| To: Bill Wolf who wrote (12085) | 7/29/2024 8:08:15 AM | | From: Bill Wolf | | | | What happens if Rupert Murdoch wins?If Lachlan Murdoch comes out on top in the (latest) succession fight over the media empire built by his father, Rupert, what would it mean for the family’s companies?
The Times’s Edmund Lee, who has covered the Murdochs for years, set down his copy of “King Lear" to examine Lachlan’s record for clues about what he might do next.
Murdoch wants to alter the family trust to hand majority control of his companies to his elder son. Under the terms of the so-called irrevocable trust, his four oldest children — Prudence, Elisabeth, Lachlan and James — would have equal control of the empire after Murdoch dies.
Prudence, James and Elisabeth are fighting to prevent any change.
Lachlan’s career is mixed. He left the family company amid a bitter dispute with his father in 2005 and started his own investment firm. A bet on a radio network worked out. A big investment in a TV network did not.
Lachlan returned to the fold about a decade later and became his family’s heir apparent, taking over as chair of News Corp and executive chair and C.E.O. of Fox when his father retired last September. (Murdoch became chairman emeritus of both companies.)
Lachlan’s big deals haven’t worked out. Last year, Lachlan failed to reunite the two parts of his media empire after investors balked at his first big attempted deal since taking charge.
He also didn’t manage to pull off the sale of a real estate listings business.
The Murdoch empire still faces serious structural problems. When your business relies primarily on newspaper and cable subscriptions, chances are you’re seeing fewer dollars come into the register:
- News Corp, which publishes The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, as well as influential titles in Britain and Australia, cut 5 percent of its work force last year. But The Journal is a bright spot, with digital subscriptions having grown an average of 17 percent a year since 2019.
- Fox has been steadier. N.F.L. games on its broadcast network are consistent money makers and viewership is solid at Fox News. Even so, investors expect total revenue to be essentially flat on average over the next few years.
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What will Lachlan do if he wins control? He could try again to reunite Fox and News Corp, but may have to win over investors via moves including selling off weaker businesses like the newspapers (except for The Journal).
If Murdoch’s fight to protect Lachlan fails, his oldest son is sure to face angry siblings who could unite to demand sweeping changes across both of the family’s companies after Murdoch dies — including who runs them. |
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| From: Bill Wolf | 8/2/2024 9:16:56 AM | | | | | |
Declarations
The Fight of Trump’s Political Life
Kamala Harris has the wind at her back. Her strengths became clearer in the past two weeks.
By Peggy Noonan
Aug. 1, 2024 5:52 pm ET
Those who think about politics and history as a profession can’t resist comparing presidential years. “This is 1968 all over again.” “We’re back to the dynamics of ’72.” We do this because we know political history and love it, and because there are always parallels and lessons to be learned.
But it should be said as a reminder: This year isn’t like any previous time.
This is the year of the sudden, historically disastrous debate, the near-assassination of one of the nominees, the sudden removal of the president from his ticket, the sudden elevation of a vice president her own party had judged a liability, and her suddenly pulling even in a suddenly truncated campaign.
We have never had this year. And it continues to astound.
Kamala Harris just got two excellent weeks in the clear. Donald Trump’s campaign had to take her down early or at least hit her hard—and didn’t. She has the wind at her back; he’s scattered and stuck on the back of his heels. This week she had a good rally in Atlanta; he went before a hostile National Association of Black Journalists, was taken aback by his first questioner’s accusatory tone, matched her energy, and revealed, if you didn’t know, how cutting and personal the coming months will be.
What is remarkable is how surprised the Trump campaign seems to have been by Ms. Harris. Why? Smart people understood Joe Biden would eventually have to step aside, and she was his most likely replacement. Why have they responded as if shocked? We have a trough of videos of her talking, it’s devastating. Where is it? Is that all you’ll need to make a coherent case? When are you going to locate the meaning of this thing?
“San Francisco liberal,” “way too radical.” All that feels tired, the reflex of an aged muscle. It sounds like the 1990s. This isn’t the ’90s. New ages need new arguments, or at least arguments freshly cast.
Can Mr. Trump shift gears? He grew up, as I did, watching “The Ed Sullivan Show.” I’m sure it was on every Sunday night at 8 at the Trump house in Queens. On that show you saw every week the great Borscht Belt comics of 1950-70. Their timing—“Take my wife—please!”—is ingrained in him. What he does now is shtick, because he likes to entertain and is a performer. The boat’s sinking, the battery’s spitting, the shark’s coming! As Hannibal Lecter said, “I’d love to have you for dinner!”
This works so perfectly for those who support him. For everyone else it’s just more evidence of psychopathology. He has to freshen up his act. Can he?
Ms. Harris will dominate the coming week with the unveiling of her vice-presidential choice. Then there will be the convention, in which they’ll pull out all stops. And then August will be over. Meaning a third of the 100-day campaign will be over. Does Mr. Trump know that he’s fighting for his life?
I want to take a quick look at some factors that are major pluses for Ms. Harris.
• She is new. She seems a turning of the page away from Old Old Biden and Old Old Trump. She looks new, like a new era. She displays vigor and the joy of the battle. The mainstream media is on her side. Coverage hasn’t been tough or demanding.
• On policy she is bold to the point of shameless. This week she essentially said: You know those policies I stood for that you don’t like? I changed my mind! Her campaign began blithely disavowing previous stands, with no explanation. From the New York Times’s Reid Epstein: “The Harris campaign announced on Friday that the vice president no longer wanted to ban fracking, a significant shift from where she stood four years ago.” Campaign officials said she also now supports “increased funding for border enforcement; no longer supported a single-payer health insurance program; and echoed Mr. Biden’s call for banning assault weapons but not a requirement to sell them to the federal government.” It’s remarkable, she’s getting away with it, and it’s no doubt just the beginning. It will make it harder for the Trump campaign with its devastating videos.
Will the left of her party let her tack toward moderation? Yes. She’s what they’ve got, and in any case people on the wings of both parties have a way of recognizing their own. Progressives aren’t protesting her new stands: That’s the dog that didn’t bark.
• She too is a born performer. She knows what she’s doing when she’s campaigning. She is less sure of what she’s doing when she’s governing. But she gets a race. Running for the 2020 Democratic nomination, she wasn’t good at strategy or policy, but the part involving performing and being a public person and speaking with merry conviction—she gets that and is good at it.
• She is beautiful. You can’t take a bad picture of her. Her beauty, plus the social warmth that all who have known her over the years speak of, combines to produce: radiance. It is foolish to make believe this doesn’t matter. Politicians themselves are certain it matters, which is why so many in that male-dominated profession have taken to Botox, fillers, dermabrasion, face lifts, all the cosmetic things. Because they’re in a cosmetic profession.
• She has a wave of pent-up support behind her. By November we’ll know if something big happened. Barack Obama deliberately, painstakingly put new constituencies together. He created a movement. It had fervor and energy. What we may see this year is something different—that a movement created Kamala Harris. That is, the old constituencies held, maintained fervor and rose again when Mr. Biden stepped aside and Ms. Harris was put on top. I’m not sure we’ve seen that before.
She has many particular challenges. One is this: When you see Mr. Trump, that’s Trump. He is what you think he is. He doesn’t hide much. You look at him and think (pro or con), OK, I get it, I know who that guy is. When you see Ms. Harris, is that Harris? Is what she is showing you her? You wonder, “Is this real and genuine?” I wonder how she’ll address that or answer it.
Another: She stumbles in interviews. Will she try to get away with not doing any?
Another: People will continue to wonder how liberal she is, and how strong she is, but I think an equally or more important question will be how serious she is. Does she think seriously, deeply, soberly? I haven’t seen her betray this tendency. Mr. Obama was a serious man, Hillary Clinton was fully understood as a serious woman. (That’s why her campaign could produce and she could capitalize on the famous “3 a.m. phone call” ad.) Is Ms. Harris? Is she a credible commander of the U.S. nuclear arsenal?
Some will respond, “But Donald Trump isn’t serious!” My answer would be: That’s why he lost the popular vote twice. If Democrats lose the popular vote, they almost certainly lose the election.
Mr. Trump himself would reply: I controlled the nuclear arsenal for four years. Nothing blew up.
wsj.com |
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| From: Bill Wolf | 8/4/2024 8:28:29 AM | | | | | | Chinese Migrants Rush to Find Way to U.S. Border Before Doors Close
Possibility of Trump’s return piles pressure on those fleeing life under Xi Jinping as Bolivia becomes new jumpoff point for 7,000-mile trek
By Wenxin Fan
Updated Aug. 4, 2024 12:01 am ET
New measures to stem the flow of Chinese migrants into the U.S. over the southern border have set off a scramble of would-be asylum seekers from the world’s second-largest economy, with many spurred to take new risks by the possibility of a second Trump presidency.
Some are now attempting to start their overland journeys from as far away as La Paz, Bolivia, roughly 7,000 miles and nine border crossings from Tijuana, the final stop in Mexico for many trying to make it into the U.S.
The government of Ecuador suspended visa-free arrivals for Chinese nationals on July 1, closing the most popular access point for Chinese migrants hoping to reach the border. The move was welcomed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which two days later deported 116 Chinese migrants on a charter flight from Texas to the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.
Chinese officials, meanwhile, have been making examples of those caught and punished for the attempt.
In recent years, tens of thousands of Chinese people have attempted to enter the U.S. by first journeying to Mexico through the treacherous Darién Gap that connects South and Central America, typically after flying into Ecuador.
wsj.com |
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| From: Bill Wolf | 8/4/2024 9:10:48 AM | | | | | | With Smugglers and Front Companies, China Is Skirting American A.I. Bans
The U.S. is trying to stop China from getting Nvidia microchips to advance its military. The private sector is fighting back.
nytimes.com
Takeaways From Our Investigation Into Banned A.I. Chips in China
The Times found an active trade in Nvidia chips in China despite U.S. national security restrictions, as well as unreported incidents of how the technology had been used to further defense research.
nytimes.com |
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| From: Bill Wolf | 8/6/2024 8:09:27 AM | | | | | | America Isn’t Ready for the Wars of the Future
And They’re Already Here
By Mark A. Milley and Eric Schmidt
September/October 2024 Published on August 5, 2024
On the battlefields of Ukraine, the future of war is quickly becoming its present. Thousands of drones fill the skies. These drones and their operators are using artificial intelligence systems to avoid obstacles and identify potential targets. AI models are also helping Ukraine predict where to strike. Thanks to these systems, Ukrainian soldiers are taking out tanks and downing planes with devastating effectiveness. Russian units find themselves under constant observation, and their communications lines are prone to enemy disruption—as are Ukraine’s. Both states are racing to develop even more advanced technologies that can counter relentless attacks and overcome their adversary’s defenses.
The war in Ukraine is hardly the only conflict in which new technology is transforming the nature of warfare. In Myanmar and Sudan, insurgents and the government are both using unmanned vehicles and algorithms as they fight. In 2020, an autonomous Turkish-made drone fielded by Libyan government-backed troops struck retreating combatants—perhaps the first drone attack conducted without human input. In the same year, Azerbaijan’s military used Turkish- and Israeli-made drones, along with loitering munitions (explosives designed to hover over a target), to seize the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. And in Gaza, Israel has fielded thousands of drones connected to AI algorithms, helping Israeli troops navigate the territory’s urban canyons.
foreignaffairs.com |
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| From: Bill Wolf | 8/6/2024 8:11:16 AM | | | | | | Former Trump administration official Kellyanne Conway registers as lobbyist for Ukrainian oligarch Pinchuk
- Kellyanne Conway has registered as a foreign agent for Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk's foundation, according to new foreign lobbying disclosure reports.
- Conway will receive $50,000 a month for her contract, which lasts from July 25 to November 14, 2024.
- Her responsibilities include engaging U.S. Leaders to raise awareness of Ukraine's importance and its ongoing conflict with Russia.
ground.news
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| From: waitwatchwander | 8/7/2024 3:34:48 PM | | | | | | apple-says-theres-no-price-microsoft-could-pay-to-make-it-ditch-google-they-offered-to-give-us-bing-for-free
windowscentral.com
Google shouldn't need to pay these folks a red cent. There has to be more to this story than is shown in the public eye.
What's the quid pro quo here? |
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| From: Bill Wolf | 8/8/2024 3:38:10 PM | | | | | | ABC News says that both the Harris and Trump campaigns have agreed to a televised, prime-time debate on Sept. 10.
Michael Grynbaum
Aug. 8, 2024, 3:09 p.m. ET25 minutes ago
NBC News is also in discussions with both campaigns about a potential debate in the fall. Trump has pledged to participate in a Fox News debate on Sept. 4, but the Harris campaign has not agreed.
nytimes.com
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| From: Bill Wolf | 8/13/2024 9:42:41 AM | | | | | | Opinion
Free Expression
Trump Is Looking Like a Loser Again
About one third of his remarks at last week’s press conference were false, obtuse or lunatic.
By Gerard Baker
Aug. 12, 2024 12:10 pm ET
We need to talk about Donald.
We can complain all we like, as I have, that the coronation of Kamala Harris by deceitful Democrats and a complaisant media is depriving voters of any understanding of what they are being asked to vote for in November. But we can’t ignore the giant Republican problem either: None of us are in any doubt what we are being asked to vote for on the Republican ticket.
I watched in its entirety and then, perhaps hoping that the written version might yield hidden intelligence not evident to the ear, read the transcript of the press conference Donald Trump held at Mar-a-Lago last week. Houston, we have a problem.
Mr. Trump does deserve credit, as some have said, for showing up to meet the press, unlike his opponent—and in his case, facing brickbats from an almost universally hostile crowd, unlike the softballs that will doubtless be lofted Ms. Harris’s way when she eventually deigns to grant them an audience.
But, with apologies to Woody Allen, it isn’t true that 90% of being presidential is just showing up. Being impressed at the readiness merely to take questions is, if feminists will forgive me, a little like reacting in the way Samuel Johnson did when he saw a woman preach—“like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs. It is not done well but you are surprised to find it done at all.”
By my calculation, about one-third of Mr. Trump’s remarks fell into three categories: false, obtuse or lunatic.
I’m not even talking here about the usual grotesque hyperbolic assertions or baffling verbal manufactures, the finest of which last week was surely the description of “people dying financially because they can’t buy bacon.”
I am talking about things like these:
• The argument that he must have won Georgia in 2020 because he easily won Alabama and South Carolina, suggesting he thinks that Georgia—which has two Democratic senators, and which two Democrats have carried in the last eight presidential elections—is politically indistinguishable from states that no Democratic candidate has carried since 1976.
• The claim that the crowd at his Jan. 6, 2021, rally was as big as the one at Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech in 1963.
• The assertion that everyone in America agreed that Roe v. Wade needed to be overturned.
We can add to this his failure to identify Gov. Tim Walz, Ms. Harris’s running mate, by name, but warning that this anonymous figure was “heavy into the transgender world,” a pregnant remark that conjured up an image of a slightly pudgy 60-year-old Minnesotan showing up for affairs of state in a tutu.
False, obtuse, lunatic. Often, like those Venn diagrams Ms. Harris is fond of, the remarks combined two of the three. On at least one occasion—Mr. Trump’s detailed recounting of an imaginary helicopter ride he took with Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco—we got the full triple intersect.
This is all of a piece with his recent behavior—from his claim that Joe Biden will be back as the Democratic candidate to his insistence that the crowds at Ms. Harris’s rallies are enhanced by artificial intelligence.
We need to be clear about the problem. It isn’t, as some have suggested, that Mr. Trump has been wrong-footed by the Democrats’ switch from Mr. Biden to Ms. Harris. Nor is it a reflection of accelerated degeneration. The Trump of the past few weeks has looked and sounded more or less exactly like the Trump of nine years ago.
This is the problem. It is this Mr. Trump who lost the presidency in 2020. It is this Mr. Trump who lost the House in 2018 and the Senate in the Georgia runoff election in January 2021.
Why did he win in 2016? Because he was new and up against the most tediously familiar and disliked politician in America. Even then, he only squeaked past Hillary Clinton by a total of fewer than 90,000 votes in the three decisive states.
All this explains where we are now. This is the same old Mr. Trump, but this time he is up against something the American people are being sold as new. Those of us who have paid attention may know that Ms. Harris is a seasoned hard-liner with extreme views, but most voters don’t. They see a blank slate onto which they are being invited to project anything they like.
Mr. Trump’s performances as he traipses around the country again are reinforcing the illusion of that choice. Instead of telling them consistently and repeatedly what they are actually getting if they vote Democrat, he is merely reminding them what they will get again if they vote Republican.
Mr. Trump has unusual political skills. I don’t disdain the voters who have backed him as the way to express their disgust at a rotten, complacent political establishment—on both sides—that has dominated Washington for too long. I commend them.
But, if things don’t change, the ranks of those voters won’t be enough to outweigh others who simply can’t face another four years of the Trump show and will back even a party hack concealing her real politics simply to escape it.
wsj.com
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