Christopher Kirchner, founder of the supply chain software company Slync, is going on trial for fraud and money laundering charges. Prosecutors allege that he misappropriated $25 million in capital raised to scale his business and spent it on a lavish lifestyle including a private jet and luxury suite at a Dallas stadium, while struggling to meet payroll. If convicted, Kirchner could go to prison for the rest of his life. The text also highlights other founder fraud trials that have occurred in recent years, including Frank founder Charlie Javice's $175 million fraud case and Elizabeth Holmes' 11-year prison sentence for Theranos. Additionally, Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of multiple counts of fraud, Nikola founder Trevor Milton sentenced to four years in prison for fraud, Manish Lachwani pled guilty to fraud last year, and Carlos Watson's trial date has been set for Ozy Media founder's identity theft case. The text also mentions that part of being a venture capitalist in 2023 may be organizing speaking arrangements at court due to these founder fraud trials.
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#FounderFraudTrial #ElizabethHolmes #NikolaFounder #ManishLachwani #CarlosWatson #OzyMedia #SamBankmanFried
David Crane explained why he did not think Israel's actions met the criteria for genocide, and Leila Fadel countered with several damning quotes from the Israeli defense minister suggesting a genocidal intent.
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New technologies have made it easier for people to spread untruths or impersonate the trustworthy, and that ai-generated content is becoming harder to detect due to advances in computing power and training data.
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#AI #ContentGeneration #Technology #FakeNewsDetection #ComputingPower #TrainingData
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. suspended its chief financial officer and cut its earnings outlook pending an investigation into its accounting practices, which was prompted by a voluntary document request from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The probe is focused on intersegment transactions involving ADM's nutrition unit, which makes ingredients for human and animal foods, and the company has spent billions expanding this business since 2014 but profits have failed to live up to initial expectations due to weakening demand. The investigation is likely to result in a lower margin for nutrition at a time when investors are already concerned about the risk to earnings, and ADM may reassess its strategic priorities as a result of this news.
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#ADM #AccountingPractices #SECInvestigation #NutritionUnit #WeakeningDemand #LowerMargin
The conflict between Israel and Hamas has led to an escalation in tensions across the region, with America and Britain attacking Houthi strongholds in Yemen and Israel firing its biggest targeted barrage into Lebanon. The consequences of these attacks have been widespread, disrupting global shipping, devastating local economies, and leading to growing hardship that threatens to spark even more violence.
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#IsraelConflict #Hamas #Yemen #Lebanon #America #Britain #HouthiStrongholds
Large-scale conflicts between militarily sophisticated adversaries such as Russia and Ukraine tend to become decided by which side has the better arms industry. The combined resources of Ukraine's allies are so much greater than Russia's, but the conflict is slowly turning in favor of Russia due to its defense industry being able to fire five times more shells a day compared to Ukrainian forces during their summer counter-offensive. The West now faces a choice between giving Ukraine what it needs or ceding an irrecoverable advantage to Russia. America and the European Union are having trouble delivering aid, with American military assistance held up in Congress and EU financial support stymied by Hungary's pro-Russian leader Viktor Orban. The Ukrainians are worried that American hyper-partisanship and Donald Trump's hostility will steadily throttle support from the Pentagon, leaving them wholly dependent on Europe for military aid. However, the picture is patchy in terms of commitment among European countries, with France contributing only a small amount compared to Germany and the Nordic countries who are digging deep.
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https://read.distractionfree.site/economist/europe/2024/01/14/can-europe-arm-ukraine-or-even-itself
#UkraineRussiaConflict #MilitaryIndustry #WeaponsSupply #CounterOffensive #WesternSupport #HungarianLeaderViktorOrban #AmericanHyperPartisanship
"A Day in the Life of Abed Salama" by Nathan Thrall examines events leading up to a bus crash in the West Bank in 2012 that killed six Palestinian children and one of their teachers. The book builds a relentless case that this tragedy must be remembered, while "The Blazing World" by Jonathan Healey is an engaging and erudite history of revolutionary England during the 17th century. In contrast, "Emperor of Rome" by Mary Beard presents a fascinating account of around 30 emperors over 250 years, while "In Her Nature" by Rachel Hewitt explores the hidden history of trailblazing women who became cyclists, hikers, mountaineers and runners. Finally, "Judgment at Tokyo" by Gary Bass is a meticulously researched account of efforts to prosecute Japanese generals deemed responsible for some of the horrors of the second world war.
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#PalestinianChildren #BusCrash #Tragedy
President Biden's recent executive order on AI is a reminder that the federal government is now a top customer for artificial intelligence (AI) products, spending at least $1.6 billion on AI in 2023. Other agencies use AI to process FOIA requests, regulate medical treatments, and streamline patent applications. The text also mentions that the Pentagon uses an AI tool called GAMECHANGER to help officials figure out how to spend taxpayers' money. However, while AI and machine learning are important tools, federal agencies are increasingly turning their attention to generative AI (GenAI), which is the technology behind conversational tools such as ChatGPT. The text also mentions that GenAI models can be useful but they are prone to making things up, which could become a huge problem for the government and businesses.
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#PresidentBiden #ExecutiveOrderOnAI #FederalGovernmentCustomerForAIProducts #SpendingAtLeast16BillionOnAIIn2023 #OtherAgenciesUseAIToProcessFOIARequests #RegulateMedicalTreatments #StreamlinePatentApplications
A new video game called Palworld is attracting players by the millions and is also causing outrage among fans of Japan's legendary pocket monster franchise. The game, which is similar to Pokemon but with guns, has sold 5 million copies in three days and is currently No. 1 on Steam for concurrent players. Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox division is also distributing the game, and some Pokemon lovers are outraged by the similarities between Palworld and Pokemon. The developers of Palworld have received slanderous comments against their artists and even death threats from gamers who believe that the game is copying Pokemon too closely. However, many other gamers say that Palworld more closely resembles ARK: Survival Evolved than it does Pokemon, which has been experiencing mixed reviews for its last few games.
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#Palworld #Pokemon #ARKSurvivalEvolved #VideoGames
MacKenzie Scott's philanthropy has attracted attention for its size and approach, which involves giving away large sums of money quickly with no strings attached or lengthy application process.
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#Philanthropy #Attention #LargeSumOfMoney #FastGiving #NoStringsAttached #LengthyApplicationProcess
The 2024 presidential election will be a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump with an earlier completed party primary process. It also mentions that Americans will have to wait until March or beyond to know who the Republican challenger is likely to be, which could result in a full eight months of general election campaigning between two unpopular candidates. The attention of politically engaged citizens may shift from Trump the candidate to Trump the defendant during his federal trial for attempting to overturn the 2020 election starting on March 4th before "Super Tuesday" when 13 states will vote in the Republican primary, which he and his campaign will use as an act of defiance.
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#PresidentialElection2024 #JoeBiden #DonaldTrump #RepublicanPrimary #SuperTuesday #FederalTrial
"AI has the potential to transform the economy and society, but also poses risks such as misuse and surveillance."
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#ArtificialIntelligence #Economy #Society #Risks #Misuse #Surveillance
Michael Jordan gave his former communications director Tim Hallam signed shoes from each of his six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, and these shoes are being auctioned off by Sotheby's.
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#MichaelJordan
Two companies are developing technologies to capture carbon dioxide from the air or from industrial processes and turn it into limestone, which can then be used for various purposes such as building materials or as a way to store carbon.
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#CarbonCapture #LimestoneFormation #IndustrialProcesses
Americans still love their pick-up trucks but they loved them a little bit less in 2023 due to high gas prices which led many consumers to move away from large trucks and SUVs into smaller, more fuel-efficient models. Sales of electric vehicles also saw a shakeup with Tesla's Model 3, Model Y, Model S, and Model X seeing sharp drop offs due to lack of major updates and the Chevy Bolt and Nissan Leaf moving up the charts in their place. The F-150 Lightning was not included in the list of used EV sales but the dominance of the Ford F-150 is still hard to overstate as it was the best selling car in 34 states, including many major metropolitan areas."
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#AmericansLovePickUpTrucks #LargeTruckSalesDropOffDueToFuelEfficiencyConcerns #ElectricVehicleSalesShakeupWithTeslaModel3ModelYModelSAndModelXSeeingSharpDropOffs #ChevyBoltAndNissanLeafMoveUpTheChartsInTheirPlace #FordF150LightningIsBestSellingCarIn34StatesIncludingMajorMetropolitanAreas
Netflix's latest show "Stranger Things: the First Shadow", is not being streamed down fibre-optic cables to television screens but performed live on a stage in London. Other examples include Disney offering a live version of "Frozen" and Amazon launching a musical of "Transparent". The text also mentions that Hollywood's turn on the stage is part of a broader shift by the movie business towards live experiences, as attendance at the cinema declines. Film-makers are concocting novel ways to soak up demand from their fans, and this is being seen in things like restaurants, art exhibitions, escape rooms, and assault courses. The text also mentions that there is an insatiable appetite from these mega-fans who will eat up anything served to them by Hollywood.
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#FilmIndustry2 #LiveExperiences3 #CinemaAttendance4 #HollywoodFanbase5 #NovelWays6 #AppetiteForHollywood7 #MegaFans
Learning a new language can be challenging but rewarding. It also highlights how language is fluid and constantly evolving, reflecting the diverse experiences and perspectives of its users.
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#LanguageLearning #ChallengingButRewarding
There have been several recent mass shootings motivated by racial or religious hatred, and policy makers are responding with increased funding and policing measures to combat this trend.
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#MassShootings #Racism #ReligiousHatred #IncreasedFunding #PolicingMeasures
Ancient rivers in Iraq played an important role in the emergence of modern politics, as they were responsible for gluing together early states.
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#AncientRivers #Iraq #Politics #EarlyStates
Chief Justice John Roberts discussed the pros and cons of computer-generated content in the legal profession, acknowledging both its potential to smooth out any mismatch between available resources and urgent needs in our court system and its use by people without much money. The report also touched on the ethical practices of the justices and their failure to disclose travel, other hospitality, and additional financial ties with wealthy conservative donors, including Harlan Crow and the Koch brothers. Lastly, it mentioned that the country is entering an election year in which the court may become entangled in ongoing criminal cases against former President Donald Trump and efforts to keep him off the 2024 ballot.
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#LegalProfession #EthicalPracticesOfJustices #CourtSystemAndTravelTies