel Fontaine, Fontaine, De La, Fontaine's, Jennifer Hardy, Vickie Driver, Crowe, Ray Battaglia, Pozner, Willkie Farr, Gallagher Read, Dietrich Knauth Organizations: U.S, Speech Systems, De La, CNN, Bankruptcy, Southern, Southern District of, Dunlevy, Systems, Thomson Locations: U.S, Houston, Newtown , Connecticut, Texas, Parkland , Florida, Southern District, Southern District of Texas

☆ Scientists Discover a Virgin Birth in a Crocodile
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Veronique Greenwood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In January 2018, a female crocodile in a Costa Rican zoo laid a clutch of eggs. While crocodiles can lay sterile eggs that don’t develop, some of this clutch looked quite normal. In this case, life did not, uh, find a way, as the egg eventually yielded a perfectly formed but stillborn baby crocodile. In a paper out Wednesday in the journal Biology Letters, a team of researchers report that the baby crocodile was a parthenogen — the product of a virgin birth, containing only genetic material from its mother. Here’s how a virgin birth happens: As an egg cell matures in its mother’s body, it divides repeatedly to generate a final product with exactly half the genes needed for an individual.

Persons: ” —, parthenogenesis Organizations: cobras, California condors Locations: Costa Rican, sawfish

WASHINGTON, June 1 (Reuters) - The bipartisan debt-ceiling deal that could clear Congress as soon as Thursday would stave off an imminent U.S. default, but might deliver less budget savings than Republicans have hoped for, according to nonpartisan budget analysts. The agreement ensures that President Joe Biden will not have to grapple with another debt-ceiling showdown until after the November 2024 election. That is less than the $4.8 trillion Republicans had initially sought, but still the largest deficit-reduction package since a 2011 deal that emerged from a similar debt-ceiling showdown. That would put more $1 trillion of the deal's anticipated savings at risk, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, a research group. The deal increases spending on defense and veterans' care, even as it aims to clamp down on other discretionary programs.

Persons: Joe Biden, Kevin McCarthy, MacGuineas, Biden, Veronique de Rugy, George Mason University's, Penn Wharton, McCarthy, Emily Gee, Andy Sullivan, Scott Malone, Alistair Bell Organizations: Penn Wharton Budget, White, Internal, Service, Office, Republican, SNAP, Social Security, Center for American, Thomson Locations: U.S, Washington

☆ Ultrasound Pulses to Brain Send Mice Into a Hibernation-Like State
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Veronique Greenwood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Hibernating creatures curl up underground in winter, slowing their metabolism so they can make it to spring without food. Even laboratory mice, if deprived of food, can enter a state called torpor, a kind of standby mode that economizes energy. But as scientists work to understand states like torpor and hibernation, tantalizing details about how the brain controls metabolism have emerged. Researchers reported in the journal Nature Metabolism on Thursday that they’ve been able to send mice into a torpor-like state by targeting a specific part of the brain with short bursts of ultrasound. A growing body of work is exploring ultrasound as a treatment for disorders like depression and anxiety.

Persons: they’ve, neuroscientists, Hong Chen, Louis, William Tyler Organizations: Washington University, University of Alabama Locations: St, Birmingham

☆ Opinion | A Libertarian and I Debate the Debt Ceiling
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Jan. 19, the United States officially hit its debt limit. If the United States hasn’t raised or suspended its borrowing cap, known as the debt ceiling, by then, America will default on its debt. But Republicans are currently refusing to raise the debt ceiling until their policy demands are met. For years, she’s argued that the United States’ debt levels are far too high and has defended the debt ceiling as a way to rein them in. In my view, the debt ceiling is one of the most absurd and dangerous laws on the books.

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