Latest News
See the latest news and get GPT analysis of articles
Facebook Took Down COVID-19 Posts After Pressure From Biden Administration: Report 2023-07-29 - The Biden administration reportedly asked Facebook to remove COVID-19-related content that fueled theories about the virus' origin along with satirical content regarding the safety of vaccines. What Happened: According to The Wall Street Journal, Facebook gave into the administration's many demands despite the fact that several executives had pushed back and claimed that Mark Zuckerberg wouldn't be on board with the concessions. "I can't see Mark in a million years being comfortable with removing that — and I wouldn't recommend it," the publication quoted Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs at the time, in an email regarding the Biden administration's request to take down certain content about the vaccine. According to The Wall Street Journal, additional emails reveal that several individuals within the company disagreed with content moderation requests from the Biden administration. Some executives reportedly expressed concerns that removing specific posts could fuel vaccine skepticism instead of mitigating it. "There is likely a significant gap between what the WH would like us to remove and what we are comfortable removing," the paper quoted an unnamed Facebook vice president. Also Read: Robert Kennedy Jr. Draws Wrath Of White House After Latest 'Vile' Vaccine Comments: 'It's An Attack On Our Fellow Citizens' "We were under pressure from the administration and others to do more," The Wall Street Journal quoted a Facebook vice president in charge of content policy. "We shouldn't have done it." The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee obtained the email, along with several other internal company communications, as part of its investigation into what GOP lawmakers believe is the Biden administration's improper attempts to censor Americans' speech on social media concerning COVID and various other subjects, The Wall Street Journal reported. The outlet's review of previously unreported emails dating back to the spring and summer of 2021 coincides with the White House's extensive efforts to encourage nationwide Covid-19 vaccination. As part of the initiative, public and private endeavors were undertaken to prompt Facebook to adopt more stringent measures when monitoring vaccine-related content. Earlier in 2021, the White House slammed Facebook, saying that the company was not doing enough to stop the spread of false claims about COVID-19 and vaccines. Following the allegations, Facebook said the company has since partnered with government experts, health authorities and researchers to take "aggressive action against misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines to protect public health." Now Read: Federal Judge Bans White House Officials From Contacting Facebook, Twitter, YouTube: Compares Censorship To Orwellian Ministry Of Truth Photo: Shutterstock
Insurance Broker Attempted To Be On Forbes Billionaires List By Lying About Ownership Of F1 Team And $250M Champagne Collection 2023-07-29 - In a bid to secure a spot on the Forbes Billionaires list, Calvin Lo, a Hong Kong-based insurance broker, made bold claims and lied about his vast wealth. What Happened: Lo asserted ownership of a stake in a Formula 1 racing team, a remarkable $250 million Champagne collection, a luxurious five-star resort hotel and an impressive array of six opulent homes scattered across the globe, Forbes reported. Lo also boasted of being a graduate of Harvard Business School, adding to his aura of success, the publication noted. However, after a thorough investigation, Forbes discovered Lo's claims were far from reality. The outlet reported that, despite relentlessly marketing himself as a ten-figure mogul, Lo and his family had a combined fortune estimated to be less than $200 million. In order to be recognized among billionaires, Lo allegedly portrayed himself to Forbes as the CEO and owner of R.E. Lee International, the "world's largest life insurance broker," handling approximately $1 billion in premiums. Additionally, Lo reportedly asserted his title as the founder of R.E. Lee Capital, an asset management company that managed assets ranging from $8 billion to $10 billion. Also Read: From Dairy Farm To Billionaires List: America's Richest Self-Made Woman 'Grew Up Real Fast' According to Forbes, Lo claimed he was "Asia's largest investor and collector of champagnes and one of the first owners of a Gulfstream G650 private jet in Asia." Lo's false declarations didn't stop there. He also reportedly boasted of his ownership of the renowned Williams Formula 1 racing team. Following his claims, Forbes examined Lo's financial records and investigated his supposed purchase of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Taipei for $1.2 billion in 2018 through an entity named R.E. Lee Octagon, which Lo had said was a private investment vehicle. However, Forbes reported that it discovered no evidence of R.E. Lee Octagon as a registered entity in any jurisdiction, including in Hong Kong, Singapore, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands. Now Read: Airbnb CEO Reflects On Early Struggles: Mom Said 'No, You're Unemployed,' Now He's Worth $9.3B Photo: Shutterstock
Elon Musk Is All Hearts As His Ex-Wife Talulah Riley Announces Engagement To Fellow Actor 2023-07-29 - On Thursday, CEO Elon Musk, who was married twice to British actress Talulah Riley, reacted to the latter's announcement regarding her engagement. What Happened: Earlier this week, Riley announced on Twitter that she is engaged to fellow actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster after two years of dating. Sharing a picture of them both together, Riley tweeted on Thursday, “Very happy to share that after two years of dating, Thomas Brodie Sangster and I are engaged!” Musk was among the early ones to respond to the announcement. “Congratulations,” he said in reply to the tweet, following his message with a heart emoji. See Also: How Did Elon Musk Make His Money Why It's Important: Musk married Riley for the first time in 2010, two years after he divorced his first wife and mother of six of his children, author Justine Wilson. The Tesla CEO and the British actress divorced two years later only to remarry in 2013. They again divorced amicably in 2016. Musk previously shared an old picture of him and Riley in Venice, suggesting they continue to remain friends. Related Link: Elon Musk’s Ex-Wife Talulah Riley Wanted Him To Buy Twitter And Then Delete It Photo: Shutterstock
Paul Krugman Hints At Disinflation Era Kicking In: 'It Just Got Even Harder To Be An Inflation Pessimist' 2023-07-29 - On Friday, noted economist Paul Krugman tweeted a message that should catch the attention of market participants. What Happened: “It just got even harder to be an inflation pessimist,” Krugman said. Price data is continuing to show disinflation, he added. In making his case, the economist quoted a tweet about the Bureau of Labor Statistics' personal income and spending data. The inflation reading of the report, namely the annual rate of the core personal consumption expenditure index, fell from 4.6% in May to 4.1% in June. The metric is the Fed's favorite inflation gauge. Personal consumption expenditure rose 3% year-over-year in June, the smallest rate of increase since March 2021, the economist noted. The annualized 3-month and 6-month rates were at 2.5% and 3.3% respectively, he added. Krugman also pointed to the wage data, which showed that wages and salaries climbed less than 4% year-over-year in the second quarter. See Also: Best Inflation Data Inflation, therefore, has been on the wane especially when spending and wages are considered, he said. Why It's Important: The Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee, the Federal Open Market Committee, met this week and raised the interest rate by 25 basis points to a 22-year high of 5.25%-5.50%. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a press conference that the future rate trajectory will depend on the economic data that comes in. Krugman said he believes that “underlying inflation looks as if it’s fallen to ~3% without any rise in unemployment (and with overall employment, adjusted for age, at its highest level ever).” Related Link: Paul Krugman Says Elon Musk Suffers From ‘Tech Bro Syndrome’ Amid Twitter Rebranding Photo: World Trade Organization via flickr
Google stock jumped 10% this week, fueled by cloud, ads and hope in AI 2023-07-29 - Shares of Alphabet's stock jumped 10% this week after the company reported second quarter earnings that showed growth despite a tough ad market. Share price for the Google parent company reached $132.58 as of Friday's market close, representing its highest close price in more than a year. Google has faced a lot of noise this year around the health of its core search business, due to a slumping digital ad market and the longer-term potential for artificial intelligence chatbots to take traffic. But, its second quarter earnings report Tuesday, the company showed it has any numbers of ways to succeed despite those very real challenges. Among growth, revenue rose 7% to $74.6 billion from $69.7 billion in the year-earlier period. Online advertising, which has been a difficult market for the past year, remains slow because of economic concerns and corporate cost cutting. Google's ad revenue only increased 3.3% from a year earlier, but that's an improvement from the first quarter, when ad revenue fell. And it came after Snap's second-quarter report issued a disappointing forecast, sending the stock down almost 20%. Google's YouTube and Cloud units also showed revenue growth despite competition. "Revenue growth outpaced expense growth for the first time in a while," wrote Bernstein analysts in a note following the earnings report. Google's stock jump also came despite Alphabet chief finance officer Ruth Porat, who has overseen companywide cost-cutting, announced she's leaving that role after eight years to assume the newly created position of president and chief investment officer. Search revenue, which makes up the majority of Google's ad business, also saw steady growth during the quarter. That was a relief to investors, some of whom have grown concerned that traditional search users will be moving to generative AI chatbots from OpenAI and Microsoft, the startup's main investor, for their online queries. "We believe this bodes well for the broader online advertising environment," Citi analysts wrote in a note about Google's earnings. "That said, we do not believe this is a 'rising-tide' environment, rather we favor those platforms that have invested in newer products and services."
Why substituting cryptocurrency for gold exposure may be a costly mistake 2023-07-29 - Viewing cryptocurrency as "digital gold" may be a mistake. State Street Global Advisors' George Milling-Stanley, whose firm runs the world's largest gold exchange-traded fund, believes cryptocurrency is no substitute for the real thing due its vulnerability to big losses. "Volatility does not back up any claims for crypto to be a long-term strategic asset as a competitor to gold," the firm's chief gold strategist told CNBC's "ETF Edge" earlier this week. Milling-Stanley's firm is behind SPDR Gold Shares , the world's largest physically backed gold ETF. It has a total asset value of more than $57 billion as of last week, according to the company's website. The ETF is up 7% year to date as of Friday's market close. Milling-Stanley believes gold's 6,000-year history as a monetary asset serves as a significant sample basis to understand the benefits of investing in gold. "Gold is a hedge against inflation. Gold's a hedge against potential weakness in the equity market. Gold's a hedge against potential weakness in the dollar," he noted. "To me, historically, the promise of gold for investors has … overtime [helped] to enhance the returns of a properly balanced portfolio." The precious metal is having trouble this year staying above the $2,000 an ounce mark. But Milling-Stanley believes the economic backdrop bodes well for gold — recession or not. "It's pretty clear that we're liable to be in a period of slow growth. … Historically, gold has always done well during periods of slower growth," Milling-Stanley said. Milling-Stanley also believes the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions in China should spark more demand for gold. It's known as the world's largest consumer of gold jewelry behind India, according to the World Gold Council. "It's not just China and India. It's Vietnam, it's Indonesia, it's Thailand and Korea. It's a whole raft of Asian countries that are really the main drivers of gold jewelry demand," Milling-Stanley said. Gold settled at $1,960.47 an ounce Friday. The commodity is up more than 7% so far this year.
Households earning $200,000 or more are flocking to these 10 states—5 are in the South 2023-07-29 - A $200,000 household income is more than most people earn across the U.S. In fact, just 12% of U.S. households earn $200,000 or more annually, according to Census Bureau data. While that may be nearly enough for most Americans to feel comfortable financially, $200,000 will inevitably go further in places where the cost of living is generally lower. It may even motivate some people to move. While people move for several reasons, cost can certainly be a major factor. Recently, even high-earning families seem to be flocking to lower-cost states, especially in the South. Between 2020 and 2021, Florida saw the largest net migration of high-earning residents, with over 40,000 households earning $200,000 or more moving to the Sunshine State, according to new research from SmartAsset, which looked at data from the IRS. Florida lost 12,567 high-earning households during the same period, bringing its net migration to 27,567 households. It's not the only Southern state to see its affluent population grow. Five of the 10 states that saw the largest net migration of high earners are in the South. Here's a look at the 10 most-popular states high earners flocked to between 2020 and 2021.
The iconic American hard hat job that has the highest level of open positions ever recorded 2023-07-29 - watch now The U.S. economy's post-Covid growth spurt has come amid one very big problem: lack of workers for jobs across sectors as they bounce back from the pandemic and now attempt to grow amid tighter financial conditions. The labor market, where job openings have reached as high as two for each available worker, is a force within the inflation that continues to challenge companies looking to hire skilled workers. Nowhere has the tight labor market been more extreme than in construction. The construction sector is a fundamental backbone of the nation – without structures created by construction workers, Americans would have nowhere to eat, sleep, work, or live. And yet, the industry is currently battling the highest level of unfilled job openings ever recorded. According to an outlook from Associated Builders and Contractors, a trade group for the non-union construction industry, construction firms will need to attract an estimated 546,000 additional workers on top of the normal pace of hiring in 2023 to meet the demand for labor. The construction industry averaged more than 390,000 job openings per month in 2022, the highest level on record, while unemployment in the sector of 4.6% was the second lowest on record. A long-term labor force problem There are simply not enough workers to keep up with the growing demand for houses, hospitals, schools, and other structures. What's more, with the passage of Biden's infrastructure bill, American municipalities have large sums of money to invest in the revitalization of their buildings, but no one to perform said revitalization. The number of online applications for roles in the construction industry fell 40% at the beginning of the pandemic and has remained flat since, according to ZipRecruiter data from April. "Despite sharp increases in interest rates over the past year, the shortage of construction workers will not disappear in the near future," said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu in a February release on its labor supply and demand outlook. "There is a labor shortage. There are about 650,000 workers missing from the construction industry, and construction backlogs are now at a four-year high," said Maria Davidson, CEO and Founder of Kojo, a materials management company in an interview with CNBC's Lori Ann Larocco. The labor challenges come at a time when the construction sector is facing other supply headwinds that arose since the pandemic. "The landscape has dramatically changed since February 2020," Davidson said. "Commercial construction materials prices are now 40% higher than they were back in February 2020. When you think about materials availability, it's become dire. Panels and commonly used equipment in everything from electrical to mechanical installation are now more than a year in delay. And that's made it very difficult for contractors all over the country to get the materials they need and be able to install them on time and keep projects on budget." Boston, MA - August 9: Construction worker Michael Elder took his hard hat off to wipe sweat off his face while working on the MBTA Green Line in 90-plus degree weather. Boston Globe | Boston Globe | Getty Images The construction sector's labor issues are showing up across the economy. "I think the biggest place we're seeing it show up right now is in housing," said Rucha Vankudre, an economist at Lightcast. "People just aren't getting things built the way they want." "In cases where you're building a big hospital project, as an example, you might have locked in the timeline that you expected to complete something by back in 2019 and now be suffering the consequences of the materials disruptions that we're seeing," Davidson said. What's more, Davidson cited "delays cascade" — when a contractor or construction company experiences a delay in one trade, or a disruption in the supply chain for one material, that will delay their next trade or next material acquisition as well. For construction workers, pay is booming For workers who seek construction jobs, the timing has never been better. "They're making more money. It's a workers' market," said Brian Turmail, vice president of public affairs and strategic initiatives at Associated General Contractors of America. "The construction industry is now paying 80% more than the average non-farm job in the United States." There is a constant supply of work, and the opportunity to make additional income working overtime hours that would not be available if the labor pool wasn't so tight. Turmail cited an aging labor force as a reason for the continued shortage. Workers retire at earlier ages since it is such a physically demanding industry, and the labor force skews older. Construction firms have been incentivizing workers to delay their retirement and work as trainers or teachers. Even under these pro-worker conditions, a shift in American work culture has played a role in limiting the attractiveness of the field to job seekers. "It's cultural," Turmail said. "Mom doesn't want her babies to grow up to be construction workers. For the last 40 years, we've been preaching a message nationally that the only path to success in life lies through a four-year college degree in some kind of an office." Working in construction can be extremely dangerous compared to other jobs, with the second-highest rate of occupational fatalities, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Vankudre said that construction as a career path is not particularly appealing to young people, and until the U.S. government and construction companies find a way to change that belief among the labor force's newest generations, the shortage will linger. Plenty of money to build, not enough to recruit and train
Dock workers at key Canadian ports reject labor deal, creating further trade uncertainty 2023-07-29 - Shipping containers are loaded onto rail cars at the Global Container Terminals Vanterm container terminal on Vancouver Harbour in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Overseas trade entering North America through key ports on Canada's West Coast faces more uncertainty after dock workers rejected a tentative labor deal late Friday. The flow of trade destined for U.S. chemical companies, retailers, and manufacturers is delayed at least two months as a result of 14 days of strikes. Rob Ashton, president of the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union of Canada, has called on the dock workers' employers to come back to negotiating table and reach a deal that works for both the union and industry. The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association did not respond to the union's request to go back to the negotiating table. BCMEA said they are disappointed that ILWU Canada rejected the four-year tentative agreement. The employers association said it is waiting for the Canadian government to provide direction on next steps. Canada's Labor Minister Seamus O'Regan said he has directed the country's industrial relations board to determine whether the union's rejection of the tentative agreement eliminated the possibility of a negotiated resolution. If the board does determine this to be the case, O'Regan has directed the board to either impose a new collective agreement or impose binding arbitration. "Our economy cannot face further disruption from this dispute," O'Regan said. In response to CNBC's questions on the length of time it would take for the industrial relations board to announce their decision, O'Regan's office said the minister asked "for expediency." If the board does decide binding arbitration, this would be a rare event. CNBC has learned that Canada's labor code contains no language against striking when binding arbitration is imposed by the industrial relations board. While striking is prohibited in binding arbitration imposed by parliament or the parties themselves, the union could strike while at the bargaining table in this instance. The proposed deal which was voted down by the union was presented to both sides by the senior federal mediator. The BCMEA released the terms of the deal in its announcement. This is not the first time the BCMEA has released the deal. The four-year package increased the compounded wage over four years by 19.2%. A signing bonus of $1.48 an hour per employee which tallied to approximately $3,000 per full-time worker was included. Also in the deal was an 18.5% increase in retirement payout. In a pushback against the union's argument of having a salary sustainable against rising inflation, the BCMEA said, "Over the course of the past 13 years, longshore wages have risen by 40%, ahead of inflation at 30%."
X logo officially replaces Twitter's famous bird on mobile app, building headquarters 2023-07-29 - This illustration photo taken on July 24, 2023 shows the Twitter bird logo upside down in the background of Elon Musk's screen advertising an "X" as a replacement logo, in Los Angeles. X, formerly known as Twitter, has officially retired its famous blue and white bird logo. The icon on the mobile app changed to an "X" late Friday night in the latest phase of a sweeping rebrand the platform's owner Elon Musk announced earlier this month. The company previously introduced the logo on the web and launched the domain X.com, though Twitter.com also remains live. Musk, who acquired the platform for $44 billion late last year, wrote in a post Sunday that the company would soon "bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds." The transition from Twitter to X reflects Musk's vision to turn the platform into what he has called an "everything app." He shared a video of a large new X logo glowing on top of the company's headquarters early Saturday. City officials in San Francisco opened an investigation into the company Friday for allegedly installing the sign without proper approval, according to the Department of Building Inspection's website. The department filed two active complaints Friday with the descriptions "Structure on roof without permit" and "Unsafe sign" at the address for X's headquarters. In one complaint, a city official said they visited the building and asked company representatives for access to the roof. The official was denied access and told the structure is "a temporary lighted sign for an event." San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection and X did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. The Tesla CEO has long been enamored with the letter "x." SpaceX, Musk's rocket manufacturer, also features an X as its logo, and Musk recently launched a new artificial intelligence startup called xAI, with the lofty goal to "understand the true nature of the universe." But undoing years of branding behind Twitter's blue bird is a move that business analysts consider risky. The company has already struggled to retain advertisers as Musk's changes to the site have led some to fear it's not a safe place for brands to market. Musk recently hired former NBCUniversal advertising executive Linda Yaccarino as CEO, seen as a move to help reassure advertisers. In an email to employees Monday obtained by CNBC's Sara Eisen, Yaccarino wrote that X will develop experiences in video, audio, messaging, banking and payments that will "delight" users. She added that she and Musk plan to work across every team to keep the "entire community up to date." "Time to update.," Yaccarino wrote in a post about the mobile app's logo change Friday. Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.
New Covid vaccines are coming to the U.S. this fall, but uptake may be low — Here’s why 2023-07-29 - In this article PFE MRNA NVAX Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT A pharmacist delivers a COVID-19 booster dose at a Chicago CVS store. Antonio Perez | Tribune News Service | Getty Images A new round of Covid vaccines is coming to the U.S. this fall — but many Americans may not roll up their sleeves and take one. That's largely because pandemic fatigue, the belief that Covid is "over" and confusion over personal risk levels could deter some people from getting an additional shot, experts in public health and health policy told CNBC. But they said public health officials and health-care providers could potentially increase uptake of the new vaccines by communicating a new and simple message this fall: Covid vaccines are likely going to become a routine part of protecting your health moving forward. In September, vaccine manufacturers Pfizer , Moderna and Novavax are slated to deliver new single-strain Covid shots targeting the omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, the most immune-evasive strain of the virus to date. It will be a "very uphill battle" to get people to take those jabs, especially given the sluggish uptake of the most recent shots that rolled out, said Jen Kates, senior vice president of the health policy research organization KFF. Only about 17% of the U.S. population — around 56 million people — have received Pfizer and Moderna's bivalent Covid vaccines since they were approved last September, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bivalent means they target two strains of the virus. Less than half of adults 65 and older have received a bivalent shot, while rates for all other age groups sit at around 20%. Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax have not provided exact estimates for what they expect uptake of their new shots to look like. But a Pfizer spokesperson said overall the company expects 24% of the population, or 79 million people, to receive vaccine doses in 2023, which includes both primary doses and boosters. A Novavax spokesperson said the company has started "manufacturing at risk" and is "stockpiling enough material to support the upcoming launch for the season." All companies have noted that they are preparing for the federal government to shift vaccine distribution to the private market, meaning manufacturers will sell their updated shots directly to health-care providers at higher prices. Previously, the government purchased vaccines directly from manufacturers at a discount to distribute to the public for free. Regardless of that shift, experts say vaccine uptake may not look much different from that of the bivalent boosters. Here's why. Pandemic fatigue, confusion Fatigue over the pandemic and the general belief that Covid is "over" could potentially hinder the uptake of new shots this fall, experts said. A June poll conducted by Gallup found that 64% of Americans think the pandemic is over in the U.S. and only 18% are worried about contracting the virus. Ipsos and Axios released a survey with similar findings in May, the same month the U.S. ended the national Covid public health emergency amid a downward trend in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. But Covid is still killing people every day and isn't going away anytime soon. Meanwhile, many Americans are becoming weary of recommendations for protection. That includes masking, testing for the virus and getting vaccinated. "People have essentially moved on, especially given how long the pandemic has been," Dr. Kartik Cherabuddi, a professor of medicine at the University of Florida, told CNBC. He said that's why it's important to stress how people will personally benefit from receiving an additional vaccine this fall. But there's an even a bigger problem: Personal Covid risks and benefits from getting another shot have been a major area of confusion for Americans, which could also hamper the uptake. The confusion stems from the fact that "risk levels aren't the same for everybody in the population right now," and almost everyone has a different circumstance, according to Dr. Brad Pollock, chair of UC Davis Health's department of public health sciences. "It's this perception of the individual. 'Why should I get another booster? What is my risk? Why should I do it? Is it really worth doing now, or later?'" Pollock told CNBC. "I think everybody's confused. And when they're confused, they probably will do nothing until there's more clarity." Safeway pharmacist Ashley McGee fills a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 booster vaccination at a vaccination booster shot clinic on October 01, 2021 in San Rafael, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images The CDC hasn't recommended the updated shots to specific groups yet because they haven't been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. But even after eligibility guidelines are formalized, confusion could potentially remain. Those at high risk of severe Covid, such as older adults and immunocompromised people, could potentially benefit more than the general population. But even those patients have different circumstances: Some high-risk people may have recently received a fifth vaccine dose, which could push back when they can get the updated vaccine. Health officials usually recommend spacing out vaccinations over a specific number of months. Meanwhile, some healthy adults may have four doses but may be unsure about getting another because the benefit of a fifth dose for those less vulnerable to severe Covid still isn't clear, Pollock said. People who recently had Covid may also have to wait longer to get a new shot so they can maximize the protection they get from vaccination — a recommendation made when the bivalent boosters rolled out. But that could get even more complicated this fall, according to Cherabuddi. He said testing for Covid has dropped to new lows over the past year, "so we don't even know who has been infected in the last few months." Those individualized circumstances will likely make it more challenging for both health officials and health-care providers to convey clear messages about the updated vaccines this fall, Cherabuddi and other experts said. The Health and Human Services Department did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. Vaccine manufacturers have noted that they will continue to engage in a variety of outreach efforts to encourage the public to get vaccinated. A new message may increase rates But KFF's Kates said health officials and providers could potentially increase uptake if they communicate that Covid shots are "likely going to be more of a routine part of our health care going forward." The FDA and CDC are hoping to transition toward a flu shot-like model for Covid vaccines, meaning people will get a single jab every year that is updated annually to target the latest variant expected to circulate in the fall and winter. A man walks past an urgent care facility offering flu shots in New York, the United States, on Dec. 7, 2022. Michael Nagle | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images Kates said that schedule aims to simplify the process of getting vaccinated. For example, it will likely make it easier for Americans to remember to get a new vaccine every year and allow them to receive one with their flu shot during the same doctor's visit. "People might be more open to making this a normal part of what they do," Kates said. "That contrasts with what we've seen in the past where there are different vaccines, different timing, different age groups and something new to consider every few months." There's still uncertainty about whether the U.S. will update and distribute new shots on an annual basis, according to Kates. Advisors to the FDA have raised concerns about shifting to yearly Covid vaccines, noting that it's unclear if the virus is seasonal like the flu. A KFF poll released in April suggests that an annual schedule may boost uptake: More than half of the public said they would likely get an annual Covid shot if it was offered like an annual flu shot. That includes about a third who would be "very likely" to do so. Pfizer similarly told CNBC in May that an annual Covid schedule could encourage more people to vaccinate each year. The company is preparing to shift to that schedule by developing "next-generation" versions of its shot, which aim to extend the protection people get from the virus to a full year. Commercial market may not change much
Citigroup admits its predecessors likely benefited from slavery 2023-07-29 - Citigroup has grown into the nation's third-largest financial institution in part because its predecessors in the 1800s indirectly profited from slavery, the company acknowledged in a blog post this week. The admission came as the Wall Street firm, JPMorgan Chase and other big banks have re-examined their roots in years, looking to unearth what roles they may have played in creating today's racial inequities. Citi first explored its historic ties to slavery 20 years ago but "did not find records providing evidence of any direct involvement," Edward Skyler, Citigroup's head of public affairs, wrote in the post. But a second initiative conducted last year found that the bank's predecessors "likely profited from financial transactions and relationships with individuals and entities ... involved in or connected to the U.S. slave trade," according to Citi's research summary, which Skyler linked to in his post. One such predecessor was Moses Taylor, who served as director and president of City Bank of New York — Citi's name at the time — for much of the mid 1800s. Taylor amassed a large fortune from Cuba's sugar plantations, which used slave labor, according to Citi's research. Many of the nation's biggest banks, including Citi, are conglomerations of financial institutions that have merged or bought each other over the years. Citi traces its founding back to 1812 as City Bank of New York. What today is known as Citigroup grew from more than 400 predecessor companies, of which 21 were created before 1866. Slavery as a legal institution in the continental U.S. formally ended on June 14, 1866. Citi conducted its most recent review of the company's legacy using archives from Cornell University, a historic society in Mobile, Alabama, the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress and the Alabama Supreme Court. The review also found that Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, which later became Citibank (a part of Citigroup), accepted a trust application in the amount of $600,000 for property owned by Henry Hitchcock, Alabama's first attorney general, a man who enslaved 24 unknown people. The property, valued at $1.9 million at the time, raised concern among Citi's researchers team that the assets held under trust by Farmer's Loan "may have included persons enslaved by Hitchcock." While they ultimately concluded that the trust transaction did not result in Citi's predecessor "owning" any people enslaved on the property, it did acknowledge the bank's financial benefit from its dealings with Hitchcock. "Although the focus of our historic records review was Citi's own activity, we acknowledge that people who played important roles in Citi's history had ties to the slave trade," Skyler wrote. "Additionally, other founding or early directors of City Bank of New York likely owned enslaved persons. None of this changes the past but it can help make for a more equitable future." Citi also found that the company held bank accounts for individuals and companies that operated in slaveholding states. The bank is hardly alone in its connection to U.S. slavery. JPMorgan in 2005 acknowledged that two of its predecessor banks had links to the slave trade, with two banks in Louisiana receiving thousands of slaves that were used as collateral. Wachovia, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank that failed in the 2008 financial crisis and was subsequently bought by Wells Fargo, also admitted in 2005 that its history has ties to slavery. Wachovia found that its predecessors — the Bank of Charleston and Georgia Railroad and Banking Company — both owned slaves. —The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trader Joe’s Recalls Cookies and Falafel Because They ‘May Contain Rocks’ 2023-07-29 - Trader Joe’s issued three voluntary recalls this week with warnings that certain products “may contain rocks” or “may contain insects.” The California-based grocery chain recalled two types of cookies, a soup and premade falafel. All of the affected products were removed from shelves and destroyed, Trader Joe’s said in a statement, urging customers to either discard the recalled items or return them for a refund. The company said in an emailed statement that its vendors had alerted it to the potential contaminants but did not immediately respond to questions about how rocks or insects could have gotten into the products. “We will never leave to chance the safety of the products we offer,” the statement said. “In each of these cases, there was an issue in the manufacturing processes in the facilities. We pulled the product from our shelves as soon as we were made aware of the issue.”
An Internet Veteran’s Guide to Not Being Scared of Technology 2023-07-29 - How could they protect themselves from A.I.? That was the question that Mike Masnick found himself fielding this summer in a WhatsApp chat with about 100 directors, actors and screenwriters. The group, including marquee talent, was worried about a grim possible future in which deepfake versions of actors perform screenplays written by ChatGPT. Mr. Masnick, a professional tech wonk, told his Hollywood listeners to work with what they had: Publicly shame projects that replace human labor with artificial intelligence, use state publicity laws against any unauthorized deepfakes and fight hard for contractual protections. (The fight is on: A.I. is one reason for the writers’ and actors’ strikes that have paralyzed the film and television industry.) But he also suggested that they capitalize on the technology. Convinced that “A.I. plus human” is the future, he pointed to the singer Grimes. She invited people to use A.I.-generated versions of her voice, trained on music that she had done in the past, in exchange for half of any royalties. One GrimesAI song is closing in on a million listens on Spotify. “Let people be creative and they’ll do creative things and expand the interest in your own work,” Mr. Masnick, 48, said. The technological shift is inevitable, he said, so “use it to your advantage.”
After Affirmative Action Ruling, Legacy Admissions Take Center Stage 2023-07-29 - Wesleyan University, a liberal arts college in Connecticut, announced two weeks ago that it was ending legacy admissions. Other schools, including Amherst, Johns Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon, have also dropped programs that favor alumni. However, many have not — at least not yet. Many elite schools say legacy admissions are important for maintaining relationships with alumni, which can help universities raise money that is then available for financial aid to needy students. In a June 2018 legal filing in the case that led to the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision, Harvard argued that “there would be substantial costs” to ending legacy admissions. But how substantial? The answer is about more than fund-raising. Legacy students may donate more. In a study published last year in the American Sociological Review, researchers looked at 16 years of admissions data from a school described as “representative of elite U.S. institutions.” They found that legacy students were more likely to have wealthy parents and come from families flagged as big donors. Such students also tended to donate more after graduating than other students, even though both groups earned similar incomes. But less than a quarter of donations come directly from alumni, according to an estimate by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. “No fund-raising shop is going to have to make up half of their gift revenue if there’s a change in the admission office about legacy admissions,” said Mickey Munley, a fund-raising consultant for schools and a former vice president of alumni relations at a private liberal arts college in Iowa. “It’s overplayed.” In addition, donations account for a small portion of revenue at extremely selective schools. At Wesleyan, donations make up just 3 percent of operating revenue. Legacy status may also work as a proxy for financial need. In the American Sociological Review study, legacy students were about half as likely to apply for financial aid as admitted students who weren’t related to alumni. In other words, these students are more likely to be able to pay full tuition without help from the university. “It’s a way to circumvent need-blind policies,” said Richard D. Kahlenberg, an education expert and a nonresident scholar at Georgetown University. “You can be fairly confident in many cases that those students will be able to pay the full tuition and not require financial aid.”
The Robots We Were Afraid of Are Already Here 2023-07-29 - Digit drew a crowd, even here, in a convention center full of robot aficionados. A humanoid warehouse worker, Digit walked upright on goatlike legs and grabbed bins off a shelf with muscular arms made from aerospace-grade aluminum. It then placed the boxes on an assembly line and walked back to the shelf to search for more. The crowd, which had assembled at ProMat, the premier trade show for the manufacturing and supply chain industry, held up phones and watched, a little quiet, wondering if at some point the robot would teeter and fall. It did not. Digit, made by Oregon-based Agility Robotics, is the kind of technology that people have worried about for generations: a machine with the strength and adroitness to rival our own, and the ability to take our jobs, or much worse. Then ChatGPT came online, and suddenly the fear was of something smarter rather than stronger — malevolent bots rather than metallic brutes. The automaton is still coming. It might not be ready to take over the Amazon warehouse yet, but the long-anticipated robot revolution has begun, accelerated in large part by the pandemic and the thunderous growth of e-commerce. Machines like Digit are ready to take over a vast swath of physical labor, from operating forklifts to doing the laundry. Ron Kyslinger thinks this is a good thing. Mr. Kyslinger, an engineer who has spearheaded automation for some of the largest retailers in the world, including Amazon and Walmart, is passionate about the potential of robots to improve the quality of life for workers. Robots free humans from boredom, repetition, physical strain and productivity limits that can put their jobs at risk, he believes. He also believes that Americans have a prejudice against automation because of movies like “The Terminator,” inhibiting them from adapting to technology in ways both beneficial and inevitable.
‘A Dangerous Combination’: Teenagers’ Accidents Expose E-Bike Risks 2023-07-29 - Three days later, another teenage boy was taken to the same hospital after the e-bike he was riding collided with a car, leaving him sprawled beneath a BMW, hurt but alive. In the days following, the town of Encinitas, where both incidents occurred, declared a state of emergency for e-bike safety. The e-bike industry is booming, but the summer of 2023 has brought sharp questions about how safe e-bikes are, especially for teenagers. Many e-bikes can exceed the 20-mile-per-hour speed limit that is legal for teenagers in most states; some can go 70 miles an hour. But even when ridden at legal speeds, there are risks, especially for young, inexperienced riders merging into traffic with cars. “The speed they are going is too fast for sidewalks, but it’s too slow to be in traffic,” said Jeremy Collis, a sergeant at the North Coastal Station of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating Brodee’s accident. To some policymakers and law enforcement officials, the technology has far outpaced existing laws, regulations and safety guidelines. Police and industry officials charge that some companies appear to knowingly sell products that can easily evade speed limits and endanger young riders.
What Is an E-Bike, and How Safe Are They? 2023-07-29 - Class 1: Maximum speed, 20 m.p.h.; the motor may provide power only while the rider is pedaling. (This is known as “pedal assist.”) Age restrictions: None in most states, although some states, such as Oregon, do not permit the use of any class of e-bike by riders younger than 16. Class 2: Maximum speed, 20 m.p.h.; the motor may provide power independently of the pedals. Age restrictions: none in most states. (These e-bikes in particular attract criticism because, by relying solely on the motor, they can achieve immediate bursts of speed.) Class 3: Maximum speed, 28 m.p.h. — but only if the pedals and the motor are used simultaneously. These vehicles are intended for commuters and other riders who are interested in traveling farther than a traditional bicycle would easily allow. Use not permitted by riders younger than 16, in many states. Notably, the federal consumer agency does not recognize the three-class system. What Are the State Rules? According to PeopleForBikes, the trade group that helped craft the three-class system for manufacturers, 42 states have laws that are largely in line with the classification system. In most states, then, riders under 16 can use Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes, while riders of Class 3 e-bikes must be 16 or older. But enforcing those rules is tricky, according to local and state law enforcement officials. It can be hard to tell by looking if a teenage rider is too young for the e-bike being ridden. And glancing at an e-bike’s motor does not establish whether it can go faster than 20 m.p.h.
For Your Broken Heart, Consider a Breakup Budget 2023-07-29 - For a month after a breakup in early June, I wavered between empowered mania and “Wuthering Heights” anguish. If I’d had access to moors I would have roamed them nightly à la the book’s brutish, tormented hero, Heathcliff, wild-haired and sporting a messy cravat, but I was in Austin, Texas, where there is nary a moor and it’s too hot for roaming. So, as I had done after previous breakups, I dabbled in retail therapy. Once, I spent $100 on a wooden gorilla. On another occasion, I bought a philodendron that has since taken over my home, “Jumanji”-style. (If your aim is to purge a lover’s memory, I suggest a less invasive plant.) After this most recent split, however, I left the sphere of retail therapy and waltzed on the plane of shopping addiction. Sadly, the one thing I deemed too expensive was talking to a therapist. Instead, I bought a ticket to Mexico to join my sister at a resort I couldn’t afford. I signed up for a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, with its $550 annual fee and impressive travel benefits, reasoning that it would make more trips to Mexico possible. I spent $165 on a deep-tissue massage and $130 on an annual subscription to MasterClass. I mined La Perla’s sale items, which are still preposterously expensive. (You can put a price on a perfect décolletage, and it is $173.)
What Ron DeSantis, Jason Aldean and Rudy Giuliani have in common 2023-07-29 - The term “race hustler” — or “race pimp” — has historically been used as a slur against Black civil rights activists by people accusing them of speaking about race-related issues for their personal, political or financial benefit. Such language has become popular among some conservative bigots who want to silence discussions about racism. Over the past few weeks, though, I’ve been thinking about how “race hustling” perfectly describes the behavior of people at the forefront of today’s conservative movement. It certainly describes Donald Trump, who launched his 2016 presidential campaign with a racist diatribe about Mexican immigrants. But we’ve seen multiple examples of this recently with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, country music singer Jason Aldean and conspiratorial Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Let’s take a look back, shall we? In DeSantis’ case, we’ve seen race hustling in his administration’s efforts to whitewash the history of slavery. His support of Florida’s new educational standards, which require schools to teach that slavery sometimes came with a personal upside for enslaved people, underscores his eagerness to traffic in versions of history that appeal to many white conservatives. He has publicly attacked Black officials who disagree with this warped worldview, and the crux of his political identity — touting so-called anti-wokeness — is staked in similar anti-Black revisionist history. DeSantis is using racial bigotry for his political benefit. This, my friends, is true race hustling. Aldean is in a similar boat. As I wrote earlier this week, his video for “Try That in a Small Town,” which appears to promote racial violence, is essentially bigot bait. It’s a poppy, formulaic insult to quality country music as it seeks to capitalize on white nationalist symbolism — and maybe a little bloodlust as well. And conservatives have been eating it up, to Aldean’s delight. Singing a twangy tune at the site of an infamous lynching has carried the artist near the top of the Billboard charts. And Aldean’s framing of the backlash to his video as an effort to cancel him — which has made many conservatives even more resolute in supporting him — seems to me like a blatant effort to cash in on their racial angst. Again, more race hustling. And then there’s Giuliani, who just this week admitted to lying about two Black election workers in Georgia — Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss — whom he claimed tried to defraud Trump out of a 2020 election victory in the state. These lies were at the heart of Trump’s 2020 election denialism, which Team Trump allegedly used to raise millions of dollars. Pimpin’ ain’t easy, as the saying goes ... unless your base is Republican voters. Those familiar with Giuliani’s history know he has a history of race hustling. Back in February, for example, I wrote about an MSNBC documentary, “When Truth Isn’t Truth: The Rudy Giuliani Story.” Part of it tells the story of Giuliani’s alliance with a mob that formed outside New York City Hall in 1992 to denounce Mayor David Dinkins, the city’s first Black mayor. That mob reportedly included several people who hurled racist epithets, as I note in both the blog post and this TikTok: Giuliani seemed all too willing to cash in on this racist vitriol en route to the mayorship himself. And he used Freeman and Moss in much the same way he used Dinkins: as Black targets he could subject to violent vitriol for personal gain. Giuliani deployed racist tropes against the two election workers, including claims they had behaved like drug dealers “passing out dope” and even referring to Freeman, then 62, as a “hustler.” How rich is that? Rudy Giuliani, Jason Aldean and Ron DeSantis are the real hustlers. They push bigotry out to the masses, and then wait for the spoils to roll in. Is this a moral indictment of each of them as individuals? Absolutely. But the fact that their bigotry still holds valence in today’s GOP is an indictment of Republican voters as well. They’re the ones lapping up all of this.