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☆ Americans Learned to Root for the Supervillain — From Elon Musk to ‘Wicked’
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-23 | by ( A.O. Scott | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Donald Trump, in his trademark blue suit and red tie, strides across the frame in broad daylight, while Musk, in a black cap and T-shirt, cuts a gleefully diabolical figure. Whatever archetype actually describes Musk’s relationship to Trump — minion, sidekick, wartime consigliere, “first buddy” — there is no question that he radiates supervillain energy. In his own way, Trump does too. To observe that Trump’s opponents and Musk’s critics see them as villains would hardly count as much of an insight. Up there, where the snowpack of collective dreaming melts into the watersheds of commercial storytelling, the villains have been in the ascendant for quite a while.

Persons: Elon Musk, MAGA, ”, Donald Trump, Trump, “, Steve Bannon, Andrew Breitbart

☆ Donald Trump chooses hedge fund executive Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-22 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

President-elect Donald Trump signaled Friday his intention to nominate hedge fund executive Scott Bessent as his Treasury secretary, in a move that puts a seasoned market pro and a close Trump loyalist in a critical economic position. As head of Treasury, Bessent, 62, will be both the U.S. fiscal watchdog as well as a key official to help Trump enact his ambitious economic agenda. Like Trump, Bessent favors gradual tariffs and deregulation to push American business and control inflation. The Treasury secretary is the lynchpin for the White House economic agenda. Others close to the president-elect think Bessent has not been rigorous enough in his support for tariffs, though Warsh also has made public statements against the levies.

Persons: Scott Bessent, Donald Trump, Kevin Warsh, Marc Rowan, Trump, Bessent, George Soros, Soros, Jerome Powell's, Warsh, Janet Yellen, Elon Musk, Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick Organizations: Key, Trump, Group, Treasury, Wall, World's, Investors, Yale University, Rockefeller University, Preservation, Wall Street, Federal Reserve, Federal, National Economic Council, White Locations: Washington , DC, U.S, Bessent

☆ Chuck Todd: This Democratic defeat — and the rise of Trump 2.0 — was a decade in the making
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-08 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Chuck-Todd-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Chuck Todd | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +21 min

The reality is that both parties learn lessons from losing elections that apply only in the short term — say, from one presidential election to the next midterm or from one midterm to the next presidential election. Not anymore — it’s why Democrats usually overperform in special elections, with more devoted “every election” voters right now. Meanwhile, in the non-battlegrounds, which were more affected by the basic “mood music” of the election, Democrats were shellacked. The seeds of discontent with this version of the Democratic Party can be traced back a decade to Obama’s decision to anoint Hillary Clinton as his successor. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at the CNN Democratic presidential primary debate in New York City on April 14, 2016.

Persons: inbox, It’s, Donald Trump, Devin Yalkin, doesn’t, Karl Rove, Barack Obama, Joe Biden’s, Biden, Bill Clinton, Obama, Clinton, Harris, Court's Dobbs, Dobbs, Trump, I’m, Kamala Harris, Morry Gash, hadn't, misfired, Deb Fischer, Dan Osborn, Osborn, Josh Shapiro, wasn’t, Harris wouldn’t, They’ve, Franklin D, Roosevelt, John F, Kennedy, Lyndon B, Johnson, Hillary Clinton, he’d, Sen, Bernie Sanders, Justin Sullivan, Democratic Party didn’t, Sanders, Bernie Bros, Joe Rogan, —, didn’t, nitpick, ”, Bob Dole, Al Gore, John Kerry, John McCain, Mitt Romney, What's, Elon, MAGA, Michael Dukakis Organizations: NBC, Trump, Democratic, Democratic Party, Biden, GOP, Democrats, Social Security, Senate, Electoral, Massachusetts Democrat, San, San Francisco Democrat, CNN Democratic, Clinton, Obama, Trump bros Locations: West Palm Beach, Fla, Plenty, “, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona , Nevada , Michigan, Wisconsin, Madison, Wis, America, Texas, Massachusetts, San Francisco, New York City, Trump, Iowa, Clinton

☆ Georgia group that pushes election misinformation gains influence
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( Curt Devine | Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

As an example, he cited his inability to review ballots from the 2020 election. If the system is secure, they would have produced the paper ballots,” Favorito said. Favorito has also made connections with election officials around Georgia, some in Republican-leaning districts. Still, after Donald Trump lost the presidency, VoterGA began peddling claims that “significant evidence of fraud” existed in Georgia’s 2020 election. Favorito and VoterGA have made connections with others in the national movement that has cast doubt on the 2020 election.

Persons: Garland Favorito, VoterGA, they’ve, Favorito, Michael Flynn, ” Gabriel Sterling, ” Favorito, John F, Favorito’s, US Sen, David Perdue, Garland, Matt Hamilton, Holden, ”, ” Holden, “, David Hancock, ” Megan Bellamy, “ We’re, Joseph Kirk, Travis Doss Jr, Doss, Bill Clinton, Clinton, Israel, President Kennedy, Robert, Israel’s, CNN “, ” Garland, Donald Trump, Patrick Byrne, Overstock.com, Doug Logan, Cleta Mitchell, Flynn, Sterling, ” Sterling, Trump, ” CNN’s Sean Clark Organizations: CNN, Peach State, Republican, Trump, “, CIA, Georgia Capitol, US, Chattanooga Times Free Press, Facebook, Georgia, The Atlanta, ”, America, JFK Jr, Southern Poverty Law Center, Nazi, Favorito, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, FBI, The America, American Locations: Georgia, Peach, ”, Ringgold , Georgia, Paulding County, Atlanta, Gwinnett, “ Georgia, Bartow County, Washington, Georgia’s, Fulton County, Maricopa County

☆ Dinesh D'Souza election fraud film, book '2000 Mules' pulled after defamation suit
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Christina Wilkie | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — The conservative gadfly Dinesh D'Souza's film and book "2000 Mules," which pushes false conspiracies about voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, has been removed from distribution by its executive producer and publisher, according to an announcement Friday. Salem Media Group 's announcement that it had yanked D'Souza's film and book also apologized to Mark Andrews, a Georgia man falsely accused in "2000 Mules" of ballot stuffing. Former President Donald Trump, who lost to Biden, embraced "2000 Mules," screening the film at his Florida club Mar-a-Lago. "2000 Mules" shows Andrews placing five ballots into a box, as D'Souza says in a voiceover: "What you are seeing is a crime. In its statement Friday announcing it would cease distributing the film and book, Salem Media said, "It was never our intent that the publication of the 2000 Mules film and book would harm Mr.

Persons: Dinesh D'Souza, WASHINGTON —, gadfly Dinesh D'Souza's, Mark Andrews, Andrews, D'Souza, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Biden, Salem, Mr Organizations: WASHINGTON, Salem Media Group, CNBC, Salem, Media, Mar, Salem Media's, Regnery Publishing, Salem Media Locations: Washington , DC, Georgia, Florida

☆ America's Surge of Dumb Neighborhood Names, Real-Estate Rebrands
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Neighborhood names are also shorthand for your rent or mortgage payments. In 2017, real-estate brokers in the historically Black New York neighborhood of Harlem sparked backlash when they tried to rebrand its south end as SoHa. At their best, new neighborhood names bring people together over a shared sense of pride in their little corner of the world. Along the way, these neighborhood names have veered into parody territory. I'm not saying that neighborhood names should be set in stone — in fact, I think it's natural for them to evolve alongside their populations.

Persons: you've, MoRA, Nashville's, they're, Let's, Gill Holland, Holland, Nestor Davidson, David Fagundes, Grant McKenzie, McKenzie, Hakeem Jeffries, Jeffries, Davidson, They're, Bob Dylan's, Marshall, Lily, I'm, Willy, Dirtbag, Little Italy — Organizations: Market, McGill University, University of Maryland, Houston, Financial, Tribeca, McGill, Google, Democratic, New York State Assembly, New York Times, Apple, North Arts District, Congress, Little Locations: Denver, Charlotte , North Carolina, LoSo, Boston, Louisville , Kentucky, NuLu, Austin, America, New York City, Louisville, Holland, North Carolina, Greenwich, Louisville's, Phoenix, Holland's, York, New York, Manhattan, Side, Chelsea, Maryland, Harlem, SoCo, Soho, Dowisetrepla, Charlotte, East Williamsburg

☆ A renowned market bear who called the dot-com bubble warns Wall Street groupthink is wrongly leading investors to abandon recession forecasts — and says a 'policy disaster' is brewing as the Fed keeps
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Various labor market indicators are also showing growing weakness in the economy, he said. Societe GeneraleNational Federation of Independent Business data shows further labor market weakness is likely to come, as small business hiring plans continue to fall. Both stats would suggest a rising unemployment rate going forward. In the meantime, the labor market has consistently proven resilient despite high interest rates, and stocks have enjoyed an eye-popping rally to new highs. Some also argue that labor market data points like the rising unemployment rate have to be shown with context.

Persons: —, Albert Edwards, didn't, Edwards, aren't, we'll, Societe Generale Edwards, Bob Elliott, groupthink Edwards, Alan Greenspan Organizations: Service, Societe Generale, Wall, Business, Societe Generale National Federation of Independent Business, ING, Generale, Unlimited Partners, Bridgewater Associates, of Labor Statistics, Tech

☆ Navalny’s Challenge to Putin’s Russia - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Serge Schmemann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

This treatment of Mr. Navalny’s death — with the gravity usually reserved for a national crisis — flies in the face of the government charade that he was nothing more than a crook or could be discredited by calling him a terrorist, extremist and Nazi, as the trumped-up charges that sent him to the labor camp implied. Instead, the official reactions inadvertently confirmed what Mr. Putin had tried so hard to conceal: that Mr. Navalny’s ceaseless accusations of corruption and misrule were a serious political challenge to Mr. Putin’s dictatorial rule. And that in death, Mr. Navalny could become even more dangerous. Unlike his Soviet predecessors in the Kremlin, who could draw on a universalist ideology to justify repression, Mr. Putin has had to build his personal rule on an illusion of democracy while fixing elections, bending the courts to his will and allowing massive corruption. Instead of criminalizing opposition as “anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda,” Mr. Putin must combat principled dissent, like Mr. Navalny’s, with concocted labels like “foreign agent” or “terrorism.”

Persons: Alexei Navalny crusaded, Vladimir Putin, Navalny’s, Putin, ”, Mr, Navalny Organizations: Nazi, Kremlin Locations: Russian, Chelyabinsk, United States, Europe

☆ Where are they now: The many fascinating Bridgewater employees from the book on Ray Dalio 'The Fund'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Bradley Saacks | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

The new book, "The Fund: Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, and the Unraveling of a Wall Street Legend" — which Dalio and his lawyers have pushed back against — describes everything from Bridgewater's investment process to internal grudges and backstabbing to allegations of sexual harassment. Here are the places where the dozens of Bridgewater employees and consultants named in the book ended up. Dalio, the book said, wrote into the firm's bylaws that he could never hold that title again. Before that, she was the head of investment research and a co-chief investment officer for sustainability. He's worked at different funds since leaving in 2006, including Larch Lane Advisors and Bonaccord Capital as an investor and business-development professional.

Persons: Rob Copeland's, Ray Dalio, Dalio, —, Bridgewater, Greg Jensen, YouTube Dalio, nixed, Copeland, He's, Jensen, Eileen Murray, Morgan Stanley, David McCormick, Dina Powell, McCormick, Dave McCormick, Michael M, Nir Bar Dea, Stefanova, Dalio's, Paul McDowell, Bob Eichinger, McDowell, Eichinger, Jen Healy, Osman Nalbantoglu, Matthew Granade, Steve Cohen, Steve Cohen's Point72, Bob Prince, politicking, Karen Karniol, Bridgewater Associates Karen Karniol, Vladimir Putin, Bob Elliott, Elliott, James Comey, Winn McNamee, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Hillary, Britt Harris, Bridgewater's, Julian Mack, L, Michael Partington, Spencer Stuart, Niko Canner, Jon Rubinstein, Beck Diefenbach Jon Rubinstein, Steve Jobs, Tom Adams, Rosetta Stone, J, Michael Cline, Cline, Kevin Campbell, Campbell, Craig Mundie, Bill Gates, Gates, Mundie, Bill Clinton, George W, Bush, David Ferrucci, IBM's Watson, Ferrucci, Keith Alexander, Alexander, Larry Culp, Culp, Jamie Gorelick, conscientiously, Clinton, Jared Kushner, Jesse Horwitz, Comey, Horwitz, Samantha Holland, Perry Poulos, Murray, Joe Sweet, Tara Arnold, Arnold —, Leah Guggenheimer, She's, Charles Korchinski, Harris, Kent Kuran Organizations: New York Times, Bridgewater Associates, Business, Bridgewater, YouTube, HSBC, Broadridge, Life Insurance, Wells, Treasury Department, Republican, Getty, GOP, Israel Defense Forces, Marto, Princeton University, McKinsey, Point72, Bridgewater didn't, Domino Data, CircleUp, FBI, Trump, of, University of Texas Investment Management Co, Apple, Dalio, Health, Cognition, Mundie, National Security Agency, Amazon, General Electric, Boston Globe, Electric, Trump White House, Harvard Law School, —, Hubble, Stefanova's Marto, HBR Consulting, MIO Partners, Burford, Larch Lane Advisors, Bonaccord, Eaton Partners, Stanford, NextEra Energy Resources Locations: Bridgewater, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, China, San Francisco, of Texas, Atlanta, WilmerHale, Asia, India, Shanghai, Singapore, Israel, Africa

☆ Trump’s extreme rhetoric conjures the prospect of a presidency like no other
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —Donald Trump is promising a second presidency that would be an aberration in American history. And Trump’s ambitions should be taken seriously because one year from the election, President Joe Biden’s reelection hopes are far from secure. He dehumanizes his political enemies, has discredited the legal, political and electoral system, has demonized the press and has targeted vulnerable members of society, minorities and immigrants, as scapegoats. With questionable historic comparisons, Trump’s critics only fuel his bid to provoke the outrage that is essential to his political appeal. Nikki Haley have only criticized Trump obliquely, understanding there’s no market in the modern Republican Party for confronting Trump’s lawlessness.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Joe Biden’s, “, ” Trump, ”, “ Donald Trump parroted, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Ammar Moussa, he’s, he’ll, else’s, Biden, —, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, there’s, Bob Dole, Mitt Romney, institutionalists, Republican Party isn’t reining, Trump’s, Mike Pence, Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen, Tim Scott, Susie Wiles, Chris LaCivita, …, Mark Milley, who’s, Jack Smith’s, –, Abraham Lincoln’s, George Washington’s, ” Smith Organizations: CNN, White, Veterans, Trump, New York Times, Republican, Democratic, Capitol, Republican Party, GOP, Florida Gov, South Carolina Gov, Justice Department, Conservative Political, Conference, Univision, Joint Chiefs, Staff, NBC News, MSNBC, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Locations: New Hampshire, Gaza, Ukraine, China, Russia, Europe, America, South Carolina

☆ Gadfly Lawyer for Gilgo Beach Families Courts Cameras and Tipsters
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Corey Kilgannon | More About Corey Kilgannon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It seemed like a classic John Ray news conference last month, with the flamboyant Long Island lawyer stepping up to news cameras, bedecked in a polka dot tie and matching fedora. Now Mr. Ray had something new: the police at his side. Mr. Heuermann, a Long Island architect and suburban father, was arrested in July and charged with killing three of the 11 people whose remains were found at or near Gilgo Beach on the South Shore a dozen years ago. As Mr. Ray detailed the claims, the Gilgo Beach Task Force, the team investigating the case, watched the broadcast and seethed. They had become used to Mr. Ray as a gadfly delivering barbs and brickbats with a flourish from his pewter-handled cane.

Persons: John Ray, Long, Ray, Rodney Harrison, Rex Heuermann, Heuermann Organizations: Suffolk County, Shore, Task Force Locations: Suffolk, Gilgo Beach

☆ Opinion | Proof That One Life Can Change the World
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Margaret Renkl | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Even before Nashville’s swift and stunning growth began to gentrify working-class and impoverished neighborhoods, Father Strobel had already become our civic conscience. What he understood is the difference between charity and community — a difference founded in kinship, in recognizing that we all fall down, that sometimes it takes another hand to pull us up again. One cold night he looked out the rectory window and saw people sitting in cars in the church parking lot, trying to keep warm. Image Charles Strobel Credit... Room in The Inn, Nashville“I knew once they came through the doors that night, they would come back the next night and the night after that,” he often said. “I also knew I wanted them to come back.”

Persons: You’ve, Charles Strobel, Father Strobel, ”, Ann Patchett, “, Strobel, gadfly, Nashville “ Organizations: Holy Name Catholic Church Locations: Nashville, East Nashville, The Inn

☆ ‘It’s Hard to Be an Activist These Days’: Gadfly Investors Trail Stock-Market Returns
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Lauren Thomas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/its-hard-to-be-an-activist-these-days-gadfly-investors-trail-stock-market-returns-1f1d8985

Persons: Dow Jones

☆ ‘Succession’ Series Finale Recap: The Dotted Line
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Noel Murray | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At the end of the series premiere, Logan suffered a debilitating stroke, setting in motion the plot that would go on to drive four “Succession” seasons. Heading into the series finale, most of the big questions raised by that first episode remained unsettled. We will have a full review of the final “Succession” episode soon. In the meantime, here is a quick summary of how some of those questions were answered by the finale. Instead, Matsson becomes convinced that the sycophantic Tom will do whatever dirty deed the new bosses need done after the takeover.

☆ How Do We Ensure an A.I. Future That Allows for Human Thriving?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +16 min

Some of us would like to slow this down because we are seeing more costs every day, but I don’t think that means that there are no benefits. We may someday have a technology that revolutionizes science and technology, but I don’t think GPT-5 is the ticket for that. Combine that human overattribution with the reality that these systems don’t know what they’re talking about and are error-prone, and you have a problem. I don’t think we should go after an individual who posts a silly story on Facebook that wasn’t true. I don’t think, however, that the technology we have right now is very good for that — systems that can’t even reliably do math problems.

[1/5] A woman works inside a cannabis shop, at Khaosan Road, one of the favourite tourist spots in Bangkok, Thailand, March 29, 2023. Thousands of cannabis shops and businesses have sprung up, especially in Bangkok and tourist spots, since Thailand became the first Southeast Asian country to decriminalise the drug. A deluge of marijuana smuggled in from abroad has swamped Thailand, driving down wholesale prices and hurting growers, the industry members said. He did not comment on the scale of smuggled cannabis in the market or its impact on farmers. "A lot of cannabis that's coming in from the U.S. is going to dispensaries in Bangkok or Phuket or Pattaya," she said.

Former real-estate developer Guo Wengui has said he fled China in 2014 after hearing that a state security official to whom he was close would be arrested. Chinese businessman Guo Wengui , who gained attention by lobbing corruption allegations at Beijing from a Manhattan penthouse and later launched a media company with Trump confidant Steve Bannon , was arrested Wednesday and accused of orchestrating a $1 billion fraud. Mr. Guo took advantage of the hundreds of thousands of followers he amassed online, prosecutors alleged, by soliciting investments in his cryptocurrency, media and other companies. Instead, he used the money to buy a $26 million home in New Jersey, a yacht, a Ferrari and a $36,000 mattress, among other items, said the indictment, which charged Mr. Guo with 11 counts of fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors said they seized $634 million in criminal proceeds and assets that included a Lamborghini.

☆ I took an office-personality quiz, and it turns out that as a remote worker, I'm a caged butterfly
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Turns out, I'm a "break-room butterfly" who thrives on teams and doing in-person work. It's hard to let your inner break-room butterfly soar when the only break room in sight doubles as your kitchen. After all, what does an "office personality" even mean nowadays? My gregarious editor is a fellow break-room butterfly, our tight-ship boss is a cubicle cat, and another free-spirited, somewhat reclusive colleague is a couch koala. By extension, the very notion of an "office personality" is becoming outdated.

☆ The 6 possible ways Rep. George Santos' situation gets resolved
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-NY) watches proceedings during the fourth day of elections for Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 06, 2023 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesRep. George Santos lied about his education, work history, and more while on the campaign trail. Additionally, fellow New York Rep. Anthony D'Esposito became the first Republican member of Congress to call for Santos to resign on Wednesday. Republican Rep. George Santos of New York in the House chamber on January 4, 2023. Needless to say, this is a rather unlikely outcome for the career of Rep. George Santos.

"If we prevail in this race, it will make Utah the most influential state in the union, because nothing will get through the Senate without Utah's support," said McMullin. A former CIA operations officer, McMullin was a Republican until 2016, when Donald Trump won the party's nomination to run for president. But this year, Utah Democrats opted not to nominate a challenger to Lee, a two-term hard-line conservative, ceding the field to McMullin's challenge. Lee dismissed his rival on Monday night as "an opportunistic gadfly supported by the Democratic Party." "You've refused to talk about which party you'd join," Lee told McMullin.

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