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Zoominfo CTO Ali Dasdan sells $53,911 in company stock
Meta to build $10 billion AI data center in Louisiana as Elon Musk expands his Tennessee AI facilityFrontline staff invited to serve stints in Whitehall to make state like a 'start up'
Chinese troops have formed a regiment of robot-dogs armed with weapons which are programmed to respond to human voice commands. The cyber-canines robot dogs are being used to gather intelligence, hunt enemy forces and deliver firepower with weapons mounted on their backs. Both the US and UK are developing the use of robot dogs to work in mine clearance as well as performing reconnaissance and surveillance tasks. This year the US Army conducted tests in Saudi Arabia featuring an armed and AI-powered robot dog able to shoot down drones. The Vision 60, developed by Ghost Robotics, is equipped with a range of high-tech features designed to enhance battlefield capabilities. The Chinese robot dogs carry a radio link and can be fitted with remote firing high calibre machine guns and rifles. As unmanned platforms and artificial intelligence moves on to the battlefield, Beijing’s commanders are hoping their dogs will add bite to their capability. The robot Rexes - developed by a small team of Chinese scientists - have been programmed to respond to commands and are able to run at pace. Recently unleashed at a military show in Zhuhai, the dogs were seen racing towards a target and then return to their handler after he gives them a command. A senior source the introduction and development of AI and technology has moved at pace since the start of the Ukraine war He added: “The potential role of these robots is vast, and the Chinese appear to be investing a lot of money in this area of technology “We have a long way to go, but lessons learned from Ukraine show that new capabilities will be needed to counter drones in the future and that is the area the US and UK are focussed on.”
Whitcomb triple-double propels the 8-0 Spirit to best start in its history
The Baltimore restaurant industry is preparing for a potential fight against an out-of-town nonprofit’s effort to implement a fair minimum wage mandate for service workers in Maryland. Sara Jayaraman, co-founder and spokesperson for the New York City-based advocacy group One Fair Wage said her nonprofit will bring its mandatory minimum wage fight to the local level. Jayaraman said the current U.S. tipping structure relies on service workers earning a lower minimum wage, which is supplemented by tips to help them reach a recognized minimum wage. She said this system is rooted in systematic racism. One Fair Wage’s website echoes this claim. “The sector’s low wages are due to the money, power and influence of a trade lobby called the National Restaurant Association (‘The Other NRA’) which has lobbied since Emancipation to maintain a subminimum wage for tipped workers — a literal legacy of slavery,” One Fair Wage’s website says. The National Restaurant Association’s website says it was established on March 13, 1919, by Kansas City restaurateurs. Former President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, according to the National Archives. Ron and Gail Furman, who have owned Max’s Taphouse in Fells Point for 39 years, said they believe Jayaraman’s advocacy work is misguided. “People aren’t going to pay it,” she added. In 2022, Washington, D.C. voters approved a ballot measure supported by One Fair Wage known as Initiative 82. The measure mandated restaurants gradually eliminate the lower tipped wage over several years, ultimately reaching the city’s current minimum wage of $17.50. Consumer advocacy groups in Washington, D.C., have targeted restaurant owners because many establishments have been forced to add a 20% service fee to diners’ bills. Restauranteurs have insisted the increase is necessary to offset the nearly 300% rise in operating expenses to pay higher wages. In March, the D.C. Council codified restaurants’ ability to charge up to 20% service fees to offset the expense increase. These service fees were not considered tips for service for restaurant workers. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics shows the restaurant industry in Washington, D.C., lost nearly 1,800 jobs amid the phased implementation of the mandatory wage increase law. Those jobs have not yet been recovered, the data shows. Jayaraman said her organization’s data offers a different perspective, arguing the quality of life for restaurant workers has improved. “Things are exactly what they were before in terms of consumers, in terms of employers; and, workers are getting more than they got before,” Jayaraman said. “But let’s be clear: I-82, for all of the screaming, has only been two years into a five-year phase-in.” Tim Christofield, a longtime bartender at Furman’s restaurant, said that if the Baltimore City Council moves forward with a bill like one passed in Washington, D.C., he will have to leave a career he loves. “They think there is a gray area where they think we are not declaring [taxes] or there is something that isn’t being reported properly,” Christofield said. “They want to seize control over that and that’s just pretty ridiculous.” Ron Furman said his family and their employees believe One Fair Wage’s efforts represent a fabricated issue seeking a solution aimed at increasing tax revenue for the city. They argue the initiative attempts to close a loophole that his employees do not exploit. “None of our employees make $3.63 an hour. None of our employees make $15 an hour,” Ron Furman said. “They make a lot more than that because they earn it and they do a great job doing what they do.” “[I]f the customers are coming in and seeing a 15-20% surcharge on their bill, and [our employees are] not going to be earning tips, they are not going to stay,” he added. Baltimore City Council members John Bullock, Ryan Dorsey, Kristerfer Burnett, Odette Ramos and Phylicia Porter proposed a bill in June that would have required city restaurants to eliminate their tip credit system and implement a phased mandatory minimum wage of $15 per hour. The bill did not receive a vote before the previous council’s term ended. FOX45 reached out to each of the re-elected council members who previously proposed the wage mandate. Councilman Bullock acknowledged the message but did not say if he plans to reintroduce the measure. In a statement, the Restaurant Association of Maryland said it “strongly opposes” so-called fair wage efforts, claiming such policies have a negative impact on employees, restaurants and customers. “Legislation to eliminate the tip credit is being pushed by an out-of-state activist group as part of their nationwide agenda,” the Restaurant Association of Maryland wrote. “Maryland elected officials should reject that group’s efforts to pursue their agenda at the expense of local restaurants and tipped employees who support maintaining the tip credit.”Top 10 movies of 2024: In a time of scoundrels, ‘Brutalist,’ ‘Challengers’ and the movie about the exotic dancer
Not Purdy: 49ers hit Green Bay with backup QB, no Bosa
Brock Purdy participated in the start of Thursday's practice with the 49ers but the San Francisco starting quarterback was not on the field for the majority of the workout, casting doubt over his availability to play Sunday at Green Bay. Purdy is dealing with a right shoulder injury and the 49ers are also potentially without left tackle Trent Williams and Nick Bosa due to injuries. Bosa was listed as out of Thursday's practice with an oblique injury. Williams also didn't suit up Thursday. He played through an ankle injury last week after being listed as questionable. Purdy's typical Thursday post-practice media session was scrapped until Friday as the 49ers did not make any quarterback available. Kyle Allen would step in for Purdy as the starter if he can't play against the Packers. Run game coordinator Chris Foerster said the 49ers aren't where they want to be at 5-5 because they haven't won close games, not because of injuries. "Seven games left is like an eternity," Foerster said. "So much can happen. Do the math. What was our record last year? It was 12-5. I was on a 13-win team that was nowhere near as good as the team last year." With or without Purdy, Foerster said the challenge for the 49ers is not to give up the ball to a defense that has 19 takeaways. The 49ers have 13 giveaways this season. --Field Level Media
Good football teams don’t make the mistakes the Browns make — not just the ones they made Dec. 8 when their misery in Pittsburgh continued with a 27-14 loss to the Steelers — but over and over and over again this season. The Browns are 3-10 because they are undisciplined, Dustin Hopkins is unreliable as a kicker, they make other special teams blunders, coaches make questionable decisions, the defense doesn’t make stops when they are needed most, the run offense doesn’t scare opponents and their quarterbacks have let them down. Sorry to waste space and the time it takes you [...]
It's been one month since the U.S. presidential election. And while Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump have been busy setting up a new White House administration, Democrats have spent the past four weeks trying to diagnose why they lost and how to move forward as a party. One person who thinks he has an answer to that is Ben Wikler, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party. He's now running to become the new chairman of the national Democratic National Comittee because he says it's time to reassess what matters most to voters. RELATED STORY | DNC chair slams Bernie Sanders' criticism of Democratic Party "There's clearly a lot that we need to learn about what just happened, but one thing that jumps out is that a lot of voters who were taking it on the chin with high prices — frustrated by those prices — weren't hearing from either campaign and were voting for change," Wikler told Scripps News. "Well those voters, I think that we have a chance to reach out to them and say 'look, Democrats actually want to fight for an economy that works for working people and Trump wants to give multi-trillion tax cuts to billionaires at your expense. And that is a message we know can win because it's won downballot, it won in 2018, and it won in 2006 when George W. Bush tried to privatize social security." Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is currently hearing a potentially landmark case on gender affirming care for minors — which has been a big point for Democrats to campaign on. But a Scripps News/YouGov poll released early this year showed that more Americans support than oppose laws aimed at restricting transgender care for minors. RELATED STORY | Scripps News poll: Americans largely support restricting trans rights Wikler told Scripps News that if he were to be named chair of the DNC, it's a no-brainer that he'd support American's right to make their own private medical decisions without worrying about government intervention. "Republicans want to talk about trans issues and go on the attack against trans people because that is their way of trying to divide the public," he said. "People do disagree about this. Republicans want to focus on that disagreement and use attacks on trans people in order to distract folks from the big legislation that they are planning right now — which is a multi-trillion dollar tax cut for billionaires." "Democrats are always going to fight for people to have their basic personal freedom," Wikler continued. "And at the same time, we're going to fight against those who want to dismantle the federal government and the programs like social security and medicare and medicaid that people rely on for their their basic needs and health care." You can watch Scripps News' full interview with Ben Wikler in the video player above.Stock market today: Wall Street edges back from its records as bitcoin briefly pops above $100,000