 Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is expected to introduce a "talking filibuster" rule in a last-ditch attempt to pass the voting rights legislative package. The move comes after Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona opposed plans to end the filibuster, which could allow Democrats to pass the voting rights legislation without Republican support. More: - The current legislation combines the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and "The Freedom to Vote" Act.
- If passed, it would make Election Day a national holiday, mandate broad access to mail-in voting, and expand the rules around voter ID laws to increase ballot access.
- Democrats don't have the 60 votes needed to pass the bills due to GOP opposition but if they end the filibuster, they could pass the legislation by simple majority.
- Sinema and Manchin support the voting bills but oppose ending the filibuster.
- Schumer plans to first bring the voting rights bills to a vote and then propose a rules change to pass the bills with a simple majority — this is an exception to the filibuster rule that would apply only to the voting rights legislation.
- The plan is likely to fail because Sinema and Manchin oppose the rule change but it would allow Democratic leaders to show that they are committed to passing the sweeping voting legislation.
- President Biden last week acknowledged that Democrats may not be able to pass the voting bills.
- "I hope we can get this done, but I'm not sure. But one thing for certain, like every other major civil rights bill that came along if we miss the first time we can come back and try a second time," he said.
| |
 Investigators have uncovered evidence of "fraudulent or misleading" asset valuations by former President Donald Trump's company, the office of the New York Attorney General (NYAG) said. In a court filing, the office of NYAG Letitia James said it wants to subpoena Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. NYAG lawyers said they have not yet decided whether they plan to file a civil lawsuit on the matter. More: - The court documents allege that the Trump Organization overstated the value of land donations it made in New York and California on IRS paperwork. The overestimation was used to justify millions of dollars of tax deductions.
- The company claimed that Trump's Manhattan penthouse was nearly three times its real size, increasing its valuation by ~$200M.
- James' office said that it could pursue "a broad range of remedies" against companies found to have committed fraud, "including revoking a license to conduct business within the state, moving to have an officer or director removed from board of directors, and restitution and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains."
- Trump's legal team has consistently denied the credibility of the NYAG investigation and a parallel criminal probe by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, saying they are politically motivated and unconstitutional attempts to discredit the former president.
| |
 A message from RAMP Dear CFOs of America, We’re sorry that shopping for a corporate credit card has become a game of trying to find the best bonuses and perks. Most business credit card companies offer rewards designed to make you spend more. Ramp offers a finance automation platform designed to save you time and money—for free. Benefits of traditional cards: - Useless points with confusing multipliers
Benefits of Ramp: - Unambiguous 1.5% cashback
- 20x higher limits so you have the runway to scale your business
- Insight into macro spending trends
- Access to powerful finance automation software that saves you time on expense management, bill payments, and accounting
- No fees of any kind
Get started in minutes, issue cards in seconds, and save hours each month so you can focus more on strategy and worry less about savings. Try for free - claim a $250 Bonus 
| |
 A model developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) estimates that over 10 million people may have died from COVID-19 worldwide since the pandemic started. COVID-19 death tolls vary widely. According to official national death counts, 5.5 million people have died from COVID-19 worldwide, while a machine-learning model by "The Economist" estimates the death toll at between 12.1 million and 22.7 million people. More: - There are several reasons why it can be difficult to calculate the actual number of COVID deaths: insufficient testing of individuals who died from COVID, different national rules about who qualifies as a COVID death, or lack of high-quality data.
- Researchers have used the concept of excess mortality to better calculate the real COVID-19 death toll.
- Excess mortality looks at the increase in deaths in a given country relative to the expected number of annual deaths.
- Statisticians and public health experts have debated the merits of such modeling, given the difficulty of making accurate predictions with incomplete data and imperfect assumptions about the differences between countries.
- Statistician Jon Wakefield, who is developing an excess death model for the World Health Organization, said:
- “The process is intrinsically flawed. The data are a real mess and so any modeling effort is going to be very speculative... I’m not happy with the assumptions we’re being forced to make, but we’re doing the best we can.”
| |
 GOOD NEWS: Thailand's Food and Drug Administration agency is set to propose the removal of marijuana from the list of prohibited narcotics. If the measure is approved by the organization and endorsed by Thailand's health minister, cannabis would be decriminalized and the risk of lengthy prison sentences for possession would end in the country. More: - Currently, possession of cannabis can lead to a 15-years prison sentence in Thailand.
- Growing, harvesting, and selling marijuana will still be illegal, but removing marijuana from the banned substances list would open the door for legalization and the possibility of recreational sales.
- High-THC products would likely still be restricted, but low-THC products could be introduced to the consumer market.
- Withid Sariddeechaikool, a deputy secretary-general of Thailand's FDA, said: “If we’re able to decriminalize marijuana, we will be able to benefit from all of the plant and not just parts of it. The flower buds and seeds could be used economically.”
| |
 A message from LOHIKA Learn Why Web3 Matters to Your Business. Web3 is the next evolution of the Internet. If Web 2.0 was about user-generated content and social media platforms, Web3 is about decentralized services powered by the blockchain. Smart contracts and NFTs are Web3 technologies that run on the blockchain. Lohika is hosting an online event with our friends from Refresh Miami. We gathered a panel of Web3 experts that will explain what blockchain, smart contracts and NFTs are, then discuss related business opportunities in the present and future. The panel: Join us on January 26, 2022 at 10am PT / 1pm ET. Register Here
| |
Drugmaker Gilead Sciences claims that a network of suppliers and distributors sold counterfeit versions of its HIV medication — many of which ended up in the hands of patients. Gilead identified 85,247 counterfeit bottles of its branded medications — worth more than $250M — that were purportedly sold to pharmacies over the past two years. More: - The company used the word "counterfeit" to describe both fake drugs and genuine medication with faked documentation or packaging.
- Gilead's public statement on the matter followed the unsealing of an ongoing lawsuit brought by Gilead against several drug distributors and marketers.
- Gilead said it first became aware of the counterfeit medication in August 2020, when a California customer called their pharmacy after finding the incorrect pills in their prescription bottle.
- The pills, which turned out to be Tylenol, were bought from a wholesale distributor offering cheap prices on Gilead's Biktarvy medication.
- Gilead hired private investigators and worked with federal and local law enforcement to enforce seizures of warehouses and offices.
- Gilead conducted court-permitted seizures at 17 locations across 9 states over the course of the ongoing investigation.
| |
 RIP André Leon Talley (1948-2022) Fashion editor and journalist André Leon Talley has died at the age of 73. Talley was one of the most prominent Black fashion critics and editors in the late 20th century U.S., breaking barriers for African-Americans in an industry that is notoriously white and conservative. More: - Talley moved to NYC in the early 1970s. His introduction to the world of fashion came when he volunteered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in 1974.
- During the 1970s and 1980s, Talley socialized with prominent artists and fashionistas like Andy Warhol and Karl Lagerfeld.
- After befriending Vogue editor Anna Wintour, he became creative director of Vogue in 1988.
- In a 2013 Vanity Fair article designer Tom Ford said Talley was:
- "One of the last great fashion editors who has an incredible sense of fashion history ... He can see through everything you do to the original reference, predict what was on your inspiration board."
| |
QUICK HITS - The #1 play to earn blockchain game is free to get started. Sign Up for Splinterlands now to get daily airdrops and earn tokens for every win.*
- Former New York Post editor Michelle Gotthelf sued her former employer yesterday. She alleges that she was fired two months after accusing former editor Col Allan of sexual harassment.
- U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce that most COVID lockdown restrictions will end next week after Health Minister Sajid Javid said that the U.K. had likely reached its peak of cases and hospitalizations from the Omicron variant.
- An ash-covered runaway in Tonga has been cleared, allowing aid flights to the volcano-stricken island nation to resume.
- Germany reported 112,323 new COVID-19 cases today — the first time the country has had more than 100,000 new cases in a day.
- Demand Gen Chat is a podcast for B2B marketers, by B2B marketers. No fluff, just the hottest takes on driving revenue from today’s marketing leaders.*
* This is sponsored content.
| |
 The horses of Apollo by Giorgio de Chirico. 1974
| |
UPCOMING EVENTS - January 19 - Music in the Metaverse with Jonathan Gray (Encore) (Register Here)
- January 25 - Need To Know NoCoder - Leon Young (Cogniss) (Register Here)
- January 25 - Venturing in VC - Episode #4 with David Cowan (Bessemer Venture Partners) (Register Here)
- January 26 - Join Ketch & Kelley Drye's data privacy experts for a joint webinar. Privacy Priorities for 2022: Legal and Tech Developments to Track and Tackle. (Register Here) *
- January 27 - Understanding the Metaverse (Register Here)
- February 01 - Venturing in VC - Episode #5 (Register Here)
- February 03 - Blockchain Gaming & Play-to-Earn Economies (Register Here)
- February 10 - The Business of Wellness (Register Here)
- February 17 - Efficient Marketing Strategies in a Post iOS 14 World (Register Here)
- February 23 - Need to Know NoCoder: Derya Sousa (Kianda Technologies) (Register Here)
- February 24 - Alternative Investments (Register Here)
- March 03 - The $12B Appetite for Amazon Aggregators (Register Here)
- March 10 - NoCode's Impact on the Gig Economy (Register Here)
- March 23 - Need to Know NoCoder: Nichole Bestman (Bubble) (Register Here)
| |
 |  | Daniel Smith is an Inside Analyst who currently resides in Miami, Florida. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Daniel spent the last four years as a PhD candidate in Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. He is fascinated by tech, business, politics, venture capital, and everything in between. When he’s not writing for Inside he can be found kicking a ball on the nearest rugby pitch. Follow him on Twitter @DanSmithInside. |  | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
Go from 5 to 1. Click here to try Ramp for free and get a $250 bonus. | |
Join our Refresh Miami panel of experts to learn what is Web3 and why it matters to your business. | |
Comments
Post a Comment