President-elect Trump announced he intends to nominate Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general, putting a fierce critic of federal law enforcement in charge of the Justice Department.

Driverless cars can now do doughnuts and drift like stunt drivers, skidding sideways around corners while maintaining control, which might help the cars recover from dangerous situations

Evangelist Franklin Graham congratulated former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on his Tuesday nomination by President-elect Donald Trump to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

When talk turns to the economy, it's clear that LA brings out the best and the worst.

Steve Julian: Business analyst Mark Lacter, where do you see the best of it here?

Mark Lacter: You see the best of the economy, Steve, with all kinds of startup activity - much of it tech-related - and you also see the large number of auto sales, the improved housing market, and the record number of people visiting Southern California - all indications of a growing economy.  But then, you have the other L.A. economy, with large numbers of families struggling to make ends meet, and seeing very little sign of recovery.  You know, the government has been releasing income data covering the last few years, and what you see is that the disparity between the richest 1 percent and the other 99 percent is at its widest point since the 1920s.  You especially see that kind of bifurcated economy in Southern California, which has some of the wealthiest people in the country, and also some of the poorest.

Julian: Now, the split between rich and poor has been happening for a good long time, hasn't it?

Lacter: Yes, but L.A. is in a special class because there are so many immigrants with limited job skills - in fact, a new study by the UCLA Anderson Forecast says it's a much higher percentage than immigrants living in Miami, San Francisco, and New York.  What's interesting is that 20 years ago the job skills among immigrants were significantly higher in L.A.  Limited job skills mean there's very little opportunity to move up the income ladder.  That factors into buying homes, sending your kids to college - really becoming part of the middle class.

Julian: I imagine that's particularly true for factory work…

Lacter: Yes, some of the same jobs that newly-arrived immigrants in previous generations would gravitate to.  Today, many of those jobs are gone, and they're being replaced by positions that require greater skill that's borne out of greater education.  And that, of course, is another problem: a sizable percentage of recently-arrived immigrants never finished high school, much less college, and that makes it even less likely that they'll be able to move up.

Julian: Related, or unrelated, to the recession?

Lacter: Actually, L.A. had serious income inequality in December of 2006, before the recession, when the county's unemployment rate was just 4.3 percent - a stunningly low rate when you consider that as of July, the jobless rate was almost 10 percent.  This points out that the division of haves and have-nots can happen even when the economy is doing well.

Julian: And it seems the last C-17 to be built for Air Force is a reminder of wage gap.

Lacter: That's right - it'll be up to foreign customers to keep the program in Long Beach alive.  Boeing currently has an order from India for 10 of the cargo planes, which will keep the line moving through the third quarter of next year.  Frankly, the only reason the C-17 has lasted this long is heavy political pressure by congressional lawmakers whose districts have an economic stake in the program.  At one time, as many as 16,000 people may have worked on the C-17 in Long Beach, but that number has fallen sharply over the years.

Julian: Still, this is the last airplane manufacturing plant in Southern California.

Lacter: And that, of course, speaks volumes about the state of the aerospace business, which had been one of the main economic drivers back in the days leading up to World War II.  Aerospace continued to be very important until the end of the Cold War, when you had a huge industry consolidation that resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of local jobs throughout the 1990s.  There's still quite a bit of aerospace activity locally that involves missiles, satellites, and electronics - both for the major defense contractors like Boeing and Northrop, and for smaller contractors and sub-subcontractors that still get a piece of the military pie.

Julian: But most of them require high skill levels…

Lacter: Yes, and that gets us back to the folks who are stuck in low-paying jobs with little prospect for moving up.  This is what the L.A. economy is all about, the good and the bad.

Mark Lacter writes for Los Angeles Magazine and pens the business blog at LA Observed.com.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Michigan's Upper Peninsula, known for its awe-inspiring winter landscapes and abundant snowfall, has again been nominated for USA TODAY's 10Best "Best Snow Destination" title.

For those of us who can't afford to fly Business Class, design studio JPA has designed a better Premium Economy seat.

The new design takes cues from a wingback chair, providing greater privacy on either side of your head.

A nice, unexpectedly elegant design touch is this reading light integrated into the headrest.

Thigh support is offered when the seats recline.

There's also a footrest you can fold down.

The seatback monitors are gigantic, and the seatback tray has been replaced with a phone/tablet tray, in case you want to supplant the onboard programming with your own.

The trays are now located in the armrests.

The non-tray armrests of each seat feature a storage compartment with a light and a USB-C port.

Between the seats, on the center console are conventional power outlets.

The new seat designs are slated for Cathay-Pacific's 777-300ER wide-body planes.

The new Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (JAEPA), signed on 8 July 2014, will strengthen economic ties between the two nations. Japan is Australia’s third largest direct foreign investor with A$130 million worth of investment stock in Australia in 2013.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has reaffirmed Australia's triple-A credit rating and stable economic outlook, stating that the sovereign credit ratings on Australia benefit from the country's strong institutional settings, its wealthy and resilient economy, and a high degree of monetary and fiscal policy flexibility. “These factors provide Australia with a strong ability to absorb large economic and financial shocks, as was demonstrated during the global recession in 2009,” S&P said.

Event Begins: Thursday, November 14, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Lorch Hall
Organized By: Department of Political Science

*The Ford School's International Policy Center is a co-sponsor of the 2024-2025 Political Economy Workshop events.*

Tuesdays, 1:00 - 2:20 pm

Eldersveld Room, 5670 Haven Hall

Faculty Coordinators: Hoyt Bleakley, Edgar Franco-Vivanco, Mark Dincecco, Iain Osgood

Graduate Student Coordinators: Jun Fang and Pedro Luz de Castro

Fall 2024

9/26: Christopher Blattman, University of Chicago (Thursday, 4-5:20pm, 201 Lorch) (joint with Economic Development Seminar) (note different time and place)

10/22: Volha Charnysh, MIT

11/5: Hoyt Bleakley and Paul Rhode, UM Economics

11/14: Ceren Baysan, University of Toronto (Thursday, 4-5:20pm, 201 Lorch) (joint with Economic Development Seminar) (note different time and place)

11/21: Saumitra Jha, Stanford University (Thursday, 4-5:20pm, 201 Lorch) (joint with Economic Development Seminar) (note different time and place)

12/3: Cristina Bodea, Michigan State University

Winter 2025

2/4: Amy Pond, Washington University in St. Louis

2/11: Megan Stewart, UM Ford School of Public Policy

2/25: Luis Schenoni, UCL

3/11: Hye Young You, Princeton University

4/8: Layna Mosley, Princeton University

4/15: Aditya Dasgupta, UC Merced

4/22: Christopher Paik, NYU Abu Dhabi

Event Begins: Thursday, November 14, 2024 3:30pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Astronomy

"XRISM – A New Window into the X-ray Universe"

At 23:42 UTC on September 6th, 2023, the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) lifted off from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, ushering in a new era of high-energy astrophysics. XRISM, an international JAXA/NASA collaboration including participation from ESA, is an advanced X-ray observatory capable of carrying out a science program that will address some of the most important questions in astrophysics in the 2020s. XRISM is essentially a rebuild of the Hitomi (Astro-H) spacecraft that was lost due to an operational mishap early in the mission in 2016. Resolve, the primary instrument on XRISM, is a high-resolution, non-dispersive X-ray spectrometer operating between 0.3-12 keV, providing high-resolution (~5 eV) spectroscopic capabilities in this critical energy band with a response peaking around the ubiquitous 6.4 keV Fe K-alpha line. A wide-field imager, Xtend, will offer simultaneous coverage over nearly a 40’ square field of view, with ~1’ spatial resolution. XRISM will study all manner of astrophysical objects, including galaxies and clusters, AGN, X-ray binaries, supernova remnants, transient phenomena, stars, and the interstellar medium. In this talk, I will highlight some of the scientific topics that XRISM will address, in addition to providing a general status update on the mission. I will discuss the synergies between high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy and observations at other wavelengths, including optical, radio, and IR, and summarize the General Observer program, where funding is available for observers based at U.S. institutions.

More hawkish comments from the St Louis Fed President

• Inflation data is also stronger but has not yet changed view that policy is on a path to neutral
• There is likely space for a gradual easing of policy towards neutral rate
• Stronger data likely pushing Treasury yields higher
• Too soon to understand new administration
• Rising bond yields also offer a sense of higher inflation risk and some sense the Fed may not cut as much

Non policy-related comments.

For a country that has long prioritised a balanced lifestyle and good governance over economic gain, Bhutan is doing something it has never done before: embrace more independent, cost-conscious travellers in an urgent bid to revive its faltering economy.

The U.S. is now an oligarchy where the wealthy control the economy and the politics (through fake news).

One letter-writer realizes that many of his views could make him an enemy to Donald Trump.

Homebuilding sector analysts at Raymond James and Associates see mortgage rates remaining “higher for longer,” given the outcome of the election.

Comments

El convenio busca proceder con más rapidez en la valoración de los siniestros y e el cobro de las indemnizaciones por parte de los asegurados Leer

Karol G y Bad Bunny son los artistas que acumulan más nominaciones Leer

Si olvidamos sus nombres, en Brooklyn o Lemóniz, Madrid o Rentería, entonces sí. Entonces no mereceremos ni un puchero ni una esquela, la noche en que los carniceros vuelvan.

[Dabanga] Port Sudan -- Suliman Baldo, executive director of the Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker (STPT), warns in a recently published report that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) is positioning itself to dominate the country's post-war economy, particularly through control over reconstruction efforts.

[The Conversation Africa] Turmoil following presidential and parliamentary elections in Mozambique has been severe. Preliminary official results from the 2024 elections indicated a landslide win by the ruling party, Frelimo. These results are widely contested, with various reports of irregularities.

Researchers used artificial intelligence in large genomics studies to fill in gaps in patient information and improve predictions, but new research uncovers false positives and misleading correlations.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) won his party’s nomination for a second term as speaker, teeing him up for a vote early next year even as rumors swirled earlier this week that some GOP lawmakers might prop up a challenger to his bid. Despite those efforts, no lawmaker publicly challenged Johnson for the position, allowing […]

More than 80 New England Conservatory alumni and faculty have been honored with 41 Grammy nominations, maintaining a longstanding presence among the world's leading musicians. NEC-affiliated artists have been nominated across 27 categories for this year’s Grammy Awards, with winners to be announced at the Los Angeles ceremony on Sunday, February 2, 2025....

The deadline for nominations for Bermuda’s next National Hero has been extended to Friday, November 15th. A Government spokesperson said, “The public is advised that the nomination deadline to choose Bermuda’s next National Hero has been extended to Friday, November 15, 2024. “The public can visit: https://forms.gov.bm/Bermuda-National-Hero-Nomination to submit their recommendation. “The public will be […]

The House Republican Conference on Wednesday nominated Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to continue serving as the leader of the House.

The post House Republicans Nominate Mike Johnson for Speaker appeared first on Breitbart.

President-elect Donald Trump formally announced Wednesday that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is his pick for secretary of state. Trump issued a press release confirming numerous media reports that indicated Rubio would be chosen for the critical role. “Marco is a

The post Trump Confirms He Will Nominate Marco Rubio as His Secretary of State: ‘A Very Powerful Voice for Freedom’ appeared first on Breitbart.

MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weissmann said Wednesday on "Deadline" that President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as his attorney general marks the United States' entry into "pure George Orwell 1984 land."

The post MSNBC’s Weissmann on Gaetz Nomination: America Entering ‘Pure George Orwell 1984 Land’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said Wednesday on CNN's "The Lead" that President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as his attorney general was a "red-alert moment for American democracy."

The post Dem Sen. Murphy: Trump Nominating Gaetz for AG ‘Red Alert Moment for American Democracy’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has resigned from his congressional seat after President-elect Donald Trump nominated him to serve as Attorney General in his administration.

The post Matt Gaetz Resigns from Congress After Trump Nominates Him as Attorney General appeared first on Breitbart.

The Zone of Avoidance is a region of the sky that's obscured by the disk of the Milky Way. The gas and dust block our view in visible telescopes, but other wavelengths like radio and infrared can pierce it to see what's on the other side. Astronomers used the MeerKAT radio telescope to survey beyond the Zone, observing hundreds of galaxies, of which only 29% were already known. This is helping to map the Great Attractor galaxy cluster on the far side of the Milky Way.

The post Astronomers Defy the Zone of Avoidance to Find Hundreds of New Galaxies appeared first on Universe Today.

Navigating the harsh terrain of other rocky worlds has consistently been challenging. The Free Spirit campaign unfortunately failed in its goal to will the plucky Martian rover out of the morass it found itself in, despite two years of continual effort from some of the world’s best engineers. To combat this difficulty, other engineers have …

Continue reading "A Screw-Driven Robot Could Autonomously Mine Rocky Worlds"

The post A Screw-Driven Robot Could Autonomously Mine Rocky Worlds appeared first on Universe Today.

Russia is facing the mounting risk of stagflation, a think tank tied to the Kremlin said. The nation's high interest rates will trigger an economic a downturn while inflation remains high, TsMAKP said. Tight monetary policy is costing Russian business profitability and risks spurring…

The Spanish government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (S&D) on Wednesday called the opposition Partido Popular's (EPP) boycott of Teresa Ribera, Ursula von der Leyen’s Spanish commissioner pick, “shameful” and “anti-patriotic”. Ribera (PSOE/S&D), Spain's current minister for ecological…

The U.S. is accusing Russia of preparing to cut undersea cables which carry Internet traffic all over the world, and Russia is accusing western powers of preparing to do the exact same thing.  In some cases, these undersea cables literally stretch from one continent to another, and so it is impossible to guard them.  That …

Com nomeação desta quarta-feira (13/11), Rubio se torna o latino-americano a chegar ao posto mais alto no governo dos Estados Unidos.

Liberals keep claiming that Joe Biden’s economy is doing wonderfully, yet inflation continues to skyrocket, hitting the middle and lower classes particularly hard. By the end of October, for instance, inflation jumped again with the Consumer Price Index increasing 0.2 percent, according to Wednesday’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Per CNBC: Inflation perked […]

The post Inflation Still Skyrocketing Under Joe Biden’s ‘Great’ Economy appeared first on The Lid.

"The Russian economy is effectively facing the threat of stagflation — simultaneous stagnation or even recession and high inflation."

The nomination of Rubio, a China hawk who's been sanctioned by Beijing, comes at a tense moment in the Indo-Pacific region.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that Gaetz would "root out the systemic corruption" at the Department of Justice.

Government's renewable energy programme has brought billions in investment, decreased load shedding, and empowered black South Africans.

The following article, ‘Delusional’: Poor Whoopi Goldberg Complains She, Too, Suffered Under Biden Economy, On $8 MILLION Annual Income (Video), was first published on Conservative Firing Line.

One social media commenter summed it up succinctly: “Boo hoo.” That was a reaction to multi-millionaire entertainer Whoopi Goldberg’s claim that she, too, works for a living and struggled under the economy of the past few years. That would be the economy under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who Goldberg pushed in the 2024 election, …

Continue reading ‘Delusional’: Poor Whoopi Goldberg Complains She, Too, Suffered Under Biden Economy, On $8 MILLION Annual Income (Video) ...