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☆ White House says 'Tucker Carlson is not credible' after the Fox host claimed January 6 was 'mostly peaceful chaos'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The White House lit into Tucker Carlson after he made misleading claims about January 6. The response shows the nerve Carlson has struck with his selectively edited footage of the riot. "Tucker Carlson is not credible," a White House spokesman said of the host. Bates then went after Carlson by name, poking fun at how the network has portrayed Carlson in past lawsuits. Outside of the White House, Carlson's comments and use of footage his show exclusively obtained from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has set off a torrent of criticism in Washington.

☆ A Florida lawmaker thinks the so-called 'Don't Say Gay' bill doesn't go far enough — and is pitching a major expansion
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Chris Panella | Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Florida GOP state representative filed a proposal expanding the state's so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill. The bill, HB 1223, would prohibit instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity up to eighth grade. The bill's creator, GOP Rep. Adam Anderson, said in a statement to the Orlando Sentinel that the bill "promotes parental rights, transparency, and state standards in Florida schools." LGBTQ advocacy groups, such as Equality Florida, condemned the bill. DeSantis and Florida Republicans responded by stripping Disney of its special tax district and taking control of the area around Disney World.

☆ Employers can't force you to keep quiet to get severance, labor board decides, reversing Trump-era rulings
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Companies can't require employees to waive their rights as part of a severance agreement. In a ruling on Tuesday, the National Labor Relations Board said such requirements are "unlawful." Workers can't be forced to "choose between receiving benefits and exercising their rights," NLRB's Lauren McFerran said. Nondisparagement clauses, it reasoned, could prevent former workers from being able to assist investigations into ongoing labor law violations. In a statement, McFerran said Thursday's ruling reflected an understanding that "employers cannot ask individual employees to choose between receiving benefits and exercising their rights under the National Labor Relations Act."

☆ Formula 1: The FIA clarifies free speech rule after fierce backlash from Lewis Hamilton and drivers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Drivers take a knee to protest against racism ahead of the F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone on Aug. 9, 2020. Formula 1's governing FIA has said drivers will be allowed to make political statements only in "exceptional" circumstances after seeking to clarify its contentious new law. The sporting federation recently updated its rules to prevent "political, religious or personal" remarks being made without prior approval. However, the FIA has attracted a fierce backlash from a number of drivers — with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton this week insisting he will not be silenced, and Lando Norris accusing F1's rulers of treating drivers like schoolchildren. However, drivers will face sanctions if they oppose the law while on track — such as during the national anthem before a race or on the podium.

☆ Sanitation company pays $1.5 million penalty for hiring children for 'hazardous' factory work like cleaning beef bone saws, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The US Labor Department filed a complaint against PSSI following a three-month investigation into unlawful child labor claims in November. PSSI was charged $1.5 million in penalties as a result of the investigation, officials said. The department accused the sanitation contractor of having employees as young as 13 working "hazardous" overnight shifts. The DOL filed a complaint seeking a temporary restraining order and injunction against the food safety sanitation service following its investigation. The company added that no children are currently employed, and many hadn't worked for the business in years.

☆ More than 100 children worked in dangerous conditions at slaughterhouse cleaning firm: US Labor Department
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The Kieler, Wisconsin, based company employed the children to clean meat processing equipment including back saws, brisket saws and head splitters. The company said none of the underage workers are employed at the company today, and that “many” of them had worked there years ago. In November, a complaint was filed in the US District Court of Nebraska alleging that Packers Sanitation illegally employed at least 31 children to clean dangerous power equipment. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring the company from committing further child labor law violations. In December, Packers agreed to take “significant steps” to comply with labor laws after entering into a consent order and judgment.

☆ House Republican who pushed 'Marshall Law' to keep Trump in power after January 6 endorses Nikki Haley's 2024 presidential bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rep. Ralph Norman is backing the former South Carolina governor, touting her "new leadership." Norman previously pushed Trump to institute "Marshall Law" just days before Biden's inauguration. A member of the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus, Norman was a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump throughout his presidency. "Nikki Haley has that vision, and she's going to be an outstanding President," he added. Norman, who called Haley a "good friend" on Twitter, previously served with Haley in the South Carolina legislature and backed her 2010 campaign for South Carolina governor.

☆ I read 'The 4-Hour Workweek' and it's helping me work less and find more time in my day for living. Here are my 4 biggest takeaways.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Alli Hoff Kosik | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Alli Hoff Kosik is a freelance writer who recently read "The 4-Hour Workweek" by Timothy Ferriss. Having read Ferriss' book only recently, I don't feel quite ready to begin cutting my work hours way down. I especially appreciated the following takeaways from "The 4-Hour Workweek." Tim Ferriss is the author of "The 4-Hour Workweek" and a proponent of "mini retirements." "The 4-Hour Workweek" argues you can work less and still get stuff done.

☆ Why George Santos is denying that he performed as a drag queen even as he leaves a litany of other questions unanswered
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Santos faces more pressing questions, but performing in drag could hurt his standing with fellow Republicans. "The most recent obsession from the media claiming that I am a drag Queen or 'performed' as a drag Queen is categorically false," Santos, who is gay, wrote on Twitter, calling the recent allegations an "outrageous claim." According to Rochard, who also provided photos allegedly showing Santos in drag, Santos performed under the name "Kitara Ravache." Nearly three dozen of Santos's Republican colleagues introduced a bill taking aim at drag queen story hours. But Santos is also the first non-incumbent gay Republican elected to Congress, and is one of just a handful of out gay Republicans to ever serve in Congress.

☆ Trump claims documents found at Mar-a-Lago were empty folders labeled 'classified' that he'd kept because they were 'cool'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Trump claimed that government records seized from Mar-a-Lago last year were empty folders marked "classified" or "confidential." He went on to say that he kept the "ordinary, inexpensive folders" because they were a "'cool' keepsake." He added: "Remember, these were just ordinary, inexpensive folders with various words printed on them, but they were a 'cool' keepsake." Documents seized by FBI at Mar-a-Lago. Following that discovery, Biden's legal team undertook an "exhaustive" search and uncovered a second batch of classified documents at another location, NBC News reported last week.

☆ U.K. government to veto Scotland’s gender self-recognition law
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The Scottish government is likely to challenge the decision at the U.K. Supreme Court. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called the decision by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government “a full-frontal attack” on the Scottish parliament, which approved the bill last month. “The Scottish Government will defend the legislation and stand up for Scotland’s Parliament,” she said on Twitter. This is the first time a U.K. government has blocked a Scottish law since the Scottish government and parliament were established a quarter century ago. The move will provide fodder for nationalists who want Scotland to break away from the U.K. and become an independent country.

☆ Alabama's attorney general threatened to prosecute people seeking abortion pills. A day later, he walked it back.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Yelena Dzhanova | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said he'd prosecute people who take abortion pills. A day later, Marshall walked back his remarks and said only abortion providers would be prosecuted. Prosecuting people for taking abortion pills would not have been legal in the state of Alabama, civil-rights experts told Insider. The FDA authorized brick-and-mortar pharmacies across the country to pursue certification to carry abortion pills, a move that could expand abortion access nationwide. Kay Ivey in 2019, specifically says abortion providers can be held criminally liable, but people who get abortions cannot be.

The Justice Department wrote in its brief that a failed background check would not have kept Kelley, from conducting the shooting, and the government could not have known he intended to pursue the attack. But under Texas law, the United States is not legally responsible for the damages caused by that shooting." Critics said a successful appeal will ultimately undercut the background check system, damage the Biden administration’s gun safety law efforts and bolster the gun lobby. “The 26 dead and 22 injured at the Sutherland Springs mass shooting disagree.”Twenty-six crosses stand in a field to honor the victims killed during the mass shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs in 2017. Now the survivors and victims must relive the traumatic shooting through an appeal that Alsaffar said could take as long as two years.

☆ Justice Jackson working on a memoir, titled ‘Lovely One’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is working on a memoir. Jackson, the first Black woman appointed to the court, is calling the book “Lovely One.”“Mine has been an unlikely journey,” Jackson said in a statement released Thursday by Random House. This memoir marries the public record of my life with what is less known. Jackson joined the court last year after President Joe Biden named her to succeed the retiring Stephen Breyer. Justice Amy Coney Barrett has a deal with the Penguin Random House imprint Sentinel.

☆ 77 members of the 117th Congress violated a federal conflicts-of-interest and financial transparency law
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

77 members of Congress violated the STOCK Act in the 117th session of Congress. The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 is designed to curb insider trading and requires timely disclosure of financial trades. But a decade on, Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike routinely violate the STOCK Act: 40 Republicans and 37 Democrats in the current Congress violated the law, per Insider's tally. Some members of Congress violated the law more egregiously than others. GOP Rep. Pat Fallon of Texas, for example, violated the STOCK Act multiple times and waited months to disclose up to $17 million in trades.

☆ Here are 22 of the top LGBTQ news stories of 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

Here are 22 of our top LGBTQ news stories of the year. Ron DeSantis signed the controversial Parental Rights in Education law — or what critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — on March 28. 'It’s already having an impact': LGBTQ people fear abortion rights reversalA supporter of gay marriage waves a flag in front of the Supreme Court on June 25, 2015. Nicola Goode / Prime VideoAmazon’s “A League of Their Own” series, which debuted Aug. 12 and was inspired by the 1992 cult classic by director Penny Marshall, brought much-needed representation to the screen for lesbians and other queer women, who celebrated how “gay, gay, gay” it was. Biden signs same-sex marriage bill at White House ceremonyPresident Joe Biden signs the Respect for Marriage Act on the South Lawn of the White House on Dec. 13.

WASHINGTON — It was a busy year for Congress, which passed a slew of consequential bills, most of which enjoyed support from both parties. As two years of full Democratic control come to an end, here are five of the most significant bills passed in 2022. The Electoral Count Reform Act will revise the 1887 Electoral Count Act to make clear the vice president cannot discount electoral votes. It’ll raise the threshold for objections from one member of each the House and Senate to one-fifth of both chambers. The legislation came about after the new 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court voted last summer to overturn Roe v. Wade, prompting critics to fear that it could do the same to same-sex marriage rights.

☆ TikTok banned on government devices under spending bill passed by Congress
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

The bill includes an exception for law enforcement, national security and research purposes. TikTok has repeatedly said its U.S. user data is not based in China, though those assurances have done little to alleviate concern. While it fell short of antitrust advocates' hopes, the inclusion of the merger filing fee bill still gained praise. Miller said the bill will "significantly strengthen antitrust law for the first time since 1976." Empowering state AGs in antitrust casesAnother antitrust bill included in the package was a version of the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act.

☆ I'm a lawyer who's helping laid-off Amazon and Facebook employees deal with visa issues. Here's how I advocate for them.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Taayoo Murray | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

She says laid-off visa holders can consider a self-employed visa if they want to start a business. Initially I didn't want to practice immigration law, thinking that because I'm an empath it would pull at my heartstrings all the time. I've helped many entrepreneurs, business owners, and startup founders successfully obtain an H-1B visa with their own company as their sponsor. L-1 visa holders don't have the same option as H-1B visa holders to transfer their visas to another company. That's my new mission: using my voice as an immigration lawyer to push for tangible and immediate change.

☆ Twitter suspends multiple journalists who have been covering, criticizing Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter suspended several journalists' accounts on Thursday. Many of the affected writers had been covering or criticizing Elon Musk in the preceding days. But Rupar told Insider that he didn't believe he had tweeted or even retweeted anything about the ongoing private jet saga. Nearly all of them had been reporting on Twitter, covering Musk, or writing critically about the billionaire in the days leading up to their suspension. The flight data Musk is trying to keep off Twitter is available online to anyone and relatively easy to track.

☆ East Coast ports including New York are winning a domestic trade war at the expense of California
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

According to ITS Logistics which monitors rail cargo trends, the volume of freight moving out of the East Coast doubles that of the West Coast. East Coast ports making major investments East Coast ports like Georgia, Virginia and Maryland have been increasing their investment to accommodate the increase in rail capacity. "CSX continues to see the East Coast ports as a growth opportunity as volumes shift from congested West coast gateways," said Cindy Schild, CSX spokesperson. West Coast port declinewatch nowCargo volumes on the West Coast remained soft at the Port of Los Angeles in November, which saw a 21% decrease year over year in volumes. While the East Coast gains are significant, there was a "leveling" off of imports detected on the East Coast in November, according to port TEU data from the CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map.

☆ 5 reasons to applaud the smart, speedy jury that convicted the Trump Organization of tax fraud
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

A Manhattan jury convicted Donald Trump's company of all 17 tax-fraud counts on Tuesday. But he would not implicate anyone named Trump — not Donald Trump, who he worked for since the 1980s. And not any of Trump's three eldest kids — Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, or Ivanka Trump, who have all served as Trump Organization executive vice presidents. Back during jury selection in late October, defense lawyers had the darnedest time finding Manhattan residents who didn't hate Donald Trump. They certainly did not look like Donald Trump's C-suite of well-paid, white-collar white men.

The win ends a nearly two-year power sharing agreement, giving Democrats true majority rule. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona's viselike grip on their party's priorities has loosened a bit, thanks to Georgia. Republicans will no longer be able to bottle up Biden administration nominees in committee, and select Democratic committee chairs will again be able to issue subpoenas. "Joe Manchin is a good person; he really is," Biden said Friday at a reception for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York speaks at a press conference at the Capitol on August 5, 2022.

☆ Elon Musk's Twitter purchase proved lucrative for one Texas congressman
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Pat Fallon recently called Elon Musk's Twitter takeover "the best $44 billion I've seen spent in recent history." Fallon invested at least $65,000 in Twitter stock in January 2022 and sold his shares when Musk bought the company. With Musk's purchase, Insider calculated Fallon could have earned as much as $35,000 in profit. While Fallon traded Twitter stock on and off in 2021, his annual financial disclosure notes he ended the year with no Twitter holdings. But Fallon has been an outspoken fan of Musk's Twitter takeover — on Saturday, for example, he told Newsmax that Musk's recent purchase of Twitter was the "best $44 billion I've seen spent in recent history."

For Love & Money is a biweekly column from Insider answering your relationship and money questions. Write to For Love & Money using this Google form. My kids love it, and I still say I love it. And, to clarify, her asking you to do the Christmas shopping for her grandkids is absurd. Rooting for all of you,For Love & Money

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