Friday, December 19
Headlines
David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Suspected Brown University shooter found dead, authorities say. Following a manhunt that began after a masked gunman killed two students and wounded others in a university lecture hall on Saturday, police said yesterday they had found the body of the suspected shooter in a New Hampshire storage facility. He was also the suspect in the murder of an MIT professor in his home on Monday. Providence’s chief of police identified the suspect as Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old former Brown student, and said he had died by suicide.
Trump eases restrictions on cannabis. In a move that might make yesterday an even bigger day to commemorate than 4/20 in some circles, President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to reclassify marijuana from the most restrictive Schedule I substance category to Schedule III. While that won’t legalize weed or make it available for recreational use, as some states have, it will make it easier to use it in medical research. The change is also a financial boon to the cannabis industry and will likely significantly reduce taxes for cannabis companies. It could also open the door for them to access banks and investments that they couldn’t before due to compliance concerns. Additionally, the order calls for more research into CBD, which could now, in some cases, be covered by Medicare.
TikTok signed agreements to create a new US joint venture. The company said yesterday that it had signed the deals, moving forward with a plan to avoid the app being banned in the US. The agreements are with Oracle, Silver Lake Management, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX. When the deal closes, which is expected to happen next month, it will create a company separate from TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, that will be majority-owned by the American investors. The new company will be responsible for protecting data, moderating content, and the algorithm’s security in the US, according to a memo to TikTok employees viewed by news outlets.—AR
Robert Reich
The fundamental choice is democracy, the rule of law, social justice, and equal political rights VERSUS white male Christian nationalism
Friends,
Today, after almost a year of Trump’s second regime, I want to talk about the challenge Trump and his regime pose to America’s moral purpose. The best way into the subject is, I think, to ask a few questions about what’s been happening, and then offer an answer to all of them.
Questions:
— Why does Trump’s latest National Security Strategy, released this month, make no distinction between despotism and democracy?
— Why is Trump abandoning Europe and siding with Putin over Ukraine?
— Why is Trump also solicitous of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince MBS, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, and Benjamin Netanyahu?
At A Glance
World's tallest teen scores first collegiate field goal.
Physicist cracks problem chronicled in "The Big Bang Theory."
Golfer Rory McIlroy named BBC's Sports Personality of the Year.
... and reviewing this year's wild sports stories.
Rome opens subway station near Colosseum displaying artifacts.
What happens when AI takes over a vending machine?
See the largest collection of snow globes.
...and the world's tallest buildings.
Clickbait: This year's most annoying songs.
... and want to see something cool? Surprise me.
Historybook: First edition of "The American Crisis" published by Thomas Paine (1776); French entertainer Édith Piaf born (1915); First National Hockey League game played (1917); President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Christmas message is first radio broadcast from space (1958); President Bill Clinton is impeached (1998).
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> FIFA announces 2026 World Cup winner will win $50M, up $8M from 2022 World Cup prize, but less than half of this year's Club World Cup award (More)
> Tennis star Carlos Alcaraz ends seven-year partnership with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, who helped him secure 24 tour-level titles (More)
> Amazon MGM Studios drops the first trailer for Melania Trump documentary, premiering Jan. 30; directed by "Rush Hour" series director Brett Ratner, marking his first film since 2017 sexual misconduct and harassment allegations (More, w/trailer)
Science & Technology
> Google releases Gemini 3 Flash, which more than tripled the benchmark knowledge test score of the previous Flash AI model (More) | ... and enables Gemini web app users to build AI-powered mini apps with Opal software (More)
> Scientists deduce Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has a slushy layer beneath its ice—not an underground ocean as long assumed; finding could help narrow the search for life on Titan (More)
> Paleontologists exploring a cave on the Dominican Republic's island of Hispaniola discover prehistoric bee nests burrowed in bones of other animals; researchers believe the cave holds fossils of several never-before-characterized species (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -1.2%, Dow -0.5%, Nasdaq -1.8%) (More) | Medical supply firm Medline begins trading on Nasdaq after raising around $6.3B in the year's largest initial public offering (More)
> Warner Bros. Discovery board rejects Paramount's roughly $108B hostile takeover bid for its studios and HBO Max, citing equity credibility concerns and preferring Netflix's $72B bid instead (More)
> Oracle shares close down over 5% as Blue Owl Capital reportedly withdraws from funding $10B data center (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> House passes bill to lower healthcare premiums; bill does not extend enhanced, COVID-19-era subsidies, due to expire Dec. 31 (More) | ... and four Republican congressmen join House Democrats to force separate vote on the subsidies (More)
> Dan Bongino announces he will resign as deputy director of the FBI next month (More)
> Nick Reiner makes first court appearance to face first-degree murder charges over alleged killing of his parents, film director Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner (More) | Police continue search for suspects in killing of MIT professor Nuno FG Loureiro; attack believed to be unrelated to Brown University shooting (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Supply and Demand
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What is Economics 101?
It is basic economics that would be taught to first year college students... hence the 101.
Economics 101 is all about supply and demand that deals with companies supplying goods into the marketplace and consumers buying those goods or demanding that companies supply other goods into the market place.
For example, if a company wants to sell one pencil into a marketplace of lets say 1000 consumers, the price for that pencil would be high. On the other hand, if that same company supplied 1000 pencils into that same marketplace, the price would reduce accordingly.
Another example. Let's say the consumers wanted to buy a certain brand of coffee and the company supplying coffee refuse to supply that brand. The consumer would be forced to look for another company because their demand was not being met.
Supply and Demand.
When the demand is up and the supply is low, the price increases.
When the demand is up and the supply is high, the price decreases.
When the demand is up and the price is high, the supplier is typically forced to increase supply and lower the price or loose the customer.
When the demand is low, the supplier might lower the price to increase the demand or reduce the supply.
In other words:
- high supply low price
- low supply high price
- high demand high price
- low demand low price
Scientists Find a New State of Matter at Earth’s Center
Earth’s inner core may not be a conventional solid at all, but a superionic material where light elements drift like liquid through a rigid iron lattice. New experiments show that this unusual state dramatically softens the core, matching seismic clues that have puzzled scientists for decades. Credit: Shutterstock
Chinese researchers have discovered that interstitial carbon in iron-carbon alloys behaves in a superionic, liquid-like state under Earth’s core pressure and temperature conditions.
Beneath Earth’s molten outer core lies a solid central region, the inner core, a compact sphere made of an iron light-element alloy pressed by more than 3.3 million atmospheres and heated to temperatures comparable to the Sun’s surface.
For many years, researchers have struggled to explain its unusual behavior: although it is solid, it behaves like an unexpectedly soft metal, slowing seismic shear waves and displaying a Poisson’s ratio closer to butter than to steel. This has raised a long-standing question about how the planet’s solid center can appear both firm and surprisingly pliable.
Thursday, December 18
Headlines
Niv Bavarsky
WBD board urged shareholders to reject Paramount’s hostile takeover bid. It could be back to the drawing board for Paramount Skydance and CEO David Ellison’s quest to buy rival Warner Bros. Discovery after the latter’s board told investors that Netflix’s bid is better. In a letter to shareholders, the WBD board said Paramount’s offer contains “gaps, loopholes, and limitations” that put the company at risk. WBD also accused Paramount of misleading it about financing. Paramount’s latest offer included billions in funding from three Middle East sovereign wealth funds, as well as backing from Affinity Partners, the private equity firm founded by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, though Affinity pulled out of the deal on Tuesday. Ellison said he believes the Paramount offer is still superior to Netflix’s and was “encouraged” by feedback he received from WBD shareholders.
Four House GOPers break with Johnson to force healthcare vote. A day after House Speaker Mike Johnson blocked a vote on extending Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits before they expire Dec. 31, four Republicans joined Democrats in signing a petition that forces the House to vote on a measure early next year. Even if the bill—which would require the government to fund the ACA credits for another three years—passes the House, it’s unlikely to be approved by the Senate, experts have said. Still, the rare move by four politically vulnerable lawmakers suggests healthcare costs remain top of mind for US voters, and will be a key issue in the 2026 midterms.
The Oscars are headed to YouTube in 2029. Hollywood’s biggest and most prestigious evening will soon move to the platform where MrBeast asks volunteers to sit in a tub of snakes for money. Starting in 2029, the Academy Awards will stream exclusively—and for free—on YouTube after its current deal with ABC expires. The Oscars have aired on the Disney-owned network every year since 1976, but have hemorrhaged viewers in recent years as people increasingly consume content online. In a statement, the Academy said that the move will allow the award show to reach “the largest worldwide audience possible.” According to Variety, Disney execs were shocked to learn the news just moments before it became public.—AE
Robert Reich
I hate to say this, but it must be faced
Friends,
I couldn’t sleep last night because I kept thinking about Trump’s response to the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner. Something about it kept worrying me.
As you may recall, instead of extending his sympathies, he said in a post to Truth Social Monday morning that:
“Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace.”
Many commentators and politicians (including several Republicans) have criticized Trump for this.
At A Glance
Gingerbread is America’s favorite holiday cookie.What classic holiday toys would cost today.
The world’s most and least stressed cities.
How much do you remember about 2025?
Why your pinky toe actually matters.
How Americans feel about giving cash as a gift.
A look inside the $1M Golden Globe gift bags.
How parents are teaching religion to the next generation.
Clickbait: Dissecting Christmas's most famous villain.
... and want to see something cool? Surprise me.
Historybook: Mayflower arrives at Plymouth Harbor (1620); 13th Amendment formally adopted into the Constitution, abolishing slavery (1865); Steven Spielberg born (1946); Singer Billie Eilish born (2001); Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor dies (2016).
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