Top albums of 2024: Beyoncé, Charli XCX, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Mk.gee and more

 

“Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé

“Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé

She rode in on a white horse, in patriotic chaps and wielding an American flag. She declared, this “ain’t a Country album” but “a ‘Beyoncé’ album” — positioning herself in opposition to the genre’s rigid power structures. And yet, she made the year’s best country (and then some) release: Beyoncé’s “Act ll: Cowboy Carter,” a 78-minute, 27-track masterclass in inherited and uncelebrated histories, pulling from the Black and brown performers at the core of country’s canon, and providing visibility to oft-overlooked progenitors. It’s heard in the inclusion of Linda Martell, the first Black woman to play the Grand Ole Opry. And it’s heard in Beyoncé’s natural twang, a return to form for the Texas native — at times, a vibrato that pulls directly from the earth. It may only be 2024, but it’s hard to imagine this record not being considered one of the decade’s best.

It wasn’t just brat summer, babes, but a brat movement: English singer-songwriter Charli XCX’s sixth album altered the language of 2024. The music oscillates between hedonism and anxiety — “the euphoria of a late night on the dancefloor and the creeping disquietude of the morning after,” as the AP reviewed it — but also manages to bring the underground’s pop queen into the mainstream without compromising her vision. There was a period where Charli XCX’s collaborations with the future-seeking PC Music collective and producer A .G. Cook seemed too progressive for everyday ears. But “Brat,” and its vomit-chartreuse iconography, resonated. Listeners were ready to return to the rave — or attend for the very first time — and dance-pop music is far more interesting for it.

“Alligator Bites Never Heal,” Doechii

When alligators kill, they do what is known as a “death roll”: They sink their teeth into their prey and spin rapidly, flipping their bodies in and out of the water, drowning, disorienting and dismembering whatever was unlucky enough to get in its way. Florida rapper Doechii’s breakout mixtape, “Alligator Bites Never Heal,” embodies that kind of intensity — not in aggression, per se, but in acuity — for a versatile album that teeters from the romance of her smooth R&B and the particularity of her flows. Single “Boom Bap” made her greatness known. Tracks like “Catfish” confirm it.

“Manning Fireworks,” MJ Lenderman

Last year, AP named “Rat Saw God,” the album from Asheville alt-country indie rockers Wednesday, as one of 2023’s best. The band features MJ Lenderman, whose “Manning Fireworks” is almost frustratingly addictive. It’s a record of hilariously evocative moments from pathetic people (or is it pathetic moments from hilariously evocative people?) atop purposeful, easy slacker rock melodies. From there, it’s a kaleidoscope of brilliant lyrical short stories. (An oft-quoted favorite of his cult following? “Kahlúa shooter / DUI scooter” from “Joker Lips.”) For fans of alternative music, it is an immediate classic. We’d suggest placing “Manning Fireworks” next to Pavement on your record shelf, but it’s unlikely to leave your turntable.

“GNX,” Kendrick Lamar

The holidays arrived early this year when Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar surprise released “GNX” in late November. It is his first album since 2022’s “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” — and perhaps more tellingly, his first since his victory lap over Drake in their recently reignited beef that inspired one of the year’s best songs, “Not Like Us.” In full, “GNX” builds off the promise of his blockbuster single — West Coast hip-hop showboating from one of the greatest living rappers anywhere. But it’s Lamar’s performance that makes this one of the year’s best. As the AP reviewed, it is his effortless ability to “switch cadences and lyrical perspectives mid-song” and seemingly limitless breath control that stand out.

“Hit Me Hard and Soft,” Billie Eilish

It often seems like there is no record Billie Eilish can’t break, no accomplishment she cannot summit. So where was she to go, at just 22, with her third studio album? Up, as it turns out. “Hit Me Hard and Soft” is a 10-track testament to her own ambition. It fuses insights pulled from her first two records — the gothic humor and unusual production of her first record and the classist detours of her second — but wizened. There are the fan favorites of “Lunch” and “Birds of a Feather,” but also standouts like “Chihiro,” with its delicate promise and techno-house crescendo at its coda. No one is doing it like her.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Two Star & The Dream Police,” Mk.gee

Upon first listen, if New Jersey guitar virtuoso Mk.gee confounds, do not worry. He is a 2024 success story who emerged fully formed and completely unusual, only to make fans of everyone from Justin Bieber to Eric Clapton — and their influence is heard throughout “Two Star & The Dream Police.” The record is gauzy, ripe for a “lo-fi music to study to” playlist, but also commands attention for its spaced-out production and sparkling pop, all reliant on the malleability of his guitar compositions. Those range from sticky staccato to a kind of soulful ’80s melodicism.

“The Past Is Still Alive,” Hurray for the Riff Raff

Hurray for the Riff Raff, the musical moniker of Alynda Segarra, has long studied Americana, blues, and folk punk, perfecting their craft with each new release. On the narrative “The Past Is Still Alive,” their eighth studio album, Segarra pulls from their background as a hitchhiker, train hopper and outsider artist to document the kind of life-altering adventures — ugly and rejuvenating — that can only happen far from home. It’s a beautiful portrayal of the U.S. — all big skies, starry nights and idiosyncratic people — as well as dumpster diving, shoplifting, addiction, politics, queer bars and poetry. In a word: America.

“Phasor,” Helado Negro

Nearly a decade ago, Helado Negro — the bilingual musical project of Roberto Carlos Lange — released the single “Young, Latin and Proud,” a celebratory exploration of Latino identity that became a rallying cry for indie kids with similar heritage. It doubles as a kind of framework in which to think about all of his art, in particular, the inventive, breezy, slow synths of “Phasor.” The album, recorded in English and Spanish, uses electronic sounds to express inspirations pulled from nature. It’s a wide-ranging release, effervescent and ambitious, easy to listen to and joy to dissect.

The Light

 1. Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the dawn; 2. From the evil of that which He (Yakub) has created; 3. And from the evil of intense darkness when it comes; 4. And from the evil of those who cast (evil suggestions) in form of resolutions; 5. And from the evil of the envier when he envies (Holy Qur’an 113).

The dawn of a new day has arrived to seek our place in that which is new. We must have a guide. Allah (God) has always provided guides for those who seek to walk in His path.

We should hasten ourselves to the light of truth as we hasten to get ourselves into the light of the day (the sun). The light of Allah (God) is even greater than the light of our day (the sun). We must learn to be intelligent enough to distinguish truth from falsehood and seek refuge in the God of truth.

If we shall know the truth (John 8:32) and that truth will make us free, we can truthfully say that we already have long since known the truth that Jesus was referring to was yet to come and not in his days (John 16:8, 13). If that truth had been revealed 2,000 years ago, there would no be any falsehood in the world. However, Jesus, being a prophet, foresaw the devil’s rule. “Seek the end of the devil’s rule. Seek refuge from the evil of that which He (Yakub) has created.”

The Father (Yakub) of the world created a world of evil, discord, and hate. If you do not agree with their evil-doings, your goodness is then called hate or infidelity and you are called peace – breaker.

This world of Christianity has gone mad and they think that every cry is against them. They are like robbers who have robbed and are afraid that they will be recognized by their victims. Thieves know that light makes them manifest.

Since Christianity has falsely claimed Jesus as her founder, she is now being plagued with spiritual darkness and confusion. Under such darkness the Prophet and His followers (the Muslims) are warned to seek refuge in the light of Allah (God); for under such spiritual darkness the wicked seek to persecute and kill the Prophet of Islam and His followers.

They are mad and cannot see, nor hear the truth. So they call the truth false and the false they call truth. The truth (Islam) has angered them (Christianity). “And the nations (Christianity) were angry. Thy wrath is come. The time of the dead (the mentally dead Black nation – especially the so-called Negro), must come into the knowledge of the truth of their enemies and the enemies’ false religion that was used to deceive them. They shall give reward unto Thy servants, the prophets, and the saints, and will destroy them which destroy the earth.” (Bible, Rev. 11:18).

The White Christians and Jews are the guilty race. They have persecuted and killed the prophets of Islam and their followers (the Muslims or Black people in general). Now should not they be destroyed or get what they put out?

Modest Growth Forecast for Eurozone

 

“After the stagnation in ’23, the European economy is growing again and is set to accelerate over the next two years, however growth remains modest and exposed to important downside risks,” said Gentiloni.

Growth started to recover earlier this year as new wage agreements began partially restoring household finances. The commission said that “the restraint to consumption appears to be loosening.” It added: “As the purchasing power of wages gradually recovers and interest rates decline, consumption is set to expand further.”

Inflation is forecast to come in at 2.1% next year, just above the European Central Bank’s target of 2% and a substantial relief from the peak of 10.6% recorded in October 2022.

Germany, the eurozone’s biggest economy is set for a second consecutive year of shrinking output this year at minus 0.1% percent, with a moderate rebound next year at 0.7%. 

Irish YouTuber turned a niche following into millions

 

Seán McLoughlin wears a lot of hats: YouTuber. Voice actor. Coffee entrepreneur. But McLoughlin, better known by his pseudonym Jacksepticeye, likes to say he would be a therapist if he wasn’t posting video game playthroughs for his nearly 31 million subscribers.

The 34-year-old Irish creator finds that gaming enthusiasts aren’t just drawn by his expressive reactions to the latest action role-playing games; fans also resonate with his candid discussions of mental health. The supportive responses from his niche but passionate following make McLoughlin feel “less alone,” he said, forging the same camaraderie that brought him to online gaming communities as a lonely 20-something living at his family’s remote home.

That shared connection is also central to his annual fundraiser, “Thankmas.” The charity livestream is one of many online specials emerging as a modern spin on the classic telethon. Total donations have increased more than 50% over the last year on Tiltify, a digital platform that integrates giving tools into streams. The spaces are credited for allowing more authentic interactions between nonprofits and young donors — and encouraging benevolence in a corner of the web marked by incendiary rhetoric. “If you want to do good things, the people are there, and they’ll listen,” McLoughlin said. “They’re already following you for what you do for a reason. So they’ll follow you to help out people as well.” Follow they have. His streams have raked in more than $26 million, according to partner Tiltify. This year’s goal is to collect $6 million for two nonprofits supporting mental health: Crisis Text Line and Samaritans.

A seven-figure target would have seemed a longshot when McLoughlin entered the space. The initial idea was to hold monthly fundraisers. He hosted seven charitable streams in 2018, Tiltify records show, for causes including pediatric cancer and clean water. The year culminated in the inaugural “Thankmas,” which pulled over a quarter of a million dollars.

But McLoughlin said the pace became “a bit much.” That same year he announced a brief break from YouTube, in part due to unhappiness from the demands he felt for high content volumes. He resolved to focus on one big holiday event at the end of the year, when he said people are “a bit more giving and heartfelt.”

It wasn’t until 2020 that Tiltify CEO Michael Wasserman said the two began working closely to maximize the streams’ reach. McLoughlin reached out, according to Wasserman, and said he wanted something “more impactful.” With communities worldwide reeling from the pandemic, they put together the #HopeFromHome campaign: a peer-to-peer event where multitudes could simultaneously rally around the same cause. McLoughlin served as a tent pole supporting the other streamers.

Their first effort together yielded $1.9 million for United Way Worldwide and more than one-third came from McLoughlin’s stream alone. The following “Thankmas” generated more than $4.7 million. Wasserman said he’d never seen his technology used so collaboratively. “That’s what really made this a regular, multimillion-dollar event,” Wasserman said. “Not just making it, ‘Hey I’m going to fundraise and just watch me,’ but, ‘We as a community can do this and get involved together.’”

This year’s “Thankmas” will be performed before a live audience in Los Angeles but broadcast online. Recent specials have seen McLoughlin make surprise calls into streams that are also pooling contributions. Comedic segments sometimes feature traditional celebrities; actor Jack Black played a life-sized game of Jenga in 2022.

The idea resembles the star-studded telethon pioneered last century by comedian Jerry Lewis. But new technologies and web cultures enable more engaging experiences. Wasserman said charitable livestreams like McLoughlin’s are not a “passive watching experience.”

It’s “a much more personable approach to giving,” according to Yvette Wohn, a professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology who studies human-computer interaction. A streamer’s audience “cares about them,” Wohn said, and donors flock to their content because “they really like that person.” Social media and chat boxes allow fans to feel seen by hosts in ways television viewers could never expect. Followers might get shoutouts by name upon contributing. McLoughlin has previously shared fan art submitted through specific hashtags.

Fandoms also develop subcultures. McLoughlin’s gaming catchphrases are especially popular among his circles. Jacksepticeye content often starts with him shouting, “Top of the morning to ya, laddies!” and fans have uploaded video compilations of the expression. Members then form friendships with others in the fandom. That creates a “positive social pressure” to donate, according to Wohn, helping new generations “dip their toes into building an identity as somebody that gives.” “Giving habits are things that build over time,” Wohn said. “If younger people start to engage in this culture of giving, I feel like the general culture of giving might expand in ways that cannot be done from a top-down perspective.”

Still, McLoughlin describes online communities as a “double-edged sword.” The “monetization of hate,” he said, is “bigger than it’s ever been.” And the desire for acceptance can introduce lonely people to dark pockets of the internet that nevertheless provide kinship.

“Thankmas” aims to prove it’s easy to do good online. Yes, he acknowledged, charity work is “quite intimidating.” Where is the line between promoting the fundraiser and promoting himself? McLoughlin doesn’t know. He just hopes people trust it’s coming from the right place.

At least one longtime follower was drawn by McLoughlin’s ties to this year’s cause. Jack Worthey, a 20-year-old from Texas, said McLoughlin brought much comfort growing up with “similar family troubles.” It had been several years since he watched Jacksepticeye content, he said, but he was pulled back by an October video where McLoughlin detailed his journey finding mental health treatment.

Worthey said he wouldn’t have looked into “Thankmas” had McLoughlin had not made the promotion so personal. He now plans to raise awareness through digital art. For Worthey, returning to the channel as an adult and seeing the “positive product” has been “really amazing.”

“It makes you see what I was enjoying when I was younger in a different light,” Worthey said. “It brings a different type of joy.”

Deforestation Law

 

The European Union agreed to delay by a year the introduction of new rules to ban the sale of products that lead to massive deforestation, caving in to demands from several producer nations from across the globe and domestic opposition within the 27-nation bloc.

Officials said Wednesday that the EU member states, the EU parliament and the executive Commission reached an agreement in principle following weeks of haggling whether the initial rules would have to be watered down even further than the simple delay by one year. Originally, it was supposed to kick in this month.

The deforestation law is aimed at preserving forests on a global scale by only allowing forest-related products that are sustainable and do not involve the degradation of forests. It applies to things like cocoa, coffee, soy, cattle, palm oil, rubber, wood and products made from them. Deforestation is the second-biggest source of carbon emissions after fossil fuels. The lead negotiator among the different EU institutions, Christine Schneider, called the delay to implement nature protection rules “a victory,” adding it would give foresters and farmers protection from “excessive bureaucracy.” Environmentalists immediately criticized the move.

“With our planet’s forests destroyed further every day, we cannot afford delays to much-needed environmental protection laws like the EU’s anti-deforestation legislation,” said said Giulia Bondi of the Global Witness group. .

Officials from leading exporters of affected commodities — including Brazil, Indonesia and the Ivory Coast — fear the regulation could act as a trade barrier, hit small farmers and disrupt supply chains.

Under the deal, the rules are now scheduled to start Dec. 30, 2025, for large companies, and June 30, 2026, for small companies. The different EU institutions will still have to individually approve the deal but since they agreed on the measures, this is likely to be a formality. In offering to delay the regulation by a year, the EU Commission has said it heeded the complaints of several global partners about their state of preparedness for the rules.

Some EU governments, including in Austria and Germany, have also sought to water down the regulation or delay its introduction.

With the delay, some governments sought to add more measures that would weaken the original rules and allow for more exemptions. Even if that was not agreed to in the current deal, Schneider said that the commission had “committed itself to updating the Deforestation Law within a year.”

Greenpeace has said that the extension would condemn the world’s forests to another year of destruction. It noted a U.N. finding that an area of forest about the size of Portugal is cut down worldwide each year.

“Instead of rolling back its environmental agenda, the EU needs to keep its commitments and show leadership to tackle the climate emergency,” said Bondi.

Gladiator II

 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565376391575

Kendrick Lamar tour

 

“Not Like Us,” it’s like them — Kendrick Lamar and SZA will hit the road together in 2025.

On Tuesday morning, Lamar and SZA announced the Grand National Tour, which will hit 19 stadiums across North America next spring and summer.

The news arrives less than two weeks after Lamar released his latest album, “GNX,” which features SZA on two tracks: “Luther” and the closer “Gloria.” In a review, AP described the album as leaning into the same creativity-juicing pride, self-righteous anger and supreme confidence that fueled the Grammy-nominated “Not Like Us” and won his feud with Drake: “I kill ’em all before I let ’em kill my joy.”

The tour kicks off on April 19 in Minneapolis, then hits Houston; Arlington, Texas; Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Philadelphia; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Foxborough, Massachusetts; Seattle; Los Angeles; Glendale, Arizona; San Francisco; Las Vegas; St. Louis; Chicago; Detroit; Toronto; Hershey, Pennsylvania; and Washington.

Tickets go on sale Friday. A presale for Cash App Visa Card holders will launch Wednesday.

Eminem’s mother Debbie Nelson, whose rocky relationship fueled the rapper’s lyrics, dies at age 69

Debbie Nelson, mother of rap star Eminem, appears in Mount Clemens, Mich., on April 10, 2001

 Debbie Nelson, the single mother of rapper Eminem whose rocky relationship with her son was known widely through his hit song lyrics, has died. She was 69.

Eminem’s longtime representative Dennis Dennehy confirmed Nelson’s death in an email on Tuesday. He did not provide a cause of death, although Nelson had battled lung cancer.

Nelson was born in 1955 on a military base in Kansas. Her fraught relationship with her son, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, has been no secret since the Detroit rapper became a star.

Eminem has disparaged his mother in songs such as the 2002 single “Cleaning Out My Closet.” Eminem sings: “Witnessin’ your mama poppin’ prescription pills in the kitchen. ... My whole life I was made to believe I was sick when I wasn’t.”

In lyrics from his Oscar-winning hit “Lose Yourself” from the movie “8 Mile,” his feelings seem to have simmered, referencing his “mom’s spaghetti.” The song went on to win best rap song at the 2004 Grammy Awards. Nelson brought and settled a pair of defamation lawsuits over Eminem’s statements about her in magazines and on radio talk shows. In her 2008 book, “My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem,” she attempted to set the record straight by providing readers details about the rapper’s early life, writing that Eminem had forgotten the good times they had.  “Marshall and I were so close that friends and relatives commented that it was as if the umbilical cord had never been cut,” she wrote.

She also detailed her own childhood, describing a violent home life in which her dad’s mother, who she spent summers with, was “the one woman in my large dysfunctional family to show us kids love.”

In 2004, she was dragged from her car on Eight Mile Road, the street in a Detroit suburb made famous by “8 Mile,” by a 16-year-old who was later sentenced to more than four years in prison. She suffered bruises and a broken foot.

The highly acclaimed rapper Eminem won for best hip hop act at the 2024 MTV EMAs and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

He announced in October that he was going to be a grandfather, saying his daughter Hailie Jade is pregnant by way of a touching music video that is a tribute to their relationship.

Celsius Network pleads guilty

 The founder and former CEO of the failed cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network could face decades in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to federal fraud charges, admitting that he misled customers about the business.

Alexander Mashinsky, 58, of Manhattan, entered the plea in New York federal court to commodities and securities fraud.

He admitted illegally manipulating the price of Celsius’s proprietary crypto token while secretly selling his own tokens at inflated prices to pocket about $48 million before Celsius collapsed into bankruptcy in 2022.

In court, he admitted that in 2021 he publicly suggested there was regulatory consent for the company’s moves because he knew that customers “would find false comfort” with that.

And he said that in 2019, he was selling the crypto tokens even though he told the public that he was not. He said he knew customers would draw false comfort from that too.

“I accept full responsibility for my actions,” Mashinsky said of crimes that stretched from 2018 to 2022 as the company pitched itself to customers as a modern-day bank where they could safely deposit crypto assets and earn interest.U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a release that Mashinsky “orchestrated one of the biggest frauds in the crypto industry” as his company’s assets purportedly grew to about $25 billion at its peak, making it one of the largest crypto platforms in the world.

He said Mashinsky used catchy slogans like “Unbank Yourself” to entice prospective customers with a pledge that their money would be as safe in crypto accounts as money would be in a bank. Meanwhile, prosecutors said, Mashinsky and co-conspirators used customer deposits to fund market purchases of the Celsius token to prop up its value.

Machinsky made tens of millions of dollars selling his own CEL tokens at artificially high prices, leaving his customers “holding the bag when the company went bankrupt,” Williams said.An indictment alleged that Mashinsky promoted Celsius through media interviews, his social media accounts and Celsius’ website, along with a weekly “Ask Mashinsky Anything” session broadcast that was posted to Celsius’ website and a YouTube channel.

Celsius employees from multiple departments who noticed false and misleading statements in the sessions warned Mashinsky, but they were ignored, the indictment said.

A plea agreement Mashinsky made with prosecutors calls for him to be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison and to forfeit over $48 million, which is the amount of money he allegedly made by selling his company’s token.

Sentencing was scheduled for April 8.

Musk’s multi-billion-dollar Tesla pay package

 

For a second time, a Delaware judge has nullified a pay package that Tesla had awarded its CEO, Elon Musk, that once was valued at $56 billion.

On Monday, Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick turned aside a request from Musk’s lawyers to reverse a ruling she announced in January that had thrown out the compensation plan. The judge ruled then that Musk effectively controlled Tesla’s board and had engineered the outsize pay package during sham negotiations.

Lawyers for a Tesla shareholder who sued to block the pay package contended that shareholders who had voted for the 10-year plan in 2018 had been given misleading and incomplete information.

In their defense, Tesla’s board members asserted that the shareholders who ratified the pay plan a second time in June had done so after receiving full disclosures, thereby curing all the problems the judge had cited in her January ruling. As a result, they argued, Musk deserved the pay package for having raised Tesla’s market value by billions of dollars.

McCormick rejected that argument. In her 103-page opinion, she ruled that under Delaware law, Tesla’s lawyers had no grounds to reverse her January ruling “based on evidence they created after trial.”

What will Musk and Tesla do now?

On Monday night, Tesla posted on X, the social media platform owned by Musk, that the company will appeal. The appeal would be filed with the Delaware Supreme Court, the only state appellate court Tesla can pursue. Experts say a ruling would likely come in less than a year.

“The ruling, if not overturned, means that judges and plaintiffs’ lawyers run Delaware companies rather than their rightful owners — the shareholders,” Tesla argued.

Later, on X, Musk unleashed a blistering attack on the judge, asserting that McCormick is “a radical far left activist cosplaying as a judge.”What do experts say about the case?

Legal authorities generally suggest that McCormick’s ruling was sound and followed the law. Charles Elson, founding director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said that in his view, McCormick was right to rule that after Tesla lost its case in the original trial, it created improper new evidence by asking shareholders to ratify the pay package a second time.

Had she allowed such a claim, he said, it would cause a major shift in Delaware’s laws against conflicts of interest given the unusually close relationship between Musk and Tesla’s board.

“Delaware protects investors — that’s what she did,” said Elson, who has followed the court for more than three decades. “Just because you’re a ‘superstar CEO’ doesn’t put you in a separate category.”

Elson said he thinks investors would be reluctant to put money into Delaware companies if there were exceptions to the law for “special people.”

What will the Delaware Supreme Court do?

Elson said that in his opinion, the court is likely to uphold McCormick’s ruling.

Can Tesla appeal to federal courts?

Experts say no. Rulings on state laws are normally left to state courts. Brian Dunn, program director for the Institute of Compensation Studies at Cornell University, said it’s been his experience that Tesla has no choice but to stay in the Delaware courts for this compensation package.Tesla has moved its legal headquarters to Texas. Does that matter?

The company could try to reconstitute the pay package and seek approval in Texas, where it may expect more friendlier judges. But Dunn, who has spent 40 years as an executive compensation consultant, said it’s likely that some other shareholder would challenge the award in Texas because it’s excessive compared with other CEOs’ pay plans.

“If they just want to turn around and deliver him $56 billion, I can’t believe somebody wouldn’t want to litigate it,” Dunn said. “It’s an unconscionable amount of money.”Would a new pay package be even larger?

Almost certainly. Tesla stock is trading at 15 times the exercise price of stock options in the current package in Delaware, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note to investors. Tesla’s share price has doubled in the past six months, Jonas wrote. At Monday’s closing stock price, the Musk package is now worth $101.4 billion, according to Equilar, an executive data firm.

And Musk has asked for a subsequent pay package that would give him 25% of Tesla’s voting shares. Musk has said he is uncomfortable moving further into artificial intelligence with the company if he doesn’t have 25% control. He currently holds about 13% of Tesla’s outstanding shares.

Kospi down 1.4%

 

Currency Traders

Global stocks were mixed Wednesday after overnight political drama in South Korea added to regional uncertainties, though the Kospi in Seoul fell less than 2%.

France’s CAC 40 rose 0.3% in early trading to 7,278.18, as the minority government was facing a no-confidence vote Wednesday in parliament following a divisive budget debate. There appeared to be a strong chance the vote might topple Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s Cabinet.

Germany’s DAX added 0.4% to 20,100.80, while Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.2% to 8,343.17.

The future contract for the S&P 500 edged 0.2% higher and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4%.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was facing possible impeachment after he suddenly declared martial law on Tuesday night, prompting troops to surround the parliament. Yoon accused pro-North Korean forces of plotting to overthrow one of the world’s most vibrant democracies. The martial law declaration was revoked about six hours later. Yoon’s move caused the won to plummet to a two-year low against the U.S. dollar, with losses of up to 2%, the sharpest one-day drop since the market’s seismic reaction to Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory. The won recovered some of those losses on Wednesday. The dollar was trading at 1,412.87 won, down from Tuesday’s peak at 1,443.40.

South Korea’s Kospi closed 1.4% lower to 2,464.00. Shares of Samsung Electronics, the country’s biggest company, fell 0.9%. Meanwhile, the country’s financial regulator said they were prepared to deploy 10 trillion won ($7.07 billion) into a stock market stabilization fund at any time, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Elsewhere in the region, in a further step toward an outright trade war, China announced Tuesday it was banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony, and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications. Beijing took the measure after the U.S. expanded its list of Chinese companies subject to export controls on computer chip-making equipment, software, and high-bandwidth memory chips.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended little changed at 19,742.46, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.4% to 3,364.65.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.1% to 39,276.39. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.4% to 8,462.60.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks tiptoed to more records, tacking a touch more onto what’s already been a stellar year.

The S&P 500 edged up less than 0.1% to 6,049.88, setting an all-time high for the 55th time this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2% to 44,705.53, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.4% to 19,480.91, hitting its own record set a day earlier.

Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report showed U.S. employers were advertising slightly more job openings at the end of October than a month earlier. Continued strength there would raise optimism that the economy could remain out of a recession that many investors had earlier worried was inevitable.The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.23% from 4.20% from late Monday.

Yields have seesawed since Election Day on worries that Trump’s preferences for lower tax rates and bigger tariffs could spur higher inflation. But traders are still confident the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate again at its next meeting in two weeks. They’re betting on a nearly three-in-four chance of that, according to data from CME Group.

Lower rates can give the economy a lift but also tend to fuel inflation.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 14 cents to $70.08 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 20 cents to $73.82 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 150.65 Japanese yen from 149.59 yen. The euro cost $1.0496, down from $1.0510.

Raising the retirement age

 

Older Americans should pay close attention and make sure they support candidates who will protect the benefits they have earned—and even increase them—in the fast approaching November elections.The cost-of-living adjustment announced Thursday by the U.S. Social Security Administration for more than 72 million senior citizens should serve as a reminder, said economic justice advocates, that the monthly Social Security payments—the "bedrock" of financial security for 58% of recipients—are on election ballots this year.

The administration announced a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment, commonly known as COLA, for 2025. People who get retirement benefits through the broadly popular New Deal-era program will see their payments adjusted starting in January 2025, and people with disabilities who rely on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will receive increased benefits starting in December.

To Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works (SSW), which advocates to protect and expand the program, the COLA announcement underscored the vast differences in how Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are likely to approach the Social Security program should they win the presidency in November.

Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, both co-sponsored legislation to update the COLA formula to better reflect the cost of living for seniors and people with disabilities, noted Altman.

"Republicans have a different perspective," she said. "The Republican Study Committee (which comprises over 80% of House Republicans) proposes annual budgets that include Social Security cuts. Page 104 of the Fiscal Year 2025 Republican Study Committee Budget calls the automatic nature of COLAs a 'problem' and implies that they should be subjected to annual Congressional approval. It also claims that the current COLA formula is too generous. Social Security beneficiaries likely disagree!"

The authors of Project 2025, the right-wing policy agenda co-written by dozens of people who worked in the Trump White House from 2017-21, have also endorsed increasing the full retirement age from 67 to 69, which would cut benefits for nearly three-quarters of Americans.

The current formula for the COLA is based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), but advocates have called for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to instead take into consideration the CPI-E, which measures the spending of Americans 62 years of age and older.

"The formula currently used to calculate annual COLAs under-measures the expenses that Social Security beneficiaries face," said Altman. "Seniors spend a greater proportion of their income on medical expenses―and the Social Security COLA should reflect that."

For beneficiaries who last year received $1,870 per month, the 2.5% increase will give them an additional $46.80 each month, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst Mary Johnson toldNewsweek.

"That's only going to buy about 14 gallons of gasoline per month at today's prices, or maybe enough groceries for one to last two or three days," she added.

Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, said the group welcomes the COLA, but warned that "many older Americans struggle to make ends meet and afford even the most basic necessities like housing, food, and prescription drugs."

"We need a COLA that better reflects how seniors spend their money," said Fiesta. "Strengthening Social Security and increasing benefits must be a national priority. If billionaires and the top 1% pay their fair share into the system, we can afford to increase benefits across the board and ensure Social Security is there for our children and grandchildren."

"Raising the retirement age, slashing benefits and privatizing the program are among retirees' top concerns," he added. "Older Americans should pay close attention and make sure they support candidates who will protect the benefits they have earned—and even increase them—in the fast approaching November elections."

Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) pointed to the Social Security 2100 Act, legislation that would apply federal payroll taxes to earnings above $400,000 to ensure millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share toward funding and expanding Social Security.

"There is an urgent need to act to not only protect Social Security from the cuts that my Republican colleagues have proposed [but to] enhance benefits," said Larson..

Ahead of the elections, said Altman, "the bottom line is that Democrats want to make annual COLAs more accurate and generous, while Republicans want to make them stingier."

"Democrats also support other policies that would lower costs for Social Security beneficiaries, including Harris' recently released plan to expand Medicare to include home care, hearing, and vision benefits," she said. "Older voters should bear that in mind this November."

Increase' Parents' Earnings

 

This kind of payoff is almost unheard of in government labor-market policies.

While Republican proposals for solving the childcare crisis in the presidential campaign have ranged from recruiting "grandpa or grandma" as babysitters to slashing providers' certification requirements—with presidential candidate Donald Trump failing to give a coherent answer when asked about the issue last month—a new study delivers a simple message about how the benefits of public spending on childcare significantly outweigh the costs.

Researchers at Yale and Brown universities analyzed the universal pre-kindergarten program in New Haven, Connecticut, and found that "politicians could massively increase Americans' earnings" by expanding investments in such programs.

The New Haven program began as the result of a 1996 court ruling and is open to all families in the city regardless of income—but it uses a lottery system for enrollment due to limited funding and space.

The paper the researchers published with the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that parents whose children were selected in New Haven's lottery had 11 more hours of childcare than those who weren't able to benefit from the tuition-free universal pre-K program—enough to increase the parents' earnings by 21.7% even after their kids moved on to elementary school.

That increase makes childcare spending "one of the most effective, pro-work policies in the U.S.," said Washington Post economic columnist Heather Long.

The added earnings stemmed largely from the parents' ability to continue working without taking time off to fill in gaps left by a lack of childcare, particularly because New Haven's program includes extended hours, with children able to attend as early as 7:30 am and as late as 5:30 pm.

The paper emphasizes that families that didn't get a pre-K slot still utilized other childcare programs out of necessity—but they had to pay for them out of pocket and were able to send their children to the programs for fewer hours per week than those who won the lottery.

"A few more hours of care can have long-run returns for families that are quite a bit larger than the costs of provision," Seth D. Zimmerman, a research associate at Yale who co-authored the study, told the Post.

Combining the added earnings for parents and other economic benefits associated with early childhood education, the researchers found, every dollar spent on providing tuition-free full-time childcare yielded $6 in benefits.

"This kind of payoff is almost unheard of in government labor-market policies—much higher than for most other pro-work programs, such as the earned-income tax credit," wrote Post columnist Catherine Rampell in an analysis on Monday.

The study was published days after the White House released an issue brief titledChildcare Is Infrastructure, which the Biden administration said was made evident by its $24 billion investment in the industry through the American Rescue Plan.

"Introduction of universal pre-K across various states led to increased pre-K enrollment and higher employment rates among mothers with young children in those areas on average," said the White House. "Consistent with an increase in overall economic activity, places that introduced universal pre-k also had larger increases in new business applications and the number of establishments than places that did not."

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has expressed support for expanding childcare programs and lowering costs for families, including by restoring the expanded child tax credit and providing an extra tax break for families with newborns.

The new study suggests that in the presidential campaign, "childcare should be front and center," wrote Rampell. "If you want to help workers, help them care for their kids."

Another US Oil Exec 'Caught Colluding With OPEC'

We cannot allow fossil fuel companies to gouge the American public in concert with OPEC while raking in record profits.Consumer advocates demanded congressional hearings on alleged price fixing by oil giants on Monday after the Federal Trade Commission banned an executive from serving on the board of Chevron, saying he had colluded with international representatives to keep oil prices high.

The FTC said it would prohibit John B. Hess, CEO of the Hess Corporation, from serving on Chevron's Board of Directors as part of Chevron's acquisition of the company, citing Hess' public and private communications "with the past and current secretaries general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and an official from Saudi Arabia."

"In these communications, Mr. Hess stressed the importance of oil market stability and inventory management and encouraged these officials to take actions on these issues and speak about them at different events," said the FTC.

The FTC's complaint marks the second time since May that an oil executive has been accused of collusion and price fixing to ensure Americans would continue paying high prices for gas, adding an estimated $500 per year, per vehicle, in fuel costs for the average U.S. household.

Democratic lawmakers have demanded a probe by the Department of Justice into collusion by fossil fuel companies, following the FTC's revelation that Scott Sheffield, founder of Pioneer Natural Resources, communicated with OPEC representatives via text messages, WhatsApp, and in person to encourage high oil prices.

"Americans who are struggling to make ends meet cannot afford any more price fixing collusion between Big Oil CEOs and foreign countries."

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said that "jail time should seriously be considered," highlighting the financial pain Sheffield's actions added to households already struggling to afford groceries, childcare, and other essentials.

The five largest U.S. oil companies have reported more than $250 billion in profits over the last two years.

"We cannot allow fossil fuel companies to gouge the American public in concert with OPEC while raking in record profits," said Tyson Slocum, director of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen's energy program. "The FTC is lifting the veil on an effort, apparently by multiple U.S. oil companies, to communicate with foreign actors to artificially raise energy prices for American families and around the world. We reiterate the call for Congress to immediately hold hearings to investigate illegal conduct by Big Oil."

Government watchdog Accountable.US described the news as "another Big Oil CEO caught colluding with OPEC."

"Americans who are struggling to make ends meet cannot afford any more price fixing collusion between Big Oil CEOs and foreign countries," said Chris Marshall, a spokesperson for the group. "They should be held accountable to make sure consumers pay a fair price at the pump."

 

Longshoremen's Labor Battle

 

Instead of calling for government intervention, a far more productive tact would be to press the companies to meet the workers' very reasonable demandsThe president of the AFL-CIO sent a letter to House Republicans on Thursday asking them not to intervene in contract negotiations between the International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which could lead to the first East Coast port strike since 1977 if a deal is not struck by October 1.

The letter came in response to another letter sent by Republican lawmakers to U.S. President Joe Biden on September 19, urging him to "find a reasonable resolution to these contract disputes" and to "utilize every authority at its disposal to ensure the continuing flow of goods" if a strike does occur.

"Averting a strike is the responsibility of the employers who refuse to offer ILA members a contract that reflects the dignity and value of their labor," AFL-CIO president Elizabeth H. Shuler wrote in response to the GOP representatives. "The fight for a fair contract for longshoremen is the entire labor movement's fight."

"The public strongly supports these front-line workers and their just demand for economic security."

A potential strike would see between 25,000 and 50,000 workers walk off the job on Tuesday at 36 locations along 14 East and Gulf Coast port authorities, including 10 of the busiest in North America.

The union wants substantial raises to cover the cost of inflation. While West Coast port workers make a base wage of $54.85, their East and Gulf Coast counterparts make only $39.

The ILA is also demanding better healthcare, and a promise not to install automated or semi-automated terminals at the ports. However, negotiations between the union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) broke down in June when the ILA said that USMX had begun using an automated gate to allow trucks into ports, in violation of the current contract.

The union has since contacted USMX to discuss wage increases, but the company has not upped its offer.

"My ILA members are not going to accept these insulting offers that are a joke considering the work my ILA longshore workers perform, and the billion-dollar profits the companies make off the backs of their labor," ILA president and lead negotiator Harold J. Daggett said in a statement on Monday.

"The blame for a coast wide strike in a week that will shut down all ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts falls squarely on the shoulders of USMX," Daggett continued.

In their letter, the Republican representatives warned about how the strike "would result in delays and dire impacts to our supply chains, our economy, and the American consumer." They evoked the "supply-chain crisis" during the Covid-19 pandemic that was a major driver of inflation, saying that a one-week strike would cause a one-and-a-half month backlog.

However, Shuler said that the GOP letter made a strike—and its economic consequences—more likely, not less. That's because the leaning on Biden to use his authority to "ensure the continuing flow of goods," suggested Shuler, could reasonably be interpreted as a request for him to file a judicial injunction under the Taft-Hartely Act to stop a strike from taking place.

"History tells us that when companies can count on an injunction against a strike, they do not negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement. By even suggesting a possible injunction, your letter makes a deal less likely and a strike all the more likely," Shuler said.

This is especially the case because the Biden administration toldReuters earlier this month that it had "never invoked Taft-Hartley to break a strike and are not considering doing so now."

"Yet," Shuler told the representatives, "your letter tries to suggest otherwise, giving the companies reason to dig in their heels. Instead of calling for government intervention, a far more productive tact would be to press the companies to meet the workers' very reasonable demands."

Shuler defended the workers' rights to wages that keep pace with living costs as well as job security in a changing technological landscape.

"Like workers in many other industries—from hospitality to healthcare to film and television—they need fair contract provisions that protect their jobs from being eliminated by automation," Shuler said.

She also noted that the port workers had made significant sacrifices to keep the ports moving during the early years of Covid-19.

"Throughout the pandemic, longshore workers never took a day off, risking their health and lives to make sure shelves were stocked and the supply chain remained strong," Shuler wrote. "The public strongly supports these front-line workers and their just demand for economic security."

She continued: "It adds insult to injury to encourage USMX to provoke a strike rather than agree to a fair contract for the workers who kept food on the table and our economy running through the darkest days of the Covid-19 crisis."

The Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO also spoke out against government intervention in the negotiations.

"Relying on Taft-Hartley is not a winning strategy and should not be USMX's expected path to resolution," TTD president and scretary Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger said in a statement. "The Biden-Harris administration has already stated, in their own words, 'We've never invoked Taft-Hartley to break a strike and are not considering doing so now.'"

Regan and Semelsberg added that USMX was to blame for the risk of a strike.

"Let us be clear: The employers, not the workers, have shirked their responsibility and punted labor negotiations to the 11th hour, when the damage to the public and the national supply chain would be most detrimental," they said. "While USMX seeks to cast blame on the frontline workers who move our supply chain, they are at fault."

"Remember this as they seek shelter from the disaster that they created," Regan and Semelsberg concluded.

This piece has been updated with a statement from the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.