myGrilloCOM | Category: All

Spanish police seize hundreds of archaeological artifacts from two homes

January 3, 2023 Published by CNN

Written by Maija Ehlinger, CNNOscar Holland, CNN

Spanish police have recovered hundreds of archaeological artifacts, including marine fossils, Bronze Age ceramics and 18th-century weapons, from two houses in the southeastern province of Alicante.

More than 200 human bone fragments, some of which are between 4,000 and 5,000 years old, were also seized from the homes, the Spanish Civil Guard said in a statement Friday.

The discovery follows a weeks-long investigation, known as Operation Osarium, that led police to what they called “one of the largest illegal private collections” in Alicante. Two men are currently under investigation for the misappropriation of goods with artistic, historical, cultural or scientific value, the statement added.

Roman mosaic tiles, paleolithic flint tools and historical weaponry, including cannonballs and an iron grenade, were among the 350 archaeological artifacts recovered.

Artifacts including marine fossils, Bronze Age ceramics and 18th-century weapons were found. Credit: Guardia Civil

After the initial discovery was made at a house in the village of Gata de Gorgos, the homeowner cooperated with police and led them to a larger collection at a property in the nearby city of Dénia.

The occupant at the second home claimed that the archaeological items discovered there had been inherited from a deceased relative, though police found no documentation “that would justify his possession” of the artifacts, the statement added. Investigators did, however, find notebooks containing handwritten notes from the late relative pinpointing where the items originated from.

The discoveries were made from two houses in the province of Alicante. Credit: Guardia Civil

More than 200 human bone fragments were also recovered. Credit: Guardia Civil

The Spanish Civil Guard said it is seeking to collaborate with culture department officials to research and catalog the items.

“The study by specialists could help to date the origin and context of the pieces, thereby increasing their value, and even facilitating the location of new archaeological sites,” the police statement added.

The discovery comes a year after 36 stolen antiquities, also recovered by the Spanish Civil Guard, were returned to Egypt. The objects, which included figurines of goddesses and ancient jars, were seized at the Spanish port of Valencia after being smuggled out of archaeological sites in 2014, according to Reuters.

source

How much media and tech giants from Disney to TikTok pay employees in the US

January 3, 2023 Published by [email protected] (Ashley Rodriguez)

Business Insider

Disney CEO Bob Chapek.

Jeff Gritchen: MediaNews Group: Orange County Register via Getty Images

Streaming has merged media with technology, leading companies like Disney and TikTok to compete for talent.
Insider analyzed US pay data to see what nine media giants offer employees.
The companies include Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and more.

Streaming has fused media with technology, urging media companies to think like tech platforms and tech giants to move into content.

The result is a massive shift in media and tech workforces. Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and others have staffed up in tech and consumer-facing roles as they focus on their direct-to-consumer businesses. And tech companies like TikTok have made key hires from more traditional media spheres.

With media and tech heavyweights increasingly vying for top talent, Insider analyzed recent pay data to see how much the major players in the space offered top talent.

The data, released by the US Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification, shows how much companies offered to pay employees who they wanted to hire through work visas in the US.

We looked at pay data, mainly from October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2022, across nine companies including Hulu; Netflix; The New York Times; Roku; Snapchat owner Snap; TikTok and its parent company, Bytedance; Twitch, Amazon’s livestreaming platform; and Warner Bros. Discovery.

(We’ve also looked at salaries across industries that are transforming media, including the creator economy and US sports betting.)

These are base salaries, and do not include other forms of compensation such as stock options or cash bonuses.

Disney

Disney and its US streamer Hulu have offered base salaries ranging from $93,150 to $242,000 per year, according to wages from 140 foreign-labor-certification applications from October 2020 to June 2022.

Most of the salaries were for streaming and tech jobs, including data scientist and software engineer roles. There were also salaries for a handful of other roles, such as a marketing analyst at Hulu and a project manager at Walt Disney Attractions Technology.

Read our full breakdown of how much employees at Disney and Hulu make.

Netflix

Streaming giant Netflix has offered base salaries ranging from $40.45 per hour to $800,000 per year for certain US roles, according to wages from 542 foreign-labor-certification applications.

They included content, finance, legal, marketing, product, and other roles, many of which offered six-figure base salaries.

Netflix’s workforce boomed in recent years as the company staffed up to support its growing content endeavors and, more recently, its push into gaming.

But the streamer also recently laid off staffers in marketing, animation, and other divisions amid internal restructurings and subscriber-growth struggles that have raised questions about the company’s growth plans. Still, Netflix’s expansion into advertising, among other areas, could help create new jobs.

Read our full breakdown of how much Netflix employees make.

The New York Times

The New York Times has offered base salaries ranging from $53,392 to $306,000 per year for certain US roles, according to wages from 105 foreign-labor-certification applications from October 2019 to June 2022.

The salaries were from jobs in the paper’s newsroom and other divisions such as advertising, data, and engineering. Many of the positions were based in New York, though some were based in California, North Carolina, and Texas.

The Times has been in growth mode lately, buying up new properties like sports site The Athletic and hit game Wordle as it seeks to boost its subscription offering to readers across the world and introduce more ways to monetize its journalism. The paper’s news division also expanded by hundreds in the last few years and employs about 1,700 journalists.

Read our full breakdown of how much New York Times employees make.

Roku

Roku, a leader in US streaming devices and platforms, has offered base salaries ranging from $75,000 to $687,500 per year for certain US roles, according to wages from 175 foreign-labor-certification applications from October 2020 to December 2021.

The salaries were mainly for product, engineering, and other tech roles. Most of the jobs were based in California, but there were also positions based in other US states including New York, Massachusetts, and Texas.

The early days of the pandemic fueled a period of growth for Roku, helping to accelerate its transition from a small-but-mighty maker of streaming-TV boxes into a video platform business that makes most of its revenue through advertising.

The company has hit speed bumps since. Its growth has slowed, as have other streaming businesses. And its former platform boss Scott Rosenberg, who led Roku’s push to sell advertising, left the company in the spring.

But Roku hasn’t shown signs of pulling back on its investment into original content, and has continued to staff up recently to support its growth plans such as its smart-home ambitions.

Read our full breakdown of how much Roku employees make.

Snap

Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has offered base salaries ranging from $50,315 to $500,000 per year for various US roles — and even $1.95 million for one, according to wages from 303 foreign-labor-certification applications from October 2020 to December 2021.

The salaries were mainly for data, engineering, and product jobs, as well as some marketing and other positions. The jobs were based in Santa Monica, Seattle, Silicon Valley’s Mountain View, San Francisco, or New York.

Snap has staffed up heavily in recent years. But it’s since cut its workforce dramatically amid the economic uncertainty.

Snap told employees in May that while it still planned to grow its headcount by about 10% this year, hiring for new roles would slow substantially. Then, in August, Snap slashed its workforce by about 20% in a mass layoff that impacted nearly every part of the business, including areas that remain strategic priorities for the company such as augmented reality.

Read our full breakdown of how much Snap employees make.

Spotify

The music-streaming company Spotify has offered base salaries ranging from $75,000 to $369,500 per year for certain US roles, according to wages from 414 foreign-labor-certification applications.

The vast majority of the salaries were for roles based in New York and Boston, though Spotify now allows staffers to “work from anywhere.” The jobs included a mix of advertising, research, product, and administrative roles.

In June, the company told staff it would slow the pace of hiring by 25% to prepare for a potential economic slowdown. The streamer also laid off some podcast employees in October as it canceled some of its original shows.

But, as of November, Spotify still had 115 open positions listed on its jobs board, including 56 available to US-based staffers or remote workers in the Americas. The listings included openings for engineers, sales staff, data scientists, and marketing specialists.

Read our full breakdown of how much Spotify employees make.

TikTok

The short-video app TikTok and its parent company Bytedance have offered base salaries ranging from $29 an hour to $438,000 per year for US certain roles, according to wages from 1,135 foreign-labor-certification applications.

Many of the salaries were for roles based in the companies’ Mountain View, California offices.

The ByteDance salaries included jobs that focus on corporate-support functions like finance that could apply to any division or product within the company. And the TikTok salaries were for TikTok-specific positions in areas like product development and growth marketing.

TikTok emerged in recent years as a major player in tech and media. Its user base exploded in 2021, passing one billion monthly active users globally, according to the company.

The mounting political pressure against TikTok — its parent company, ByteDance, is based in China, which has raised concerns about user data privacy on the app — hasn’t yet dampened the short-video platform’s popularity in the US.

Read our full breakdown of how much TikTok employees make.

Twitch

Twitch, Amazon’s livestreaming giant, has offered base salaries ranging from $60,174 and $201,968 per year for certain US roles, according to wages from 84 foreign-labor-certification applications from October 2020 to December 2021.

Most of the salaries were for data, engineering, and other tech jobs based in San Francisco, California; and Seattle, Washington.

Internally, a 2022 Bloomberg report found high turnover among Twitch’s workforce. Six C-Suite executives – and a total of 60 employees – had left the company this year through March, including Twitch’s COO, chief content officer, and head of creator development, per Bloomberg. Twitch’s SVP of global creators also resigned in September, on the same day that the company announced changes to the way it pays top creators that sparked backlash among the streaming community.

But Amazon-owned Twitch is still the largest platform in the game streaming space by a longshot.

In October, Twitch clocked 1.79 billion hours of watch time, per analytics firm Rainmaker.gg. By comparison, Facebook Gaming clocked 342 million hours of watch time that month.

Twitch also appears to be hiring for dozens of open roles listed on its jobs board.

Read our full breakdown of how much Twitch employees make.

Warner Bros. Discovery

Discovery and WarnerMedia, which merged this year to create Warner Bros. Discovery, have each offered base salaries as high as $300,000 per year for various US roles, based on work-visa applications submitted by both companies.

The data included 163 salaries at the legacy WarnerMedia entities and 156 salaries at Discovery.

The WarnerMedia salaries ranged from $55 per hour to $300,000 per year, and were mostly for jobs at HBO, though the data also included salaries from from other parts of the company.

The Discovery salaries ranged from $52,333 to $300,000, and included a mix of business intelligence, data, software engineering, and other roles with pay rates similar to those at WarnerMedia.

The union of WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. created a company of formidable size, with about 30,000 employees at the parent of Warner Bros. and more than 10,000 at the conglomerate that houses cable stalwarts HGTV, the Food Network, and TLC.

The dust is still settling on the merger, and corporate consolidation almost always brings “synergies” (read: widespread job cuts, which have already hit teams including US ad sales, CNN, and more) as leadership strategizes to trim the fat.

But for now, both parts of the new whole continue to enlist more staffers: There were in December more than 900 online job listings at Warner Bros. Discovery globally, including nearly 500 in the US.

Read our full breakdown of how much Warner Bros. Discovery employees make.

Read the original article on Business Insider

8 in 10 say 2023 will be year of economic difficulty: Gallup

January 3, 2023 Published by Jared Gans

Just In | The Hill

Eight in 10 U.S. adults believe that 2023 will be a year of economic difficulty with higher taxes and a growing budget deficit, according to a new poll.

The Gallup poll released Tuesday found that 79 percent of respondents believe the year will be economically difficult, while only 21 percent believe it will be a year of economic prosperity. More than 80 percent expect higher taxes and 65 percent believe prices will rise at a high rate.

Just more than half said they expect unemployment will rise, but 46 percent said they believe 2023 will be a year of full or rising employment.

Pollsters found across the board that Democrats were more optimistic about the future than Republicans, which Gallup said is a typical phenomenon based on the party of the sitting president.

Almost 70 percent of Democrats expect full or rising employment, while only 23 percent of Republicans do. More than half of Democrats expect the stock market to rise and prices to rise at a reasonable rate, but less than 20 percent of Republicans said the same.

Gallup’s analysis states that Americans are greeting 2023 with skepticism and not much expectation that the economic problems they faced last year will end this year.

The results of the poll come as high inflation has shown some signs of alleviating but still has a long way to go. The Federal Reserve has aggressively raised interest rates over the months to try to get inflation back to 2 percent.

The annual inflation rate dropped to 7.1 percent in November but remained near 40-year highs.

Some economists have expressed concerns about rising interest rates causing an economic slowdown, but the economy has shown some resilience as the number of jobs has continued to increase.

Still, numerous economic experts have said they expect at least a mild recession in 2023.

The Gallup poll was conducted from Dec. 5 to 19 among 1,803 U.S. adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 points.

Finance, economic difficulty, economic outlook, gallup poll, inflation, Interest rates, Recession, unemployment Read More

McLaren Dealerships In The U.S. Enjoyed Record Profits In 2022

January 3, 2023 Published by Brad Anderson

Carscoops

McLaren’s dealerships across the United States enjoyed a stellar 2022 with record profits.

The British automaker has just 28 dealers in North America – 25 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada – and while that is significantly less than many of its rivals, it helps to support dealer profitability, McLaren’s Americas region president Nicolas Brown told Auto News.

Brown says that increases in dealer profitability can be in part attributed to the growing number of customers ordering bespoke vehicles, as well as higher margins on pre-owned vehicles.

Image via McLaren Newport Beach

“It’s been pretty consistent, going back to, let’s say, 2018,” Brown said. “Especially when you saw 570 and 720 come in, and where you had a balance in terms of the model portfolio. But dealers are at least twice as profitable, if not three times as profitable, as those years. This shift towards customer-ordered vehicles, with a keen focus on ensuring a balance between supply and demand, will continue, especially in the ultraluxury segment.”

Watch: Jay Leno Compares The McLaren Artura To His P1

Driven by growing profits, a number of dealers are reinvesting in facilities. Indeed, Brown said many of the automaker’s initial 10 to 15 dealers in the U.S. are reinvesting in facilities. These include McLaren Newport Beach which recently opened a new facility.

The dealer’s original building was around 3,000 square feet and housed only a showroom. The new building is around 4,500 square feet and sits on a $20 million, 3.5-acre campus that also has Lamborghini, Bugatti, Koenigsegg, and Automobili Pininfarina showrooms. The site also houses a service center with 31 bays of which half are dedicated to McLaren models.

“McLaren has done a remarkable job in a little more than 10 years to be a brand that is discussed in the same sentence as Ferrari and Lamborghini,” RDS Automotive president Robert DiStanislao said.

How much Netflix pays employees, according to salary data

January 3, 2023 Published by [email protected] (Ashley Rodriguez)

Business Insider

Daniel Craig in “Glass Onion.”

Netflix

2022 was a year of disruption for Netflix, but the streamer is still hiring as it expands into gaming and other areas.
Insider analyzed public data to get a snapshot of how much Netflix employees in the US make.
The streaming company has offered some US staffers wages between $40 per hour and $800,000 per year.

Netflix is staffing up as it pushes further into gaming, advertising, and other areas — despite 2022 being a year of disruption that led to layoffs for the original TV disrupter.

With the streaming company listing more than 300 open jobs as it continues to vie for dominance in an increasingly heated direct-to-consumer entertainment market, Insider updated its analysis of how much Netflix employees make in the US.

We combed through public data to get a snapshot of Netflix salary levels and updated the story with the latest data available.

The data, released by the US Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification, shows how much Netflix offered to pay employees who it wanted to hire in the US through work visas. The data includes base salaries only, not forms of compensation such as stock options or cash bonuses.

Netflix offered certain staffers between October 2020 and September 2022 base salaries ranging from $40 per hour to $800,000 per year for a variety of different roles, according to the data.

Our full analysis breaks down salaries for jobs including product and engineering; content and marketing; and finance, legal, and administrative roles.

[World] Kevin McCarthy’s Speaker bid threatened by Republican rebels

January 3, 2023 Published by

BBC News world

Getty Images

By Alys Davies

BBC News

Republican Kevin McCarthy is struggling to secure enough support to ensure he wins a vote to become the new Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The Californian congressman must win a majority vote in the House on Tuesday to get the role.

But a group of Republicans are refusing to back him, despite him making a number of last-minute concessions.

Mr McCarthy cannot afford to lose more than a handful of votes from his party if he is to win the vote.

The role of Speaker of the House is one of the most important jobs in US politics.

FOLLOW LIVE: Republicans revolt as Congress picks new Speaker

They control the legislative agenda and timetable in the House, as well as who sits on various committees.

Failure to win the speakership on the first attempt could therefore weaken both Mr McCarthy and the Republicans’ credibility, hampering House Republicans’ plans of acting quickly to investigate the Biden administration as well as President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

How did we get here?

In November’s midterm elections, the Republican Party narrowly secured control of the House of Representatives (the lower chamber of the US Congress) from the Democrats, winning 222 of the 435 seats.

Following the result, the Republican Party’s leader, Mr McCarthy, ran to be the party’s candidate for the new Speaker, and won with 188 votes.

Since then, he has been working to gain the support of Republicans ahead of the opening of the new Congress on Tuesday, when the vote will take place. Thirty five new US senators will also be sworn into the Senate.

If Mr McCarthy wins, he will replace Democrat Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.

But some right-wing Republicans are refusing to support him, making his bid for the speakership less certain.

The narrowness of the Republicans’ majority in the House means that Mr McCarthy can only afford to lose four of their votes if he is to secure a majority of 218 and secure the position of speaker.

No Democrats are likely to vote for him.

Why are some Republicans refusing to back him?

Those who oppose Mr McCarthy’s bid for the speakership are Trump-supporting hardliners, dubbed the “Never Kevins” by some.

They include representatives Bob Good and Matt Gaetz, who believe Mr McCarthy represents too much of the mainstream and the establishment.

“I won’t be voting for Kevin McCarthy tomorrow. He’s part of the problem. He’s not part of the solution,” Mr Good told Fox News on Monday. “There’s nothing that indicates to me that he’s going to change his pattern since he’s been in leadership, where he’s part of the swamp cartel.”

“I think he’s just a shill of the establishment,” said Mr Gaetz in an interview with the Daily Caller website last week. “I think that Kevin McCarthy is little more than a vessel through which lobbyists and special interests operate.”

Some may also remain wary of his previous stance towards former President Donald Trump following the Capitol riots in 2021, having originally been critical of the then-President, who he said bore responsibility for the attack.

This video can not be played

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Media caption,

Then and now: Kevin McCarthy on Donald Trump and the Capitol riot

What concessions has Mr McCarthy made?

Despite the opposition, Mr McCarthy said he remained confident he would win Tuesday’s vote. “I think we’re going to have a good day tomorrow,” he told reporters on Monday.

But he has had to make a number of concessions in order to try to win over Republicans who remain opposed to him or who remain on the fence.

One of the key demands Republicans have been asking for would make it easier for a small number of representatives to challenge his role as Speaker – weakening his own position in the House.

Mr McCarthy initially refused to acquiesce to the demand. But with time running out to win opposing Republicans over, he unveiled a package of rule changes on Sunday, including changes to how the Speaker could be removed. The concession means that any five Republican party members can call for the Speaker’s removal at any time.

These, however, did not satisfy some right-wing Republicans he was attempting to win over.

A letter released on Sunday, signed by nine Republicans, said Mr McCarthy’s concessions come “almost impossibly late to address continued deficiencies”.

And on Tuesday morning, one of those rebels, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, confirmed he was a definite no vote. “Kevin McCarthy had an opportunity to be Speaker of the House. He rejected it,” Perry said in a statement.

What divided government means for Washington

What happens if no one wins a majority?

No business can be undertaken within the House – not even the swearing in of new members of Congress – until a candidate has been chosen.

So if Mr McCarthy does not win the first vote, members of the House will keep taking part in successive votes until someone wins a majority.

Mr McCarthy has vowed to fight on even if he does not win immediately. And there is no other obvious candidate who could viably challenge for the speakership.

But having to hold more than one vote to decide on the speaker would be embarrassing – not only for Mr McCarthy, but for the Republican party too.

No other candidate running for the speakership for the first time has failed to win in the first vote for 100 years, so such a failure could weaken the Republicans’ credibility within the House.

10 items you can buy with the Amex Business Platinum’s $200 Dell credit for the new year

January 3, 2023 Published by Stella Shon

The Points Guy

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information.

Credit cards with hefty annual fees usually come with equally hefty perks. After you get over the initial shock of the $695 annual fee on The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (see rates and fees), the benefits help make this card worth the price for many.

One of those perks is up to $400 in annual statement credits toward Dell purchases in the U.S. Unfortunately, you can’t spend it all at once. Rather, it’s split up as a statement credit for up to $200 on U.S. Dell purchases between January and June and another credit for up to $200 on U.S. Dell purchases between July and December.

Now that it’s 2023, your credit has just reset and you’ll want to ensure that you use the full value of your benefit. Just remember, you must register for the statement credit before making your purchase for it to count.

Below are 10 items you can “buy” with your up-to-$200 Dell credit.

Amazon Echo studio: $199.99

DELL.COM

It’s a smart speaker that’s Bluetooth- and app-controlled. The Amazon Echo Studio provides some of the best audio quality on the market, with an immersive, three-dimensional soundscape.

Dell Latitude 7320 detachable travel keyboard: $199.99

DELL.COM

Typing on the go? If so, this detachable travel keyboard will help you get your work done more efficiently. The keyboard is spill-resistant, has a glass trackpad, and features a backlight for making the keys visible in lower light. It’s also incredibly slim, so it takes up less space in your work bag.

Timbuk2 Robin commuter backpack: $179

DELL.COM

The Timbuk2 Robin Commuter Backpack is a functional bag that can be used for work or travel — or why not both? It’s weatherproof and can carry a 13-inch laptop, with several compartments and pockets for easy access and protection.

Fitbit Versa 2 Smartwatch: $149.95

DELL.COM

If you want to get active for the new year, the Fitbit Versa 2 Smartwatch can help you stay on top of your goals by tracking your distance, sleep activity, heart rate and more. It’s Bluetooth-connected, so you can even set alarms and reminders through your phone.

Samsung Galaxy Buds2: $149.99

DELL.COM

These noise-canceling Bluetooth earbuds will help you block out unwanted noise wherever you are. These tiny devices come with their own case, making them the perfect size to throw in your travel bag for your next trip.

Ring video doorbell: $99.99

DELL.COM

Step up your home security and get notified from your phone when a visitor rings your doorbell. There are also built-in motion settings that you can adjust to your preference. The built-in rechargeable battery powers this enhanced doorbell or you can connect it to an existing doorbell wire.

Logitech HD Dual Mic Audio Webcam: $99.99

DELL.COM

If work from home remains your future for the foreseeable future, step up your video and audio game with this 1080p HD webcam, equipped with two built-in microphones, that easily mounts onto your monitor.

Aluratek power bank: $69.99

DELL.COM

If you’re a frequent traveler — whether for business or leisure — odds are you’ve experienced that frustrating moment when your laptop or phone dies while you’re on a plane or when you’re out and about, with no way to recharge it. That’s where having a reliable power bank comes in handy. This power bank comes equipped to charge most USB-C laptops and mobile devices.

Epson 202 four-pack printer ink: $45.49

DELL.COM

Printer ink can get quite pricey. Stock up before you run out with tons of cartridges to choose from to fit your printer model.

World Power travel adapter: $29.99

DELL.COM

If you have any international travel plans in the future, you can never have too many universal adapters that will charge all your devices no matter where you decide to go.

What won’t trigger the credit

WYATT SMITH/THE POINTS GUY

Dell gift cards might seem like an easy way of maximizing the statement credit by banking funds for a larger purchase later. Unfortunately, Dell doesn’t sell its own gift cards directly.

Additionally, you can’t use the credit on international transactions, the international contact center, Global events, Dell Financial Services, Dell Outlet for Home, Dell Outlet for Work, Dell Partner Direct, Dell Premier, Dell Premier Connect, Dell Premier Select or at authorized retailers.

Maximizing your purchase

Before you make your purchase, make sure to register for the Dell statement credit. While you’re on the American Express website, also check your Amex Offers to see if your Amex Business Platinum is targeted for an Amex Offer on Dell purchases.

Remember that the terms may specify that you need to make the purchases through Dell.com/amex, so you’ll probably want to use that link if you’re using an Amex Offer. However, if you aren’t targeted or find a better offer, you can instead click through a cash-back portal such as Rakuten (which can earn you Amex Membership Rewards points) to maximize your purchase.

You could also maximize your return by booking through an airline portal that’s offering bonus miles for Dell purchases such as United, Alaska, American, Delta or Southwest. The payouts change occasionally but generally offer 1-2 miles per dollar. You’ll also want to check if any of the portals offer bonuses for hitting a certain spending threshold.

Bottom line

The $200 Dell credit has just reset for the new year. With Dell’s online store selling many different items, you should have no problem finding a new gadget for yourself, friends or family. Just don’t forget to register for the benefit before you use the Amex Business Platinum Dell credit.

Official application link: The Amex Business Platinum Card

Additional reporting by Emily Thompson, Benét J. Wilson and Jennifer Yellin.

Prices and availability are subject to change.

For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum card, click here.

How to create an influencer media kit to get brand deals

January 3, 2023 Published by [email protected] (Amanda Perelli)

Business Insider

Marina Mogilko

Social-media influencers use media kits to pitch themselves to brands.
These documents often provide metrics, and some kits also include pay rates.
We spoke with a dozen creators who shared the exact media kits they use.

Many social-media creators rely on brand deals as their main source of income.

Influencers can offer advertisers a range of content types — like in-feed posts on Instagram, a 30-second TikTok, or a mention on YouTube.

Brands are hiring creators with nano (fewer than 10,000 followers) to mega audiences across a wide range of categories.

To land these deals, some influencers will use a media kit to showcase their value to a company.

Many media kits include:

A cover pageAudience metrics, like core follower demographicsA list of advertisers the influencer has worked withPast campaign case studiesPay ratesContact information

Some influencers will send a media kit to every advertiser they work with. They keep this document up-to-date by adding new metrics and collaborations every few months.

“I think it’s super important if you want to take this seriously,” influencer Macy Mariano said of media kits. “I send them now to everyone I get in touch with. It’s just a good way to express who you are and what you’ve done so they can see your past and current work.”

Mogilko uses a 24-page media kit.

Marina Mogilko

Here are 22 examples of real media kits that influencers use to land brand deals

YouTube:

Marina Mogilko, a business and education creator with 4.9 million YouTube subscribers. Check out her 24-page media kit here.Roberto Blake, a business and tech influencer with 541,000 subscribers on YouTube. Check out his 26-page media kit here.Jade Darmawangsa, a tech and business YouTube creator with 379,000 subscribers. Check out her 4-page media kit here.Tess Barclay, a Toronto-based creator with 30,000 subscribers on YouTube. Check out her simple 1-page media kit here.Risk House, an influencer collab house with 18,000 YouTube Subscribers. Check out their 16-page media kit here.Jen Lauren, a YouTube nano influencer with 5,000 subscribers. Check out her 3-page media kit here.Kayla Compton, a YouTube nano influencer with 4,700 followers. Check out her 8-page media kit here.

Roberto Blake

Roberto Blake

Instagram:

Alexa Collins, a lifestyle creator 2 million Instagram followers. Check out her 8-page media kit here.Justine Jakobs, an adult content creator with 460,000 Instagram followers. Check out her 4-page media kit here.Eric Stoen, a travel influencer with 340,000 followers. Check out his 1-page media kit here.Macy Mariano, a fashion and lifestyle Instagram creator with 172,000 followers. Check out her 9-page media kit here.Jour’dan Haynes, a lifestyle creator with 6,000 Instagram followers. Check out her 3-page media kit here.Laur DeMartino, a part-time lifestyle content creator with 5,000 Instagram influencers. Check out her 9-page media kit here. Alexa Collins

Alexa Collins.

TikTok:

Josh Richards, a TikTok star with 25 million followers. Check out his 5-page media kit here.Rag Report, a fashion publication built on and around TikTok with 1.3 million followers. Check out the 2-page media kit it uses to land sponsors here.HoneyHouse, an influencer collab house with 1 million TikTok followers. Check out their 17-page media kit here.The Crib Around The Corner, an LA collab house with 639,000 TikTok followers. Check out their 26-page media kit here.Joel Bervell, a health and lifestyle creator with 625,800 TikTok followers. Check out his 2-page media kit here.Natasha Greene, a lifestyle influencer with 227,400 followers on TikTok. Check out her 9-page media kit here.Lauren Soyung Lim, a part-time influencer with 170,000 followers on TikTok. Check out her 9-page media kit here.Gigi Robinson, a creator with about 135,000 followers on TikTok. Check out her 17-page media kit here.Jorge Alvarez, a mental health creator with 135,000 TikTok followers. Check out his 2-page media kit here.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Five things to expect from the incoming House

January 3, 2023 Published by Norm Ornstein and Dennis Aftergut, opinion contributors

Just In | The Hill

In our personal lives, a new house usually is exciting. In our political lives, especially this year, a new House of Representatives dominated by MAGA-style conservatives is a cause for national concern.

Here are five things we can expect:

Leadership chaos

The chaos will start today, as the new Republican-controlled House selects a Speaker. It takes leadership to herd political cats into the disciplined force necessary to get things done for the American people.

The incoming House doesn’t have it. With House Republican infighting untamed, current House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) remains short of the votes he needs to become House Speaker.

To get them, he has reportedly floated a concession aimed at the right-wing Freedom Caucus’s demands that five members may call a vote to replace the Speaker. That Sword of Damocles hanging over his head would effectively strip him of authority to do anything other than what the most extremist members want.

And even that appears not to have done the trick, as nine members immediately sent a letter saying they want more before they’ll for him, with some signaling that whatever he concedes won’t be enough.

McCarthy’s top lieutenant, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) has waited quietly in the wings as the likely alternative if McCarthy’s bid fails. Meanwhile, on Dec. 30, Scalise conspicuously reminded his Republican colleagues of his commitment to banning abortion and other right-wing causes in a letter to his Republican colleagues — an implicit knock at McCarthy’s lack of principles.

One can only imagine the cracks in the foundation of trust within the GOP House leadership team.

What we know is that McCarthy, desperate to achieve the position denied to him in 2015 when Republicans passed him by in favor of then-Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), has made clear to his Freedom Caucus opponents that he will do almost anything to get their votes — reinforcing that he has no principles. The concessions are sure to alarm non-radical Republicans, including the 17 GOP members from competitive districts.

The leadership chaos is a harbinger of policy chaos to follow — including the likelihood of rolling government shutdowns and the real threat of default by failing to raise the debt ceiling sometime next summer. In 2013, when Tea Party radicals (egged on by McCarthy) pushed close to the abyss with the threat to default, then-Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) pulled it back. The threat caused a downgrade in the U.S.’s credit rating.

The odds that a McCarthy or Scalise would block the radicals now are slim to none.

Political lies

We’ve witnessed monumental deceit visited upon voters from newly elected Congressman George Santos (R-N.Y.).

But let’s face it. He’s a lag indicator: Trumpism’s central feature has long been a commitment to big lies and little ones, and it has taken over the party. Exhibit A: Trumpist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has welcomed Santos with the statement, “Glad George is being honest.”

Another George — this one surnamed Orwell — is rolling over in his grave.

Greene’s tolerance for deceit is not unique. Although some Republicans, including the Republican Jewish Coalition, have condemned Santos, the silence from the GOP House leaders has been deafening.

The Republican contempt for basic ethical integrity is underscored by the new GOP House rules package which reportedly guts the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, ousting Democratic members and eviscerating its staff.

Kabuki Theatre

We’ll soon be witnessing the 2023 version of Republicans’ 2012-2016 Benghazi saga — political theater designed both to bring down the Democrats’ next presidential candidate and to amplify grievances, including ones built on lies and exaggerations.

Expect hearings that call for prosecuting Anthony Fauci, the retired head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases; for impeaching Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Merrick Garland, and others; and for investigating the Jan. 6 House investigators — the new battle hymn of the Republicans. Attacks on the Pentagon for being too “woke” in rooting out extremists are also rumored. And, of course, Hunter Biden’s laptop, over and over. They are banking on the media treating the faux “hearings” as legitimate oversight.

An ‘undo everything’ Congress

The House majority’s time will accentuate the negative. They’ll devote no time to legislation needed to expand jobs for ordinary Americans, to ensure adequate health care, elder care and child care, or to deal with the climate crisis.

If anything, they’ll work to cut Social Security benefits, Medicare, reproductive rights and the taxes of their wealthy donors. And they will use the threat of shutdowns and default to try to achieve these ends.

Poison pills for democracy

Instead of building on the Jan. 6 Committee to protect democracy from the mob, House Republicans will uplift and laud the violent invaders of the Capitol in 2021 who sought to overturn our democracy — and will try to blame Nancy Pelosi for the riot.

They will treat the charged and convicted attackers as victims and will attack the jail conditions in which arrestees awaiting trial have been held. (Do not expect any mention of D.C. residents arrested for drug possession being held in the same conditions.)

The House majority also will try to restrict voting rights and to block further military aid to Ukraine, aid that both advances democracy in Europe and protects our national security. Ukrainian fighters have weakened the military of our Russian adversary, but a large swath of the House’s MAGA Republicans sound more favorable toward Russia and Putin than they do to Ukraine.

Among those unhappy with a leaderless, nihilist House is — of all people — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). If House Republicans face a backlash, including from suburban voters appalled at their recklessness and extremism, the effects will be felt in 2024, including in Senate races where the GOP has a clear advantage to regain the majority.

But whether McConnell, now in the crosshairs of Donald Trump and some right-wing talk-show hosts, can curb these excesses is unlikely. So Republicans may face that backlash next year — but the country may have to weather a series of violent storms before then.

Norm Ornstein is an emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Dennis Aftergut is a former federal prosecutor, currently of counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy.

Campaign, Opinion Read More

'It's like a constant gamble:' Ukrainian couple await birth of twins in wartime Kyiv

January 3, 2023 Published by CNN

CNN
—

Kateryna and her husband Oleg endure what every citizen of Kyiv must – long blackouts, hours without any internet connection and constant apprehension about the next missile barrage.

But as they begin 2023, they are also preparing for the arrival of twin boys. Kateryna, who is 34, is eight months pregnant. CNN agreed to use only first names for her and Oleg as they fear for their privacy.

She’s not getting much rest ahead of the big day. The air-raid sirens blare almost every day, the crump of explosions is all too familiar. Their lives are shaped by the scheduled power cuts, as electricity is shared among the regions to mitigate the impact of Russia’s strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

“On New Year’s Eve, I tried to take a nap,” she told CNN from her house in the Kyiv suburbs. “But I woke to the sound of explosions, and they went on through the night. The sirens were on for much of the night, until 4:30 a.m.,” she said.

It’s difficult for residents to distinguish between the sound of air defenses in operation and the impact of Russian cruise missiles and drones.

“I don’t mind the blackouts,” Kateryna said, “but we worry about the next wave of Russian missiles. Will it be us? It’s like a constant gamble.”

A nearby district – Vyshhorod – was hit a month ago, and the indiscriminate nature of the strikes means that residential districts are as much at risk as power plants and railway lines. Dozens of heath facilities across Ukraine, including maternity and children’s hospitals, have been struck since the beginning of the conflict.

Kateryna and Oleg sit by the Christmas tree at their home in the Kyiv suburbs.

When the sirens aren’t wailing, Kateryna said, there is another noise that is new to her neighborhood: the chattering of generators as homes and businesses try to compensate for being without electricity for as much as 12 hours a day.

“They are the jingle bells of this Christmas,” she said.

Despite the risk and the imminent arrival of the twins, Kateryna still travels into central Kyiv twice a week to use one of the co-working spaces that have popped up across the Ukrainian capital.

These spaces have become quite professional, with furniture, heat, lighting and reliable internet, provided through Starlink terminals, bought from the company owned by Elon Musk.

Kateryna works in logistics, helping to import large containers into Ukraine. It’s more than just a livelihood. It’s also a way to contribute to the war effort.

A co-working space in Kyiv, where Kateryna goes to work, offers heating and reliable internet access.

Kateryna and Oleg are luckier than most Ukrainians in that they have a small generator at home, but they use it sparingly. There is always the risk of running out of diesel to power it – it uses a liter of fuel every hour and needs to cool down every four hours. They have to choose which appliances to run: it’s lights or laundry, they said.

They fully expect to need it long after the twins are born.

Living in Kyiv during Russia’s war on Ukraine is about being prepared. Kateryna and Oleg have cupboards full of batteries, power banks and flashlights. If the Russian missile campaign against Ukrainian infrastructure continues, as most expect it will, the scheduled power outages may become less predictable, with more emergency cuts.

There is enough food in the stores “but sometimes I have to shop with a flashlight,” Kateryna says. They keep about two months’ worth of food supplies stacked in the house, just in case the situation goes from bad to worse.

Kateryna takes a picture lit by a portable lamp that sticks to the wall.

Like many people from Kyiv, Kateryna and Oleg moved away from the capital to a safer area in western Ukraine when the invasion began last February. But they never wanted to leave the country. And soon they felt the draw of home pulling them back to the city.

“I have a job here; Oleg has a job here and he cannot work remotely. We have many friends here, our home. For me it’s a nightmare to move somewhere else,” Kateryna said.

Kateryna feels they are both involved in the effort to secure Ukraine’s future. In the early months of her pregnancy, she helped Ukrainian volunteer organizations with fundraising for warm clothes and equipment for the Ukrainian army, she said.

“The company my husband works for has a fund and they help the Ukrainian fighters who are on the front line with equipment like drones and pick-up trucks. We helped collect money for such equipment,” she said.

Kateryna stands in front of the fuel supply for their small, diesel-powered generator.

Kateryna's husband has put together cots for the twin babies they are expecting.

Like many other Ukrainians, they helped a family that had fled the frontlines earlier in the war. The mother had given birth in the midst of Russian shelling of their hometown of Kreminna in eastern Luhansk region. When the family settled in a Kyiv suburb, Oleg and Kateryna helped them out with warm clothes and food.

Kateryna says she is not afraid of becoming a wartime mother. She and Oleg want their sons to grow up in an environment that would be the polar opposite of what life would be under Russian occupation.

“I really want my children to live in a free Ukraine, I want them to be safe. They have the right to safety and protection just like all other children in the world. I don’t want them to live in fear of dying from a Russian rocket, they should be happy and carefree,” she said.

Her one concern – beyond giving birth to healthy children – is that she might find herself lying in the hospital amid another wave of missile attacks. At that point, she will pray very hard, she said.

source