Lee Seung-woong didn’t have an auspicious start when he first came to Shanghai from South Korea in 2005 and worked in an Italian restaurant.

United States President-elect Donald Trump has announced that tech billionaire Elon Musk will serve in the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk will be joined by American patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, and together they will lead the department. This was disclosed in a statement issued by Trump on Tuesday, 12th November 2024, which was shared via Musk’s

Read More

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, battered in parliamentary elections last month, has survived a rare runoff vote against the opposition to remain the country's leader but he still faces turmoil ahead. One of his top priorities is dealing with the aftermath of a major corruption scandal in the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party, in which dozens of lawmakers from the party are alleged to have pocketed profits from event ticket sales as kickbacks. Ishiba also now has a much-emboldened, opposition eager to push through policies long stymied by the LDP. Support ratings for his Cabinet have fallen to about 30%. Here is a look at what's happening in Japan's tumultuous politics, and what it might mean for Ishiba and his government as they prepare to navigate a second term of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Why did the vote in parliament take place? A parliamentary vote for a new leader is mandatory within 30 days of a general election. In the past that was mostly ignored as the head of the LDP usually enjoyed a majority in the Lower House, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament. This time, though, because Ishiba's LDP and its junior coalition partner lost its majority in the recent election, the runoff on Monday couldn't be avoided — the first in 30 years. What's next for the prime minister? Opposition's top leader, Yoshihiko Noda, has noted that nearly half of all lower house steering committees are now headed by the opposition. That’s a huge change from the pre-election domination of the LDP, which controlled all but three of the 27 committees. “We are going to have a new landscape in Japanese politics,” Noda said. Twelve of the committees in key areas, including budget, political reforms, national security and legal affairs, will be headed by Noda’s Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and two other main opposition groups. What's certain is that the era of LDP’s one-sided rule is over, for now, and the opposition has a chance to achieve policies long opposed by the ruling conservatives, including on issues like gender equality and diversity. Noda last Friday said a legal committee that is now headed by his party’s gender equality chief, Chinami Nishimura, is aiming to achieve a civil code revision to allow married couples the option of keeping separate surnames. That change has been stalled by LDP conservatives for 30 years despite widespread support by the public and a United Nations panel on discrimination against women. Who is the opposition kingmaker? Yuichiro Tamaki is head of the conservative Democratic Party for the People, which quadrupled its seats to 28 in the election. The vote elevated his party from a fringe group to a major player. He is now being cast as a potential key to Ishiba’s survival. A Harvard-educated former Finance Ministry bureaucrat, the 55-year-old Tamaki has seen success by pushing for the raising of a basic tax-free income allowance and an increase of take-home wages. His messages on social media have appealed to younger voters, who have long been ignored by LDP policies catering to conservative elderly. Ishiba apparently seems to find Tamaki’s 28-member DPP an attractive partner to secure a majority. The two parties, which have common ground in some areas — including support for greater nuclear energy use and a stronger military — have started policy talks. Ishiba met with both Tamaki and Noda on Monday but Tamaki may be cautious about moving too close to a scandal-plagued LDP ahead of another election next year. Noda is struggling to form a unified opposition to force a change of government, which he says is his next goal. What does this mean for Ishiba's government? For Ishiba, the “hung parliament” requires him to win over opposition forces so he can push his policies. While considered unstable, it might also provide a chance for a more consensus-based policy making process, experts say. “I’m taking the current situation positively as a chance to get our opposition voice heard more carefully,” Tamaki said. Ishiba also faces challenges of restoring unity in his own party. A number of senior LDP lawmakers are waiting to overthrow Ishiba, though their priority is to resolidify their footholds, not infighting — and nobody is eager to do damage control at this difficult time anyway. “The [Ishiba] administration is quite unstable. ... He will have to get opposition parties' cooperation every time he wants to get a bill approved, which could stall policies,” said University of Tokyo political science professor Yu Uchiyama. And even if Ishiba survives politically in the coming months, there could be a call for his replacement ahead of next elections. “Japan is likely to return to a period of short-lived government,” Uchiyama said. How does this affect Japan's diplomacy, security and ties with Trump? Ishiba congratulated Trump hours after his victory and in a brief telephone conversation, they agreed to closely work together to further elevate their alliance. While experts say Trump understands the importance of U.S.-Japan relations, he may — as he did in his first administration — pressure Japan to pay more for the cost of 50,000 U.S. troops in Japan or to buy more expensive American weapons. Trump's possible tariff proposals could also hurt Japanese exporters. Ishiba on Saturday renewed his pledge to pursue an ongoing military buildup plan under a strategy that calls for a counter-strike capability with long-range cruise-missiles. He has long advocated a more equal Japan-U.S. security alliance but could face difficulty pursuing those plans. ‘’It will be a fantastic experiment to see if a national unity government can get Japan through until the next election,” said Michael Cucek, an expert in Japanese politics at Temple University in Japan.  

1. Donald Trump picks Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead Government Efficiency Department  Moneycontrol
2. Trump’s 'Manhattan Project' of government reform: Musk and Ramaswamy to lead efficiency crusade  The Times of India
3. Donald Trump Picks Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy For Cabinet: Internet Has This To Say  News18
4. A dope for DOGE (and Dogecoin): Trump taps Musk in efficiency team, crypto fans rejoice  The Economic Times
5. Video | Elon Musk In Trump's New Cabinet, UK Church Abuse Scandal, Saudi Megacity in Trouble  NDTV

Fishers in Albania caught a blue shark with an 18-centimetre fragment of swordfish bill embedded in its skull, in the first known case of a shark surviving such an injury

A typically fragile quantum superposition has been made to last exceptionally long, and could eventually be used as a probe for discovering new physics

A typically fragile quantum superposition has been made to last exceptionally long, and could eventually be used as a probe for discovering new physics

Evidence from an archaeological site in Ethiopia suggests ancient humans adapted their diet during a dry spell after the Toba volcano eruption 74,000 years ago

Real gamblers play russian roulette with shotguns. That is the core concept of Buckshot Roulette, the Inscryption-looking game of blinksweat and bulletworry. It's been out for a while now but the developers have just added a fun extra - a 4-person multiplayer mode.

Read more

As we share our truths and witness each other's, we build unity and community.

President-elect Trump announced that billionaire Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency.

The storm decimated a region rich with dozens of species already struggling with habitat loss and disease

President-elect Donald Trump announced he has picked Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk and entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to "lead the Department of Government Efficiency."

The post Donald Trump Selects Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to ‘Lead the Department of Government Efficiency’ appeared first on Breitbart.

1. Top Roles For Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy In Donald Trump's Cabinet  NDTV
2. Trump’s 'Manhattan Project' of government reform: Musk and Ramaswamy to lead efficiency crusade  The Times of India
3. Donald Trump Picks Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy For Cabinet: Internet Has This To Say  News18
4. A dope for DOGE (and Dogecoin): Trump taps Musk in efficiency team, crypto fans rejoice  The Economic Times
5. Video | Elon Musk In Trump's New Cabinet, UK Church Abuse Scandal, Saudi Megacity in Trouble  NDTV

President-elect Donald Trump announced Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new agency he's calling the "Department of Government Efficiency."

Depuis 35 ans, l’Université de Sherbrooke est présente à Longueuil.

Donald Trump is returning to the White House with big plans to remake the global trade landscape. That could be a disaster for Canada's economy. But key players of the last trade war believe they can mitigate the damage.

PDUFA V commitments signal a strong commitment to tolerance of open debate in the face of uncertainty.

I can admit to a rather powerful lack of enthusiasm when reading about interpersonal squabbles. It’s even worse in the scientific world: when I read about debates getting mired in personal attacks I tend to simply stop reading and move on to something else.

However, the really interesting part of this week’s meeting of an FDA joint Advisory Committee to discuss the controversial diabetes drug Avandia – at least in the sense of likely long-term impact – is not the scientific question under discussion, but the surfacing and handling of the raging interpersonal battle going on right now inside the Division of Cardiovascular and Renal Products. So I'll have to swallow my distaste and follow along with the drama.

Two words that make us mistrust Duke:  Anil Potti Christian Laettner

Not that the scientific question at hand – does Avandia pose significant heart risks? – isn't interesting. It is. But if there’s one thing that everyone seems to agree on, it’s that we don’t have good data on the topic. Despite the re-adjudication of RECORD, no one trusts its design (and, ironically, the one trial with a design to rigorously answer the question was halted after intense pressure, despite an AdComm recommendation that it continue).  And no one seems particularly enthused about changing the current status of Avandia: in all likelihood it will continue to be permitted to be marketed under heavy restrictions. Rather than changing the future of diabetes, I suspect the committee will be content to let us slog along the same mucky trail.

The really interesting question, that will potentially impact CDER for years to come, is how it can function with frothing, open dissent among its staffers. As has been widely reported, FDA reviewer Tom Marciniak has written a rather wild and vitriolic assessment of the RECORD trial, excoriating most everyone involved. In a particularly stunning passage, Marciniak appears to claim that the entire output of anyone working at Duke University cannot be trusted because of the fraud committed by Duke cancer researcher Anil Potti:

I would have thought that the two words “Anil Potti” are sufficient for convincing anyone that Duke University is a poor choice for a contractor whose task it is to confirm the integrity of scientific research. 

(One wonders how far Marciniak is willing to take his guilt-by-association theme. Are the words “Cheng Yi Liang” sufficient to convince us that all FDA employees, including Marciniak, are poor choices for deciding matter relating to publicly-traded companies? Should I not comment on government activities because I’m a resident of Illinois (my two words: “Rod Blagojevich”)?)

Rather than censoring or reprimanding Marciniak, his supervisors have taken the extraordinary step of letting him publicly air his criticisms, and then they have in turn publicly criticized his methods and approach.

I have been unable to think of a similar situation at any regulatory agency. The tolerance for dissent being displayed by FDA is, I believe, completely unprecedented.

And that’s the cliffhanger for me: can the FDA’s commitment to transparency extend so far as to accommodate public disagreements about its own approval decisions? Can it do so even when the disagreements take an extremely nasty and inappropriate tone?

• Rather than considering that open debate is a good thing, will journalists jump on the drama and portray agency leadership as weak and indecisive?
• Will the usual suspects in Congress be able to exploit this disagreement for their own political gain? How many House subcommittees will be summoning Janet Woodcock in the coming weeks?

I think what Bob Temple and Norman Stockbridge are doing is a tremendous experiment in open government. If they can pull it off, it could force other agencies to radically rethink how they go about crafting and implementing regulations. However, I also worry that it is politically simply not a viable approach, and that the agency will ultimately be seriously hurt by attacks from the media and legislators.

Where is this coming from?

As part of its recent PDUFA V commitment, the FDA put out a fascinating draft document, Structured Approach to Benefit-Risk Assessment in Drug Regulatory Decision-Making. It didn't get a lot of attention when first published back in February (few FDA documents do). However, it lays out a rather bold vision for how the FDA can acknowledge the existence of uncertainty in its evaluation of new drugs. Its proposed structure even envisions an open and honest accounting of divergent interpretations of data:

When they're frothing at the mouth, even Atticus doesn't let them publish a review

A framework for benefit-risk decision-making that summarizes the relevant facts, uncertainties, and key areas of judgment, and clearly explains how these factors influence a regulatory decision, can greatly inform and clarify the regulatory discussion. Such a framework can provide transparency regarding the basis of conflicting recommendations made by different parties using the same information.

(Emphasis mine.)

Of course, the structured framework here is designed to reflect rational disagreement. Marciniak’s scattershot insults are in many ways a terrible first case for trying out a new level of transparency.

The draft framework notes that safety issues, like Avandia, are some of the major areas of uncertainty in the regulatory process. Contrast this vision of coolly and systematically addressing uncertainties with the sad reality of Marciniak’s attack:

In contrast to the prospective and highly planned studies of effectiveness, safety findings emerge from a wide range of sources, including spontaneous adverse event reports, epidemiology studies, meta-analyses of controlled trials, or in some cases from randomized, controlled trials. However, even controlled trials, where the evidence of an effect is generally most persuasive, can sometimes provide contradictory and inconsistent findings on safety as the analyses are in many cases not planned and often reflect multiple testing. A systematic approach that specifies the sources of evidence, the strength of each piece of evidence, and draws conclusions that explain how the uncertainty weighed on the decision, can lead to more explicit communication of regulatory decisions. We anticipate that this work will continue beyond FY 2013.

I hope that work will continue beyond 2013. Thoughtful, open discussions of real uncertainties are one of the most worthwhile goals FDA can aspire to, even if it means having to learn how to do so without letting the Marciniaks of the world scuttle the whole endeavor.

Sep 5, 2023

Stephen Walt critiques Vivek Ramaswamy's claim of being a foreign policy realist.

The Asbury Park Waterfront

अमेरिका में ट्रंप सरकार 2.0 (Trump Government 2.0) के आने के बाद रिपब्लिकन पार्टी के लिए चुनावी प्रचार अभियान में अग्रणी भूमिका निभाने वाले भारतीय मूल के अमेरिकी इंटरप्रिन्योर विवेक रामास्वामी की धमकी बढ़ने की पूरी उम्मीद है। अब तक रिपब्लिकन

Vivek Ramaswamy: पूर्व रिपब्लिकन राष्ट्रपति पद के उम्मीदवार विवेक रामास्वामी, निर्वाचित राष्ट्रपति डोनाल्ड ट्रंप की एक घोषणा के बाद Google पर सबसे ज्यादा खोजे जाने वाले नामों में से एक बन गए हैं कि विवेक रामास्वामी। अरबपति एलन मस्क के साथ

Vivek Ramaswamy: भारतीय मूल के विवेक रामास्वामी ने निश्चित रूप से अमेरिकी राजनीति में अपनी छाप छोड़ी है और अब डोनाल्ड ट्रंप के दूसरे कार्यकाल में उन्हें बड़ी जिम्मेदारी देते हुए एलन मस्क के साथ डिपार्टमेंट ऑफ गवर्नमेंट एफिशिएंसी (DOGE) का

A typically fragile quantum superposition has been made to last exceptionally long, and could eventually be used as a probe for discovering new physics

Extreme heat alerts were sent to more than 100 million U.S. residents in 27 states this week due to the heat dome. h2What is a Heat Dome?/h2 A heat

IWMI supports efforts at tank restoration and promotion to enhance groundwater availability by means of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR).

The post Can traditional tanks help Bengaluru revive its declining groundwater levels? first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

Tamil movie comedian and Padma Shri recipient Vivek passed away on Saturday. He was 59. He was admitted to SIMS Hospital on Friday morning after showing

A new data bill from the U.K. Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) aims to revive several measures that failed to pass under the prior government, while rowing back on some controversial post-Brexit reforms proposed by conservative ministers. The government reckons the “Data (Use and Access) Bill” (DUA) stands to boost the U.K. economy […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

1. Vivek Ramaswamy’s special message to Elon Musk after Donald Trump's 'DOGE' announcement  Hindustan Times
2. Trump’s 'Manhattan Project' of government reform: Musk and Ramaswamy to lead efficiency crusade  The Times of India
3. Donald Trump picks Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)  The Hindu
4. Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE to clean up US bureaucracy: Trump  India Today
5. Vivek Ramaswamy trends on Google after Trump nominates him to lead efficiency department  The Indian Express

learned advocate on record of the appellant is directed to serve notice of appeal on the respondent in the meantime.

(T. S. SIVAGNANAM, C.J.) (HIRANMAY BHATTACHARYYA, J.) S. Kumar

A Japanese real estate fund, which has Marubeni Corp. and Daiwa House Industry Co. as strategic partners, is reviving its initial public offering plans in Singapore that could raise at least US$300 million, people with knowledge of the deal said Monday.

In a significant move aimed at streamlining the governmental framework, US President-elect Donald Trump has named Elon and Vivek Ramaswamy to spearhead the Department of Government Efficiency (DoGE). This decision places two of America's most distinguished figures at the forefront of

Dry hair can be a real nuisance and can make your hair brittle and unmanageable. Whether it's caused by environmental factors, heat styling, or genetics, dealing with dry ends doesn't have to be complicated. With the right approach and products, you

The two will head the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency in the upcoming Trump administration, set to begin in January 2025.  

'We have gone from baraati dancers to having learnt so many forms of dance.'

'No class will prepare you for Bigg Boss. Each day and situation is new in Bigg Boss and you have to go with the flow.'

'I was called fake because of my onscreen character Simar.' 'But I have one thing to say: One cannot act in such stressful conditions for 106 days.'

'I have learnt to say no.''I would never say no to anybody before, even when my friends asked for money.' 'Learning to say no is priceless.'

Papier Culture, founded by Hilonee K Shah, makes sustainable products with recycled paper

As a graphic designer, you've probably heard the three little words that can strike terror into the hearts of even the most seasoned creatives: “Make it pop.” These words are so vague, so void of meaning, yet so charged with expectation that they deserve their own horror film.

The rear of Maini's car was totally destroyed by the impact of the crash and fortunately, he came out of it unscathed

The EV segment needs to deliver good quality products, said Vinkesh Gulati

businessline spoke to Mohindra during his recent visit to Mumbai about how Dell is looking at AI developments and the challenges he is seeing on ground when it comes to using AI

‘Amma diarylo konni pageelu’ by a techie is sold over one lakh copies, backed by social media posts

'People have got into the habit of sitting at home (and watching films).''They don't want to watch movies in theatres because they do not want to waste as much as Rs 1,000 on tickets.''They feel there is no point in watching a film on the big screen because it will anyway come on OTT in a month's time.'

Director Vivek Athreya opens up on his writing techniques, the art of listening and how films of K Vishwanath, Mani Ratnam, Krishna Vamsi and Mysskin influenced him in his formative years

As social media companies increasingly take on the role of free speech arbiters, they need to ensure their policies offer transparency and the types of checks and balances government relies on.

Social media companies do not want to moderate speech. They want to show you ads. Mark Zuckerberg famously told Senator Orrin Hatch as much in 2018 when asked about how Facebook makes money. But as advertisers and the people populating these ad-based platforms began to demand an online experience that was more heavily regulated to mitigate abusive behavior, platforms like Facebook were thrust into a quasi-governmental role. That’s a huge expansion in responsibilities for a company that just wants to show users ads. Predictably, it has not been a smooth transition.