Benjamin Hall, Author at Cactus three

Tucker Carlson’s Putin Interview Puts Him Back on Center Stage, for Now

09

Feb

Investments and Business

Tucker Carlson’s Putin Interview Puts Him Back on Center Stage, for Now

Last spring, it seemed Tucker Carlson might have reached the end of his fiery path through American media and politics.Fox News canceled his top-rated show, depriving Mr. Carlson of his nightly platform in prime time. But it kept him under a contract, worth more than $15 million a year, that prohibited him from taking a job with a rival.Under the old rules of the legacy media, Mr. Carlson would have been off the air and out of sight through the end of the 2024 election, when his contract runs out. But Mr. Carlson is no typical television star. And what…

08

Feb

By Benjamin Hall

New miscellaneous

Thursday Briefing – The New York Times

A U.S. strike killed a militia commanderA U.S. Special Operations drone strike in Baghdad killed a senior leader of Kata’ib Hezbollah, a militia that U.S. officials blame for recent attacks against American personnel, the Pentagon said.A senior Kata’ib Hezbollah official and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps both said that two commanders had been killed in the strike. A spokesman for Iraq’s security services said that the strike “violated Iraqi sovereignty and risked dangerous repercussions in the region.”Kata’ib Hezbollah, based in Iraq, is considered a proxy of Iran. The U.S. considers the group a terrorist organization. A drone attack that officials attributed…

Federal Records Show Increasing Use of Solitary Confinement for Immigrants

08

Feb

By Benjamin Hall

Health

Federal Records Show Increasing Use of Solitary Confinement for Immigrants

The United States government has placed detained immigrants in solitary confinement more than 14,000 times in the last five years, and the average duration is almost twice the 15-day threshold that the United Nations has said may constitute torture, according to a new analysis of federal records by researchers at Harvard and the nonprofit group Physicians for Human Rights.The report, based on government records from 2018 through 2023 and interviews with several dozen former detainees, noted cases of extreme physical, verbal and sexual abuse for immigrants held in solitary cells. The New York Times reviewed the original records cited in…

What are the NFL’s gambling rules for the Super Bowl in Las Vegas?

08

Feb

By Benjamin Hall

New miscellaneous

What are the NFL’s gambling rules for the Super Bowl in Las Vegas?

The NFL’s rules on gambling have generated widespread criticism and questions leading up to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, as the league aims to balance its sportsbook partnerships and policies preventing players from betting on games.Gambling was a major topic of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual Super Bowl news conference Monday, when he said the “integrity of the league” was the top priority.“We want to make sure that when people are watching NFL games, they know the action on the field is genuine and without any outside influence, ” Goodell said.With the marquee sports event days away in the…

Apple Vision Pro Review: First Headset Lacks Polish and Purpose

07

Feb

By Benjamin Hall

Science and Technology

Apple Vision Pro Review: First Headset Lacks Polish and Purpose

About 17 years ago, Steve Jobs took the stage at a San Francisco convention center and said he was introducing three products: an iPod, a phone and an internet browser.“These are not three separate devices,” he said. “This is one device, and we are calling it iPhone.”At $500, the first iPhone was relatively expensive, but I was eager to dump my mediocre Motorola flip phone and splurge. There were flaws — including sluggish cellular internet speeds. But the iPhone delivered on its promises.Over the last week, I’ve had a very different experience with a new first-generation product from Apple: the…

For First Time in Two Decades, U.S. Buys More From Mexico Than China

07

Feb

By Benjamin Hall

Investments and Business

For First Time in Two Decades, U.S. Buys More From Mexico Than China

In the depths of the pandemic, as global supply chains buckled and the cost of shipping a container to China soared nearly twentyfold, Marco Villarreal spied an opportunity.In 2021, Mr. Villarreal resigned as Caterpillar’s director general in Mexico and began nurturing ties with companies looking to shift manufacturing from China to Mexico. He found a client in Hisun, a Chinese producer of all-terrain vehicles, which hired Mr. Villarreal to establish a $152 million manufacturing site in Saltillo, an industrial hub in northern Mexico.Mr. Villarreal said foreign companies, particularly those seeking to sell within North America, saw Mexico as a viable…