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☆ 'M3GAN' is an internet star thanks to her TikTok-esque dance. Director Gerard Johnstone calls the viral reaction 'unbelievable.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Kahlan-Rosenblatt.Jpg | Kalhan Rosenblatt | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Before she ever hit the big screen, M3GAN was a social media icon. The killer android doll is the star of the film "M3GAN," which released nationwide Friday. Models perform the viral dance at a special screening of "M3GAN" in New York on Wednesday. Like other viral phenomena before it, M3GAN’s social media success was a happy accident — something Johnstone didn't see coming. "That’s incredible”He credits some of the film's early praise to social media buzz.

☆ Live Vote Count: Tracking the House Rules Package Vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Allison Mccartney | Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Republicans are set to vote on the rules that govern how the House operates, just days after a marathon round of ballots to elect Kevin McCarthy as speaker. The House is expected to vote soon on the rules package. A table that shows the current tally for the most recent vote on the House rules package. Next: House Rules Package Vote Tally Total Dem. Yes 0 0 0 Needed to pass No 0 0 0 Yes Needed to win No Note: Vote tally is unofficial.

The most chilling moment in Gerard Johnstone’s new horror film, “M3GAN,” comes early. Its wildly popular — and immediately viral — trailer seems to give away the entire story, beat by beat, but what it can’t convey is the picture’s delightfully oddball tone, which is poised at a peculiar juncture of slasher horror and self-aware satire. Gemma, dressed in flannels, so you know she’s an antisocial nerd, has developed M3GAN, short for Model 3 Generative ANdroid. As a character, M3GAN is a marvel of design, combining body actor (Amie Donald), voice (Jenna Davis), animatronics, makeup and special effects. (“Humanity kills every day, just to make its existence more bearable,” M3GAN cackles, presumably after doing some online reading about Apple and Foxconn’s Longhua facility.)

Then there’s Eve Hewson, daughter of Bono, who claimed that the Vulture team behind the “nepo baby” piece was “jealous” and called out the editor-in-chief for her own familial privilege. But one self-described “nepo baby” has finally cracked the code of how to defuse these attacks: by owning the title, not shying away from it. shutting out countless talented newcomers who might have more talent than a “nepo baby” but lack a famous name or face and thus are denied opportunities — would be a major mistake. More “nepo babies” could take a page out of Williams’ book and recognize this duality. Hollywood isn’t an equal playing field, and any “nepo baby” who pretends like it is is not only ignoring reality, but doing a disservice to their own reputation.

☆ ‘M3gan’ Review: She Walks, Talks and Kills
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Kyle Smith | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

In “M3gan,” the titular gadget—a “Model 3 Generative Android” that looks like the lost Olsen sister—teaches a little girl proper bathroom procedure with military rigor while the kid’s guardian occupies herself with more diverting activities. All things considered, some parents might be willing to overlook the cuddly robot’s shortcomings, such as a sarcastic streak and a tendency to commit homicide. “M3gan,” a mildly scary movie built around a valid underlying fear, became a social-media phenomenon months before it was released thanks to the killer dance moves exhibited by its title figure. Bored by the demands of a small child and pressured by her volcanically demanding boss ( Ronny Chieng ) to create a next-level toy, Gemma solves both problems by programming a lifelike ambulatory doll that, learning from feedback, can read emotions and take part in spontaneous conversations exhibiting real emotional intelligence. Within a distressingly short period of time, however, M3gan starts to turn self-aware, posing questions like, “Will I die?”

☆ Are Trendy Fractured Mirrors Too ‘Psycho’ for the Home?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Allison Duncan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

For the recurring series That’s Debatable, we take on a contentious issue of the day and present two spirited arguments—one in favor and the other emphatically opposed. Are fractured mirrors cool or creepy? Stylish or sinister? We asked pros for their takes on this interior design trend. Plus, five picks for split mirrors worth considering.

☆ NHL roundup: Connor McDavid hits milestone in Oilers' win
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Barzal is on a career-best, five-game goal streak, and he has six goals and two assists during that span. Vancouver goaltender Collin Delia made 30 saves, while Elias Pettersson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Ilya Mikheyev each collected two assists. Ty Smith also scored for Pittsburgh, which lost its sixth straight game, just one off matching its longest losing streak of the season. Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Martin Fehervary and Garnet Hathaway also scored, Dylan Strome had three assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves. Washington has won a franchise-record seven straight road games and is 7-0-2 in its past nine games overall and 12-2-3 in its past 17.

☆ 'M3GAN' star Allison Williams has no problem being called a nepo-baby: ' It's not a level playing field'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Eboni Boykin-Patterson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

'M3GAN' star and executive producer Allison Williams is unbothered by the 'nepo-baby' conversation. In a new interview, Williams said she had great opportunities from her father's connections. In a new interview with New York Mag, Allison Williams, daughter of former NBC anchor Brian Williams, says acknowledging her privilege is just fine with her. She doesn't think the nepo-baby conversation is coming from a bad place either — she said, "All that people are looking for is an acknowledgement that it's not a level playing field." Williams told Wired in a December interview that acknowledging the advantages of being a nepo-baby comes down to trusting her skills.

☆ Execs from top firms like Morgan Stanley and Vanguard share tips for how to cut costs when moving to the public cloud
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Carter Johnson | Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

When Vanguard first made a push into the public cloud, Michael Carr, the firm's chief technology officer, knew realizing savings was a key part of the move. Collaboration is keyAs with most technology applications, there's a human behavior element to cloud cost savings. At Capital One, it took years to build a culture of collaboration between technology and finance teams within the bank's centralized cloud expense management division, Johnston said. Before, the finance team would send the tech team an aggregate bill at the end of each month and "that was kind of the end of the story," Johnston said. Speaking the same language has instilled a greater sense of empathy across different teams, like finance, technology, business, and others.

The Justice Department said Wednesday that has moved to seize millions of shares of Robinhood, the popular stock-trading app, whose ownership is disputed by several parties, including Bankman-Fried himself, his bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and another bankrupt crypto company. Four separate entities have laid claim to the approximately 56 million shares, worth about $460 million. That company, Emergent Fidelity Technologies, borrowed more than $546 million from crypto hedge fund Alameda Research, according to an affidavit Bankman-Fried filed in December. Also claiming the Robinhood shares are bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi and an individual FTX creditor. As of December 31, roughly $150 million of Silvergate’s deposits were from customers that have filed for bankruptcy.

☆ Crypto just had an awful week
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

It’s the kind of negative press that the crypto faithful want to either ignore completely or denounce as a fringe, one-off scandal. But crypto is a tight-knit web, and when one corner collapses it puts the whole lot at risk. And we’re not done yet…Also this week:Coinbase, a publicly traded US crypto platform, agreed to a $100 million settlement after a New York regulator found “significant failures” to comply with the state’s anti-money-laundering laws. Bottom line: I’m not here to write crypto’s obit, and I am well aware that there are plenty of legitimate crypto enterprises out there. But no one within crypto agrees on what those regulations should look like, and some dispute the need for regulation in the first place.

☆ Attention laid-off tech workers: Non-tech companies are hiring. Here's how recruiters and career coaches recommend pitching yourself.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Rebecca Knight | Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Research shows most of the well-paying tech jobs on offer today are in non-tech industries. And yet research suggests that well-paying tech jobs are abundant — they're just not in the tech industry. Around 60% of the top 100 employers of tech talent were from sectors like healthcare, consulting, defense, and banking. Another pro-tip: Using the language of the industry you're targeting. "Exceeding in the softer skills is something that will set aside most of the tech talent from each other honestly."

☆ Coinbase reaches $100 million settlement with New York regulators
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Coinbase, one of the most popular US crypto-trading platforms, agreed to a $100 million settlement after New York regulators found “significant failures” to comply with the state’s anti-money-laundering laws. The settlement includes a $50 million penalty Coinbase must pay to the New York Department of Financial Services and a pledge to spend $50 million to strengthen the company’t compliance program over the next two years. The regulator said it had installed an independent monitor to investigate, and that monitor will remain in place for at least another year as needed. Coinbase’s statement included reference to the so-called crypto winter — a chill that hit the industry in 2022, bringing down several companies, including Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX. “We recognize that the crypto industry is at an inflection point right now and that every public move by a crypto company will receive intense scrutiny,” Grewal said.

Several Republicans have cast their votes for Representative Byron Donalds of Florida. The only way Mr. McCarthy could still win on this ballot is if several members decide not to vote or if he gains Democratic support. Mr. McCarthy could win the speakership with fewer than 218 votes by persuading lawmakers who do not want to support him to instead vote “present” or to not vote at all. During the second vote, those same 19 opposed him but rallied around Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a founding member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus. How Every Representative Voted

☆ JPMorgan, Citi among firms facing potential divestment by Kentucky over energy 'boycott'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 3 (Reuters) - Kentucky on Tuesday warned 11 major financial companies, including Citigroup Inc (C.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and BlackRock Inc (BLK.N), of potential divestment over their "boycott" of energy companies. State government entities must notify the Treasurer of direct or indirect holdings in the companies in the list. They must also write to the firms, asking them to stop the "boycott" failing which, they could be subject to divestment, Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball said. In the past year, other states like West Virginia and Texas have also boycotted several financial firms. In the testimony, Blass said BlackRock is a significant investor in many energy companies like Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N).

☆ Winter storm threatens heavy snow in US Midwest, tornadoes in South
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 3 (Reuters) - More than a foot of snow could fall on the U.S. Northern Plains and Upper Midwest over the next day, forecasters said on Tuesday, and the same storm threatened tornadoes and severe thunderstorms over parts of the South. After dropping around a foot (30 cm) of snow on parts of Nebraska and South Dakota, a powerful winter storm was moving eastward and could leave parts of southern South Dakota and Minnesota with another 12-18 inches (30-45 cm), according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The same system was causing heavy rain and a chance of tornadoes along the Central Gulf Coast. The heavy snowfall is occurring on the west to northern side of the storm...and then the rainfall and severe weather is across the south," NWS meteorologist Allison Santorelli said. Meanwhile, in California, the northern coast was hit by heavy rain over the weekend and might see flooding when another heavy rain storm arrives on Wednesday and Thursday.

☆ FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to appear in court Tuesday
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, is set to appear in person in a Manhattan federal court on Tuesday to face charges that include cheating investors out of billions of dollars. Bankman-Fried, known as SBF, is charged with eight criminal counts ranging from wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, to conspiracy by misusing customer funds. He is expected to plead not guilty and could face up to 115 years in prison if convicted on all charges. Wang faces up to 50 years in prison in accordance with federal sentencing guidelines referenced in court. Ellison faces up to 110 years in prison for the seven criminal counts she’s pleaded guilty to, per federal sentencing guidelines.

☆ Final farewell: From Sidney Poitier to Pope Emeritus Benedict a look back at the influential figures who died in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +55 min

Other world leaders who died in 2022 include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in August. The final days of 2022 saw the loss of some exceptionally notable figures, including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2022 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___Dan Reeves, 77. A Cuban-born artist whose radiant color palette and geometric paintings were overlooked for decades before the art world took notice. A prolific character actor best known for playing villains and tough guys in “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and other films.

New York CNN —After years of legal battles, pontificating and theorizing, former President Donald Trump’s tax returns from 2015 to 2020 are now part of the public record. However, Trump’s tax returns raise numerous questions about the former president’s finances, his business activities, foreign ties and his charitable donations, among other issues. The tax returns do not show what the bank account was used for or how much money passed through it or to whom. The tax returns don’t say how much he lent them or why he gave them loans in the first place. Since 1977, the Internal Revenue Service has had a policy of auditing every president’s personal tax returns while they are in office.

☆ Southwest Promises to Reimburse Customers Affected By Meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Allison Pohle | Jacob Passy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. said it would reimburse customers for many types of reasonable expenses they have taken on after the airline canceled close to 16,000 flights since last Thursday, leaving people stranded across the country. Southwest has canceled another 2,363 flights Thursday thus far, according to data from FlightAware. The company said it would restart regular flights Friday after flying a reduced schedule over the last few days.

☆ Southwest Promises to Reimburse Customers Affected by Meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Allison Pohle | Jacob Passy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Premarket stocks: Wall Street's biggest winners and losers in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The S&P 500 is down nearly 20% and with two trading days left in the year, investors’ hopes of a miraculous recovery have been dashed. The energy sector has so far returned more than 60% this year, significantly outperforming every other S&P 500 sector. Occidental Petroleum has been the biggest gainer of the year in the S&P 500, up 122% year-to-date. The energy sector reported the highest year-over-year earnings growth of all 11 sectors, at 137.3%. Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA) is also down about 70%, making the auto tech company the third worst performer this year.

☆ Accused California serial killer faces new charges in four other deaths, bringing total number of victims to seven
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

STOCKTON, Calif. — A man suspected in Northern California serial killings has been charged in four additional slayings this week, bringing the total to seven deaths since April 2021, authorities said. He was also tied violence in Alameda County. Tuesday’s fourth case, an April 2021 slaying that brings the total to seven killings, was previously unreported. Brownlee was arrested in October when he “was out hunting” for another possible victim in Stockton, police said at the time. Brownlee was again convicted in Alameda County in December 2001 and sentenced to three years for the same crime.

☆ Republicans went after BlackRock and sustainable investing in 2022. Meet 12 officials crusading against 'woke capitalism.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

A group of vocal conservative officials are criticizing aspects of ESG investing. Players in the ESG ecosystem, like S&P Global and BlackRock, the world's largest money manager and an influential proponent of ESG investing, are often the subject of their critiques. Instead, officials often paint large financial firms' ESG strategies as functions of left-leaning agendas. Here are key GOP players who are taking aim at ESG investing. Abbott, who is seeking reelection in November, was early to denouncing ESG investing.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried borrowed $546 million from his hedge fund to buy a Robinhood stake
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

In an affidavit that emerged Tuesday, Bankman-Fried said he and FTX co-founder Gary Wang borrowed more than $546 million from the hedge fund, Alameda Research, which they used to purchase the Robinhood shares via a holding company primarily controlled by Bankman-Fried. Wang has since pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud and conspiracy, in cooperation with US prosecutors investigating FTX’s collapse. Four separate entities have laid claim to the approximately 56 million shares, worth about $450 million. Also claiming the Robinhood shares are bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi, and an individual FTX creditor. BlockFi is suing Bankman-Fried for the Robinhood shares, which BlockFi claims it is owed after Alameda defaulted on $680 million in collateralized loan obligations.

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