Category: Laptops

• Trump’s would-be rival, Chris Christie, says GOP challengers are failing the “leadership test.”
• This is because they treat Trump like “Voldemort,” Christie said, and don’t name him while calling him out. 
• The fictional villain is known as “You-Know-Who” and “He Who Must Not Be Named,” for fear of evoking his name.

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie says Republicans who want to run against former President Donald Trump in 2024 need to start naming him while calling him out. 

“There’s a number of people who are considering running for president who still treat him like Voldemort, like ‘He Who Shall Not Be Named,’” Christie told the Washington Examiner on Thursday. He was referencing the main antagonist in the “Harry Potter” novels, whose name many characters feared to even mention.

“They say, ‘Leaders who do this or that.’ But they won’t say the name. I think that fails the leadership test,” Christie said.

“You’re going to run against him? Say his name. You think he did something wrong? Say his name,” Christie said.

This week, he also urged the GOP to “stop being afraid” of Trump, amid growing speculation that he will run against Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. 

Christie has a point. Some of Trump’s most significant rivals, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have largely refrained from mentioning the former president at all. For one, DeSantis avoided rebuking Trump when asked last week if there was a civil war brewing between him and Trump. Instead, DeSantis dodged the question and told people to “chill out” about their rivalry instead. 

The same cannot be said of Trump where DeSantis is concerned. Trump this month — in keeping with his penchant for giving political rivals nicknames — dubbed DeSantis “Ron DeSanctimonious.” He also attacked the Florida governor, calling him “average” and accusing him of disloyalty. 

Meanwhile, Christie told the Washington Examiner he will decide in five to six months if he will run for president.

On Christie’s part, he has called Trump out on many occasions. A one-time Trump ally turned critic, Christie accused Trump of withholding a positive coronavirus test result and transmitting the virus to him.

On the subject of election fraud, Christie in November 2021 urged the former president to “move on” from the 2020 election and “tell the truth.”

In December, the former governor also called the Trump team’s actions leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot a “Keystone Cops operation” that was “driven from the top” and “executed by C-team players.” 

A representative at Trump’s post-presidential press office did not immediately respond to requests for comment for Insider.

• Developed countries at the UN COP 27 summit agreed to create a “loss and damage” climate change fund.
• The fund would compensate less developed countries bearing the brunt of climate change.
• The agreement comes after 30 years of pushback from countries like the US.

World leaders from developed nations, including the United States, agreed Sunday to set up a fund for poorer nations at the United Nations COP 27 climate summit in Egypt, reversing on 30 years of hesitation to set up such a fund, the New York Times reported.

According to the Times, the final agreement for a “loss and damage fund” would require 24 countries to work together to arrange the details of who will contribute to the fund, who will receive funds, and where the money would go — the US is looking to exclude China as one of the developing countries that could benefit from the fund.

It also adds a stipulation that developing countries cannot sue developed countries for these payments.

COP 27, or the Conference of the Parties, is an annual summit put on by the UN to address the adverse impacts of climate change. Following the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992, the COP began meeting every year since in 1994, making this summit the 27 th.

Since the 1992 convention, developing countries have demanded that a “loss and damage fund,” facilitated by the UN, be implemented.

The decision will pave the way for developing countries, who are often the least responsible for the effects of climate change, to be compensated for losses and damages that they have endured as a result of the richest countries emitting the most greenhouse gases. 

Dozens of developing nations, including small island nation like Vanuatu and much of Africa, pressed the rest of the world during the two-week summit in order to make headway on the fund. These countries were successful in getting it on the official agenda for the first time at an annual COP summit, the Times reported, signaling the urgency of the agreement. 

Pakistan, a country that experienced record-setting deadly flooding at the end of summer this year, was one of the countries that pushed for the fund.

Before this year’s summit, Scotland was the only developed nation that offered to begin putting money towards the “loss and damage” of other nations. Other countries, including the US, have side-stepped the agreement in order to avoid legal repercussions — a fear that experts have said is misplaced.

However, developing nations in Europe changed course during this year’s climate talks, pledging millions of dollars to assist developing nations combat damages and loss as a result of climate-induced natural disasters, the Times reported. After some pushback, the US soon agreed to the fund.

“The announcement offers hope to vulnerable communities all over the world who are fighting for their survival from climate stress,” Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s minister for climate change, told the Times.

• Adam Frisch conceded to Rep. Lauren Boebert on Friday, despite the race not being called.
• Frisch told a Facebook live audience he believed there was little chance he could win the seat. 
• Boebert also declared victory, saying that she was “certain” she would win even with a recount.

Democratic candidate Adam Frisch conceded to his opponent, GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert, in an extremely close race to represent Colorado’s Third Congressional District. 

Boebert was leading by about 554 votes with more than 99% of votes counted as of Friday evening, according to Insider’s election partner Decision Desk HQ. No major media network has yet called the race, which was not expected to be competitive until the surprisingly close results began rolling in on election night.

Under Colorado state law, a recount will automatically ensue if a candidate wins by a margin that is 0.5% or less of their total vote count. Boebert’s current lead of 554 out of her total 163,832 votes falls within that threshold, at about 0.34%.

Despite the results not being called yet, Frisch said on Facebook live Friday that he called Boebert to concede the race to her, adding that the chances of him winning were “very small.”

“The likelihood of this recount changing more than a handful of votes is very small. Very, very small. It’d be disingenuous and unethical for us or any other group to continue to raise false hope and encourage fundraising for a recount,” Frisch said during his concession speech. “Colorado elections are safe, accurate, and secure. Please save your money for your groceries, your rent, your children, and for other important causes and organizations.”

Frisch did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Boebert also acknowledged the call in a Tweet on Friday, saying: “I look forward to getting past election season and focusing on conservative governance in the House majority.”

—Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) November 18, 2022

The conservative firebrand had already declared victory in the race. On Thursday evening, Boebert announced on social media: “We won!”

In the accompanying video, she said there were “less than 200 votes outstanding” and that she was “certain” that she would win the race, even with the recount. Insider could not confirm the amount of outstanding votes.

“Past recounts in Colorado have resulted in far fewer votes being adjusted than anything that could affect the current outcome we’re seeing tonight in this race,” she added.

Meanwhile, a Thursday FEC filing showed that Frisch had already submitted a statement of candidacy for 2024, potentially setting the stage for another Boebert-Frisch showdown.

• Even Trump’s onetime spiritual adviser is ditching him, after he announced his 2024 presidential bid.
• Megachurch pastor James Robison said on Wednesday Trump acts like an elementary schooler.
• “If Mr. Trump can’t stop his little petty issues, how does he expect people to stop major issues?” Robison said.

It isn’t just GOP megadonors who are turning their backs on former President Donald Trump. Even Trump’s one-time spiritual adviser has publicly slammed him, calling him childish, a day after he announced his 2024 presidential run.

James Robison, president of Life Outreach International and a televangelist closely linked to Trump, slammed Trump during a meeting of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers (NACL) on Wednesday, per The Washington Post. 

Robison said that in the past, Trump would hear but not always heed his advice over the five years when they conversed regularly on the phone. Robison also recalled how he would lecture Trump over the phone, per The Post.

“Sir, you act like a little elementary schoolchild and you shoot yourself in the foot every morning you get up and open your mouth. The more you keep your mouth closed, the more successful you’re gonna be,” Robison said, relaying what he told Trump during one of their conversations. 

Speaking to the NACL on Wednesday, Robison said it was time for conservatives to “get together and pray and stop trying to destroy each other.” 

“We’ve got to quit amputating each other, slicing each other, and come together in supernatural unity that Jesus Christ prayed for,” he said. 

“If Mr. Trump can’t stop his little petty issues, how does he expect people to stop major issues?” Robison added. 

Longtime allies dash Trump’s 2024 dreams

This week, a slate of Trump allies have either broken with him or held back from fully endorsing the former president. This was after Trump announced his 2024 presidential bid on Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago, pledging to make America “great” and “glorious” again. Robison did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider on whether he would endorse Trump’s 2024 bid. 

Robert Jeffress, an evangelical pastor and longtime Trump supporter, told Newsweek that he would hold back on his endorsement of Trump until he wins the GOP nomination. 

“The Republican Party is headed toward a civil war that I have no desire or need to be part of,” Jeffress said.

Meanwhile, Trump has seen a slew of financial backers leave his camp in the last week.

GOP mega-donor Ken Griffin this week also said that he would not be backing Trump, who he called a “three-time loser.” Griffin instead threw his support behind Trump’s would-be rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

Blackstone CEO and chairman Stephen Schwarzman, also a GOP mega-donor, told Axios on Wednesday he would support a candidate who is not Trump. Schwartzman previously donated $3 million to Trump’s America First Action super PAC, which fueled his 2020 campaign, per CNBC. 

“America does better when its leaders are rooted in today and tomorrow, not today and yesterday,” Schwarzman told Axios. “It is time for the Republican Party to turn to a new generation of leaders and I intend to support one of them in the presidential primaries.”

Andy Sabin, a New York-based businessman and prominent Trump donor, also declared this week that he won’t be giving Trump “a fucking nickel.” Sabin gave Trump $120,000 in 2020, per CNBC, but now blames the former president for the GOP’s bad midterms performance. 

A representative at Trump’s post-presidential press office did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

• Russia’s GDP fell 4% on-year in the third quarter of 2022 — its second straight quarterly decline.
• That means the country has fallen into a technical recession.
• Top Russian central banker Elvira Nabiullina acknowledged the situation could worsen, per Interfax.

Eight months after it attacked Ukraine, Russia’s economy has finally fallen into a recession, according to official data from Moscow released Wednesday.

Its GDP fell by 4% in the third quarter of the year from a year ago, according to Rosstat, Russia’s statistics agency. This followed a 4.1% year-on-year decline in its second-quarter GDP — meaning the country has fallen into a technical recession after two straight quarterly contractions. 

Though the textbook definition isn’t necessarily indicative of a serious downturn — Russia’s third-quarter GDP slide was in milder than the 7% decline it had expected earlier — Elvira Nabiullina, the country’s top central banker, said Tuesday the country needs to look at the economic situation “very soberly with open eyes” and be prepared for any development, according to news agency Interfax.

“Yes, the situation can worsen, we understand this,” Nabiullina told Russian lawmakers, according to the news agency, adding it was necessary to restructure the economy.

Nabiullina’s assessment of the economy followed months of intensifying sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. International companies have exited Russia en masse, while much of its currency and gold reserves have been frozen since the start of the war on February 24.

And while firm energy prices had propped up Russia’s economy for a while, the tide seems to be turning — in part, due to President Vladimir Putin’s partial mobilization order that sent many fleeing the draft. Research from the Bank of Russia showed the country’s economic activity stalled in September.

Russia’s central bank expects the country’s economy to contract by 3% to 3.5% in 2022, Nabiullina said on Tuesday, according to an official transcript.

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• Twitter warned Elon Musk of the dangers in his new badge system before its launch, per Platformer.
• The trust and safety team said the rework would give rise to impersonation issues and confusion.
• It also said Twitter doesn’t have an automated way to unverify users who don’t pay $8 for a badge.

Elon Musk was warned of the impersonation issues and widespread confusion that would arise from selling blue checkmarks for $8. Then he went ahead and did it anyway.

The warning came from Twitter’s trust and safety staff a week before the billionaire implemented his overhauled verification system, per Platformer. The tech newsletter’s founder Casey Newton and editor Zoë Schiffer cited an internal seven-page document from the team that was circulated on November 1.

In the document, Twitter’s team highlighted dangers in Musk’s plans for Twitter Blue and gave recommendations for him to circumvent these issues, Platformer reported on Monday.

Musk and his attorney, Alex Spiro, were briefed on the document, along with Esther Crawford, a director of product management at Twitter, per the newsletter. Insider could not independently verify the document or ascertain who it was sent to. 

In their recommendations, the trust and safety team warned of “impersonation of world leaders, advertisers, brand partners, election officials, and other high profile individuals,” according to Platformer.

The team also predicted scammers and bad actors would be willing to pay $8 to get a checkmark, as the “upside exceeds the cost,” Platformer reported.

Their predicted scenario quickly became reality after Twitter launched its paid badge service on November 9, with spoofers and scammers pretending to be official accounts for former President George W. Bush, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, and Musk’s company, Tesla.

In the case of Eli Lilly, verification trolls announced that “insulin is free,” causing the company’s stock to nosedive. 

Twitter paused its $8 subscription model on Thursday amid a deluge of fake accounts, The Washington Post reported.

In its memo, the trust and safety team also highlighted the consequences of removing checkmarks from accounts that were already verified before Musk bought Twitter, according to Platformer.

“Removing privileges and exemptions from legacy verified accounts could cause confusion and loss of trust among high profile users,” the document said, per the site. “Legacy verification provides a critical signal in enforcing impersonation rules, the loss of which is likely to lead to an increase in impersonation of high-profile accounts on Twitter.”

The team cautioned that Twitter did not have a way to automatically unverify accounts that did not pay for $8 verified badges, per Platformer.

With an estimated 400,000 verified Twitter users, the team warned that employees would need to remove a significant number of badges, which would “require high operational lift without investment,” per the site.

Musk’s rollout of the new verified badge system comes as he cut half of the company’s global workforce and said Twitter was losing $4 million per day. The billionaire told staff at an all-hands meeting earlier this month that he sold billions worth of Tesla stock to keep Twitter afloat.

“Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months,” he tweeted on Thursday. “We will keep what works and change what doesn’t.”

Musk and Spiro did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.

• The US Treasury Secretary told Bloomberg FTX’s collapse supported her view that the crypto market requires “very careful regulation.” 
• FTX filed for bankruptcy on Friday and founder Sam Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO.
• The crypto industry is grappling with the fallout from FTX’s implosion.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has weighed in on the drama surrounding the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, saying it strengthened her view that the crypto market requires “very careful regulation,” Bloomberg reported Saturday.

“It shows the weaknesses of this entire sector,” Yellen told Bloomberg in an interview while on her way to the G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

She made the comments shortly after embattled FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday, capping a couple of weeks of turmoil, which began after a November 2 CoinDesk report and a public feud with Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao stoked market fears about FTX’s liquidity position.

Before FTX’s collapse, sources had told Reuters Bankman-Fried transferred $4 billion from FTX to Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s crypto trading firm, earlier in 2022 without telling anyone, the news agency reported on Thursday. 

“In other regulated exchanges, you would have segregation of customer assets,” Yellen told Bloomberg, without specifically referring to Alameda. “The notion you could use the deposits of customers of an exchange and lend them to a separate enterprise that you control to do leveraged, risky investments — that wouldn’t be something that’s allowed,” Yellen told Bloomberg.

She, however, caveated her views, telling Bloomberg: “At least it’s not deeply integrated with our banking sector and, at this point, doesn’t pose broader threats to financial stability,” she told Bloomberg.

Yellen’s comments about crypto regulation echoed other experts who are predicting tighter crypto laws following FTX’s implosion.

“What’s going on in crypto in the last few days is going to scare people and is going to scare regulators into action,” Larry Summers, the former Treasury Secretary,  said last Wednesday during a conversation hosted by The Information.

Top economist Mohamed El-Erian also chimed in on the topic on Wednesday, telling  CNBC FTX’s downfall would keep regulators up at night.”The amount of irresponsible leveraging that has been taken, the cross ownership of assets. This sort of thing should not happen,” El-Erian said. 

Meanwhile, Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, told CNBC on Thursday there needs to be better protection for crypto investors.

However, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said cracking down on US crypto firms “makes no sense” since most trading activity takes place outside the US. FTX is based in the Bahamas.

“The problem is that the SEC failed to create regulatory clarity here in the US, so many American investors (and 95% of trading activity) went offshore,” Armstrong said in a tweet on Wednesday. He was responding to a call from US Senator Elizabeth Warren for more aggressive regulation of the sector.

• Twitter began firing contractors on Saturday, according to reports. 
• Some contractors told Axios they found out after being locked out of work accounts.
• Contractors also shared fears that they would not be able to receive their final paychecks.

Twitter has began to lay off its contract workforce, with some contractors finding out through a loss of access to work accounts, according to reports. 

Starting on Nov. 4, Twitter — under the new ownership of Tesla CEO Elon Musk — slashed its full-time employee workforce by nearly 50%.

Now, contractors appear to be the next target, with contractors telling Axios they were locked out of work accounts on Saturday. Similarly, many of Twitter’s full-time employees also found out that they were being let go when they lost access to work platforms like Slack and email.

Some of these contractors work in content moderation, which had already been hit with layoffs, sources told Axios.

According to journalist Casey Newton, other departments, such as real estate and marketing, were also affected by contractor layoffs.

—Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) November 13, 2022

 

Some contractors told Axios they were worried about whether or not they would be able to receive their final paycheck, as many ended up on teams with no full-time employees following the layoffs. 

Melissa Ingle, a content moderation contractor, told Axios that she was worried about how the layoffs would affect her and her family financially.

“This is no way to treat people,” Ingle told Axios.

—Melissa Ingle (@mingle74) November 13, 2022

 

Following Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, the company staff has been thrown into weeks of chaos.

Some laid-off Twitter staff were asked to come back after the company realized that they were essential to operations. Other Twitter staff filed a lawsuit, saying they were not given enough advance notice before their firings.

Now, employees are being asked by Musk to return to the office 40 hours a week or resign.

One current Twitter employee described the current environment as “ruthless” in an as-told-to essay by Insider’s Jyoti Mann.

Twitter and representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

• Elon Musk’s first weeks as owner of Twitter have been mired in controversy and changes to the site.
• During the chaotic handoff, login details for the official @Twitter account weren’t shared, Platformer reported.
• Twitter staff were locked out of the company’s own social account for 12 days, according to Platformer.

During Elon Musk’s chaotic Twitter takeover, login details for the company’s official account weren’t shared with new leadership, according to reporting by Platformer.

The $44 billion acquisition of the social media company has been disorganized, according to employees and experts alike, with reports of mass layoffs that were in some cases reversed and employees left “in limbo” about their working status.

Sources told Platformer, a newsletter run Casey Newton, former editor of The Verge, the login details for the official @Twitter social account were among the details lost in the fray.

The Twitter team finally accessed its account on Wednesday, after about 12 days, Platformer reported, though the account has not posted since October 13. 

—Twitter (@Twitter) October 13, 2022

 

Musk’s purchase of the social media platform has been mired in controversy for months leading to the acquisition that was completed two weeks ago. In the days since, advertisers and influential users have been leaving the platform, citing concerns over rising hate speech and changes to the user experience.

Among the recent inconsistent changes to Twitter — including the rolled-back layoffs — Musk has also implemented new rules about parody accounts and waffled back and forth on if an $8 Twitter Blue subscription will give users a verification badge — a feature that was suspended today — and whether or not a gray “official” check would replace the old verification system. 

Musk and representatives for Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.