By BY GABE COHN from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/2QbuKPQ
Tuesday, 31 December 2019
What’s on TV Wednesday: A Linda Ronstadt Doc and ‘Doctor Who’
By BY GABE COHN from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/2QbuKPQ
Rocket Launches, Trips to Mars and More 2020 Space and Astronomy Events
By BY MICHAEL ROSTON from NYT Science https://ift.tt/2Qeu9wU
Sync your calendar with the solar system
By BY MICHAEL ROSTON from NYT Science https://ift.tt/39wKKDC
Meteor Showers in 2020 That Will Light Up Night Skies
By BY NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR from NYT Science https://ift.tt/35cZIeI
Dizzying Day for Trump Caps a Year Full of Them
By BY MICHAEL CROWLEY from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/35djxCD
Kevin Spacey Accuser’s Estate Drops Sexual Assault Lawsuit
By BY NEIL VIGDOR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/36iueVO
Hong Kong Protest: Thousands Expected to March on New Year’s Day
By BY ELAINE YU from NYT World https://ift.tt/2N0qTU3
C&L's Late Night Music Club With The B-52s
I've said a million times before and I am gonna say it again. It is not officially a New Year's Eve party until the needle drops on something from the first B-52s album.
Onward to the new year. I'd like to think that 2020 is a year that will bring us less bullshit but with the idiots in charge, I am not holding my breath for such wishes. I will try to make a toast that sounds more positive sometime this evening though.
What are you listening to tonight?
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Hospitals and Schools Are Being Bombed in Syria. A U.N. Inquiry Is Limited. We Took a Deeper Look.
By BY MALACHY BROWNE, CHRISTIAAN TRIEBERT, EVAN HILL, WHITNEY HURST, GABRIEL GIANORDOLI AND DMITRIY KHAVIN from NYT World https://ift.tt/39t4ojT
Quotation of the Day: Ex-SEAL Now Pitching Products and President
By Unknown Author from NYT Today’s Paper https://ift.tt/2MKThcG
F.D.A. Plans to Ban Most E-Cigarette Flavors but Menthol
By BY SHEILA KAPLAN AND MAGGIE HABERMAN from NYT Health https://ift.tt/2FbfqMQ
Open Thread: What Are Your New Year's Resolutions?
My resolutions are pretty simple this year.
- Think before you retweet.
- Don't buy large packages of sugary snacks.
- Check the antifreeze at least once a week.
How about you?
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Texas Churchgoers Welcomed the Poor, but Sensed This One Was Trouble
By BY DAVE MONTGOMERY, ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS AND RICK ROJAS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/37mK6XF
Al interior de un tribunal de guerra estadounidense: la ropa y la cultura en Guantánamo
By BY CAROL ROSENBERG AND WENDY MACNAUGHTON from NYT en Español https://ift.tt/2uaRjvL
3 Easy Ways To Protect Yourself From Media Disinformation
America is at war. Russia and other hostile powers are making ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy now after successfully undermining our 2016 election. Here are 3 easy ways to protect yourself and those you love from media disinformation.
Don't Get Your News from Facebook or Any Social Media Sources
Don't get your news from Facebook and don't believe most of news sources you see on the social media network. Facebook is one of the worst offenders but overall be very skeptical of all news sources on social media. You don't really know where the so-called news sources are coming from.
A Facebook page with over a million followers called “I Love America” that featured patriotic themes, rippling flags and pro-Trump memes was shut down in October after it turned out to be run by Ukrainians.
.
Twitter accounts or Facebook pages with millions of followers are easy to fake. A high follower count doesn't mean the source is credible. To quote your mother:
If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you follow them?
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Science Panel Staffed With Trump Appointees Says E.P.A. Rollbacks Lack Scientific Rigor
By BY CORAL DAVENPORT AND LISA FRIEDMAN from NYT Climate https://ift.tt/356WYj6
From the Brig to Mar-a-Lago, Former Navy SEAL Capitalizes on Newfound Fame
By BY DAVE PHILIPPS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2QfAbgN
Monday, 30 December 2019
It’s 50 Below. The Past Is a Horror Show. You’d Dream of Escaping Too.
By BY ANDREW HIGGINS from NYT World https://ift.tt/37siQ9Z
Uber and Postmates claim gig worker bill AB-5 is unconstitutional in new lawsuit
Postmates and Uber have filed a complaint in California federal district court, alleging that a bill limiting how companies can label workers as independent contractors is unconstitutional. The complaint, which includes two gig workers as co-plaintiffs, was filed in U.S. District Court on Monday, days before Assembly Bill 5 (AB-5) is due to go into effect on Jan. 1. It asks for a preliminary injunction against AB-5 while the lawsuit is under consideration.
The complaint argues that AB-5 violates several clauses in the U.S. and California constitutions, including equal protection because of how it classifies gig workers for ride-sharing and on-demand delivery companies compared to the exemptions it grants to workers who do “substantively identical work” in more than twenty other industries.
AB-5 was authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a Democrat representing the 80th Assembly District in southern California and signed into law in September by Governor Gavin Newsom. It is intended to uphold the ruling in Dynamex Operations West Inc. v Superior Court of Los Angeles, a landmark 2018 decision by the California Supreme Court about how employees and independent contractors should be classified, and ensure that gig economy workers are entitled to benefits like minimum wage, health insurance and workers’ compensation.
But the suit’s opponents, which includes tech companies whose business models rely on the gig economy, as well as groups of gig workers and freelance journalists, argue that it restricts their work opportunities and ability to earn money.
In addition to Uber and Postmates, the complaints’ plaintiffs also include Lydia Olson and Miguel Perez, drivers for on-demand companies. In a post on Postmates’ blog, Perez wrote that he joined the suit because AB5 “is threatening the freedom and flexibility I have relied on in recent years to support my family.”
A statement from Postmates said “AB5 is a blunt instrument, which is why lawmakers exempted 24 industries, seemingly at random, from its requirements.”
The company added that does not want to be exempted from AB-5 or reverse the Dynamex standard, but “call for industry and labor talks with the California legislature to modernize a robust safety net designed specifically for the needs of on-demand workers, that establishes a new portable benefits model, creates earnings guarantees higher than minimum age, and gives all workers both the strong voice they need and flexibility they demand—a framework not currently contemplated under state and federal law.”
As proof that AB-5 violates the equal protection clause, the complaint argues that “the vast majority of the statute is a list of exemptions that carve out of the statutory scope dozens of occupations, including direct salespeople, travel agents, grant writers, construction truck drivers, commercial fisherman, and many more. There is no rhyme or reason to these nonsensical exemptions, and some are so ill-defined or entirely undefined that it is impossible to discern what they include or exclude.”
The complaint also alleges that AB-5 violates due process by preventing people from choosing to work for gig companies, and the contracts clause because mandating companies like Uber and Postmates to reclassify contractors as employees will either invalidate or substantially change their existing contracts.
In statement about the lawsuit, Gonzalez said “the one clear thing we know about Uber is they will do anything to try to exempt themselves from state regulations that make us all safer and their driver employees self-sufficient. In the meantime, Uber chief executives will continue to become billionaires while too many of their drivers are forced to sleep in their cars.”
The lawsuit follows several efforts to stop or limit AB-5. In October, a group of drivers for Lyft, Uber and DoorDash announced they had submitted a California ballet initiative for the November 2020 ballot in response to AB-5. The measure which received substantial financial support from those companies, seeks to enable drivers and couriers can continue to be independent contractors while guaranteeing benefits like a minimum wage, expenses, healthcare and insurances.
Earlier this month, several organizations representing freelancer writers filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles alleging AB5 places unconstitutional restrictions on free speech, the day after Vox Media announced it will cut hundreds of freelance positions in California as it prepares for the bill.
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Quotation of the Day: Business Got Big Tax Cut; Lobbyists Made It Bigger
By Unknown Author from NYT Today’s Paper https://ift.tt/39BfkMG
C&L's Late Nite Music Club With 20/20
A new year (and decade) is straight ahead. From 1979, some power-pop that came outta Hollywood, California. Here's 20/20!
What are you listening to tonight?
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What's Your Favorite Movie Of 2019?
What's your favorite movie of 2019?
(Above: Dolomite is My Name)
Here's a few of mine, all of which are making the lists for this year:
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood:
[embed eid="38484" /]
Knives Out:
[embed eid="38485" /]
Good Boys (Not work safe trailer)
[embed eid="38486" /]
What were your favorites of the year? And it's an open thread...
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The Best Movies and TV Shows New to Netflix, Amazon and Stan in Australia in January
By BY NOEL MURRAY from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/36ahxwg
Huawei Posts Solid Growth but Warns of Difficulties Ahead
By BY PAUL MOZUR from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2QwR31n
Huawei’s revenue hits record $122B this year despite U.S. sanctions, forecasts ‘difficult’ 2020
Huawei reported resilient revenue for 2019 on Tuesday as the embattled Chinese technology group continues to grow despite prolonged American campaign against its business, but cautioned that growth next year could prove more challenging.
Eric Xu, Huawei’s rotating chairman, wrote in a New Year’s message to employees that the company’s revenue has topped 850 billion Chinese yuan ($122 billion), a new record high for the Chinese group and an 18% increase over the previous year.
Xu said Huawei, the second largest smartphone maker globally, sold 240 million handsets this year, up from 206 million last year.
“These figures are lower than our initial projections, yet business remains solid and we stand strong in the face of adversity,” he wrote.
He acknowledged that Huawei is confronting a “strategic and long-term” campaign against it by the U.S. government. If the campaign persists for long, it would create even more “difficult” environment for Huawei to “survive and thrive,” he said.
Survival would be the company’s first priority in 2020, he said.
The U.S. added Huawei to the Commerce Department’s trade blacklist this year, and placed new restrictions on its ability to sell to — and maintain commercial relations with — American companies. The U.S. government has also urged its allies to not use Huawei products in building the next generation of their telecom network infrastructure, alleging that the Chinese company poses a threat to national security.
In October, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a conference in New Delhi that he hopes that India, the world’s second largest telecom market, “does not inadvertently subject itself to untoward security risk” by using 5G equipment from Huawei.
But not all U.S. allies have heeded its advice. On Monday, Huawei secured a major victory in India, which approved Huawei’s request to participate in trials of its 5G spectrum.
“We thank the Indian government for their continued faith in Huawei,” Jay Chen, the company’s India CEO said in a statement. “We firmly believe that only technology innovations and high quality networks will be the key to rejuvenating the Indian telecom industry,” he added.
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2019: The Year in Visual Stories and Graphics
By Unknown Author from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2teWY3e
Data Breach at Wyze Labs Exposes Information of 2.4 Million Customers
By BY SANDRA E. GARCIA from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2QCSw6i
U.S. Population Makes Fewest Gains in Decades, Census Bureau Says
By BY NEIL VIGDOR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2QEwLDs
Uber and Postmates File Suit to Block California Freelancer Law
By BY NOAM SCHEIBER from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2ZB7BcG
Data Breach at Wyze Labs Exposes Information of 2.4 Million Customers
By BY SANDRA E. GARCIA from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2Q8mCzD
The five biggest rounds in tech in 2019 and what they mean
Funding for tech startups has been on an inevitable upswing for years, a result of a virtuous circle where wildly successful tech companies on the public markets whet the appetites of investors and investors’ backers to find more diamonds, a push met by a pull from the rush of talent with entrepreneurial aspirations out to put that money to work. 2019 has felt a bumper year in that longer trend, with 9-figure rounds ($100 million or more) and “unicorn” statuses so prevalent that the numbers have started to cease to be news items in themselves.
With 2020 now just days away, a look at the 50 biggest funding rounds for start-ups in the past year draw out some trends. We’re pulling out the top five below for a closer look, but it’s interesting too to see some of the other trends emerging across the rest of the pack.
Automotive remains a huge pull when it comes to raising big bucks: part of the reason is because the space is capital intensive, as it straddles both software and hardware (that is, not just equipment but cars). Capex is another reason for some of the other big investment rounds of the year, such as the biggest of them all, for an internet data center startup.
Asian companies figure massive in the list, and account for 7 of the 10 biggest rounds in the list.
Small players: there were only three companies in health tech in the top 50, only one in education technology, and only three in the areas of AI and robotics. I don’t know if that means these areas simply don’t require as much capital investment, or if these challenges are simply not as interesting right now for investors as those more squarely focused on revenue generation and business needs. Hopefully the former, as the wider tech world faces a lot of cynicism and skepticism from the public, and could use a better profile from solving actual problems.
Note: for this piece we have focused on investments made in pre-IPO technology companies, and on new equity investments rather than secondary or debt rounds.
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Pompeo to Meet With Ukraine’s Zelensky in Kyiv
By BY EDWARD WONG from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2QBrqwz
Judge Dismisses Lawsuit by Ex-Trump Aide Subpoenaed in Impeachment Inquiry
By BY CHARLIE SAVAGE from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2F9n62h
Schumer Demands Witnesses Be Called at Senate Impeachment Trial
By BY ERIC LIPTON AND MAGGIE HABERMAN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2ZCv39z
After Death From Falling Debris, Violations Found at 220 Buildings
By BY AZI PAYBARAH from NYT New York https://ift.tt/36acVGp
American Airstrikes Rally Iraqis Against U.S.
By BY ALISSA J. RUBIN AND BEN HUBBARD from NYT World https://ift.tt/37ofNjf
A 7-Eleven in Japan Might Close for a Day. Yes, That’s a Big Deal.
By BY BEN DOOLEY AND HISAKO UENO from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2F70Gi9
The Stock Market Is Booming, but Democrats Say, Look Who’s Been Left Out
By BY JEREMY W. PETERS AND SYDNEY EMBER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/37lT876
Gracie Gold Embraces a Rugged Comeback Path
By BY KAREN CROUSE from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2Zzmxbr
L.S.U. and Clemson Reached the Championship on Opposite Tracks
By BY ALAN BLINDER AND BILLY WITZ from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/37pABXt
China Sentences Wang Yi, Christian Pastor, to 9 Years in Prison
By BY PAUL MOZUR from NYT World https://ift.tt/356KCYb
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