August 14 2024

FLASH Japan’s Leader, Fumio Kishida, Will Step Down
1 Booming Demand for Data Center Technicians Offers High-Paying Tech Jobs Without a College Degree
2 Nationwide Push for 'Hospital at Home' Expands as Paramedics Provide In-Home Care
3 Starbucks Replaces CEO Amidst Falling Sales and Activist Pressure, Stock Soars
4 RFK Jr. Banned From NY Ballot, Judge Rules 
5 Capture of Sinaloa Cartel Leader 'El Mayo' Zambada Sparks Fears of Violent Turf War
8/14/1935 FDR signs Social Security Act

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FLASH Japan’s Leader, Fumio Kishida, Will Step Down

1 Booming Demand for Data Center Technicians Offers High-Paying Tech Jobs Without a College Degree

To get one of the hottest jobs in tech, Deborah Martinez Castellanos didn’t need a bachelor’s degree. She needed a flair with a screwdriver—and a high tolerance for artificial lighting. The 24-year-old works the night shift at a giant, mostly windowless data center in Ashburn, Va., part of a fast-growing legion of workers who keep the nation’s internet running. From 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., she monitors screens that track the temperature and humidity of halls storing thousands of servers. If a server becomes at risk of overheating, alarms ring on her phone and flash on screen. When that happens, her job is to fix the problem. Left alone, such glitches can keep countless users from logging onto their bank accounts or put their email service on the fritz. Demand for data-center technicians like Martinez Castellanos is booming, as companies such as Microsoft and Google pour billions into data centers to power everything from AI chatbots to the trillions of photos and emails stored in the cloud. They embody the rise of a class of careers that defy traditional blue- and white-collar distinctions: They are deeply tech-infused, often requiring fluency with programming and computerized systems, plus manual dexterity. This growing job category can also make good money. Pay for data technicians—whose tasks range from maintaining and repairing servers to operating heating and cooling systems—jumped by 43% in the past three years and stands at a median $75,100, according to certification and training provider CompTIA. Those with more years of experience can earn six figures.   
Since January 2020, job ads seeking such workers have risen 18%, while overall tech job postings have fallen by more than half. Other types of these in-demand occupations also call for high levels of technical know-how, says Brad Hershbein, senior economist at the Upjohn Institute. Becoming a wind-turbine service technician—the nation’s fastest-growing occupation, according to the Labor Department—requires training in everything from hydraulics to electronics. Likewise in manufacturing, today’s lathes are controlled by programming, not by hand. “The days of being able to join a factory floor right out of high school in overalls on an assembly line, like a Diego Rivera painting—that hasn’t been the reality for a long time now,” he says.

Article Source: WSJ

2 Nationwide Push for 'Hospital at Home' Expands as Paramedics Provide In-Home Care

In a suburb just outside Boston, Herbert Irvine sat in his recliner on a July morning as he got a visit from paramedic Elizabeth Kinch. She wasn’t there responding to a 911 call, but instead to provide at-home care. His prognosis after a fall was good: No fever, chills or some other troubling symptoms of worsening infection in his knee, the paramedic told nurse practitioner Michele Kelley, who was examining Irvine virtually via video. But the 85-year-old’s knee was still red and swollen, requiring at least one more day of monitoring. “I just want to make sure the redness doesn’t progress, or the swelling or the pain gets any worse,” said Kelley of Mass General Brigham. Around the country, more than 300 hospitals are deploying or preparing to dispatch paramedics, nurse practitioners and other medical staff to treat patients at home instead of in hospital settings, a service widely referred to as hospital at home. The efforts are part of a nationwide experiment that began with the pandemic, when hospitals were overcrowded and under financial strain. Federal regulators proposed a fix: Hospitals could temporarily take care of Medicare patients at home, but still get paid the same hospital-stay rate. The pandemic-era program was open to patients in fee-for-service Medicare.

Article Source: WSJ

3 Starbucks Replaces CEO Amidst Falling Sales and Activist Pressure, Stock Soars

Starbucks has ousted chief executive Laxman Narasimhan, replacing him with Chipotle’s Brian Niccol, as the world’s largest coffee chain responds to falling sales and pressure from an activist investor, unionised baristas and its former boss. Narasimhan is stepping down immediately, while Niccol will leave burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill at the end of this month and start his new role on September 9, Starbucks said on Tuesday. Chief financial officer Rachel Ruggeri will run the company in the interim. Niccol’s appointment sparked sharp share price reactions at both companies, with Starbucks rising a record 24.5 per cent and Chipotle falling 7.5 per cent in New York.

Ed note: Following the news of the new CEO, Starbucks stock gained $21 billion in value. At $6 per latte, this equates to roughly 1 billion additional lattes.

In a significant and growing movement across the Muslim world, consumers are increasingly rejecting Western products in response to perceived support for Israel by major companies. American brands like Coca-Cola and Starbucks, along with French cosmetic giant L’Oréal, are facing widespread boycotts that are beginning to impact their profits. These boycotts, among the most extensive in recent memory, are sweeping through countries from Indonesia to Pakistan to Egypt, largely fueled by online campaigns. Social media platforms have become the primary avenue for spreading these boycotts, driven by Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movements and, in some instances, supported by government actions.

Article Source: FT

4 RFK Jr. Banned From NY Ballot, Judge Rules 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign was dealt a blow on Monday when a judge ruled that his petition to appear on New York’s ballot was invalid, saying Mr. Kennedy had used a “sham” address to maintain his New York residency. The ruling, if it stands, would keep Mr. Kennedy off the ballot in a state where he lived for much of his adult life and could endanger his efforts to be placed on the ballot in dozens of other states. He has three days to appeal the decision, handed down by a judge in Albany, N.Y. A group of New York residents — backed by Clear Choice, a Democrat-aligned political action committee — had challenged Mr. Kennedy’s New York residency, arguing that his campaign had used a false address on the tens of thousands of nominating petitions it circulated and submitted to place him on the ballot.

Article Source: NYT

5 Capture of Sinaloa Cartel Leader 'El Mayo' Zambada Sparks Fears of Violent Turf War

CULIACÁN, Mexico—In this steamy city that is home to the world’s largest fentanyl smuggling organization, the capture of Sinaloa cartel patriarch Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada risks sparking a bloodbath that is likely to reverberate on the streets of the U.S. The once powerful Zambada said he was betrayed by the son of his longtime associate Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Now, many fear an open war between the two first families of the Sinaloa cartel. The 76-year-old co-founder of one of the world’s top criminal organizations was kidnapped, taken to a plane and tied to his chair with zip ties by Joaquín Guzmán López, according to Zambada’s lawyer. The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico said the plane took off from Sinaloa and headed to a tiny airport near El Paso, Texas. Both drug bosses were arrested by U.S. agents when they stepped off the plane. Members of the two main factions of the criminal group are now assimilating the defection of Guzmán López and his unprecedented alleged act of treason against a top cartel boss such as Zambada, a venerated godfather who had seen El Chapo’s children grow up in the hardscrabble mountains and valleys of the Sierra Madre. Hours after the July 25 arrest of the two drug bosses, the Mexican government deployed hundreds of special forces soldiers to Culiacán. For now, there are enough soldiers to keep the peace in the city, said one Mexican official familiar with the deployment. But the two sides are now enlisting gunmen and acquiring weapons, said one cartel member. There will be war,” said a person who has worked with Zambada arranging drug shipments and dealing with other cartel groups for decades. He says the “Chapitos,” as the sons of El Chapo are known, can count on an army of as many as 5,000 gunmen.

Article Source: WSJ

8/14/1935 FDR signs Social Security Act

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4. https://on.ft.com/3M1rDX1; https://www.ft.com/content/b6dd979c-dd36-4ef7-b475-eaa20f8bad82

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