Design studio Spread has produced a series of colourful covers with geometric designs for Japan’s Journal of Architecture and Building Science that have been shortlisted in the graphic design project category of Dezeen Awards 2024.
Just when you thought Mirzapur couldn’t get any wilder, the creators have dropped a bomb that’s bound to make every fan’s Diwali extra special. Yep, Mirzapur: The Film is coming, and it’s bringing back all the chaos, crime, and intensity we’ve grown to love – this time on the big screen.
Just when you thought Mirzapur couldn’t get any wilder, the creators have dropped a bomb that’s bound to make every fan’s Diwali extra special. Yep, Mirzapur: The Film is coming, and it’s bringing back all the chaos, crime, and intensity we’ve grown to love – this time on the big screen.
There is nothing special about a morgue in the city of Pittsburgh. One could argue there is also nothing special about Pittsburgh itself – but American experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage decided to train his eye on institutions (policing, healthcare, coroner) in urban Pennsylvania all the same. The result was what is now referred to as his “Pittsburgh Trilogy” consisting of Eyes, Deus Ex, and The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes.
The morgue situates us in the final of these films (The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes), a Brakhage title that’s gained cult-classic, almost grindhouse-level status. This status really only means anything in niche cinephile circles and underground film fandom, but I think it should be required viewing in a general audience sense for the Halloween season. Brakhage achieves an extremity of body horror that splatterhouse auteurs and David Cronenberg could only strive for, but most notably, he does so without extraordinary explanation, escapist mythology, or brand construction.
That’s not to mention the fact that The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes is incredibly hard to find, lending it a forbidden, taboo reputation. It’s also silent, as with all of Brakhage’s work – another tough but unusual selling point for casual moviegoers. This allows for a visual experience untethered by sensory accompaniment. You are not directed how to feel by the addition of music, dialogue, ambience, or narration. You just feel it all.
I saw a 35mm print of it at Anthology Film Archives in New York City, which was one of the most intense and exhilarating screenings I’ve ever attended. In the deafening quiet, all you could hear were people fidgeting in their seats, breathy groans, nervous laughter, and concerned whispering. A dizzying, voyeuristic camera lingers on actual cadavers posed rigidly across cold, obelisk-like slabs. Often faceless morticians handle them like manufactured goods, measuring their limbs (and genitalia, which provoked a loud involuntary chuckle from a guy in the front row), carving into skin and lifting and pulling it like taffy, scooping out brains from skull chambers with gloved hands – need I go on?
Well, I will. A couple of the most stomach-squirming scenes will forever be wriggling like nematodes through my memory, including blood being vacuumed from the corpse through a tube, and then not smoothly cascading out of it into a chasmic industrial sink. No, much worse: sputtering. A ch-ch-ch-ch motion, like a sprinkler. That one really got me. The other is a face’s flesh being snipped enough to become stretchable and rolled back entirely, exposing the inner workings beneath.
Which is more chilling – these images themselves or the thought of viewing them in total silence? The answer is both in equal measure. Brakhage extensively engaged with the distinctions between documentary and document in the context of moving images; this difference took on many forms, but the general paraphrasing is that he viewed documentary as a manipulative tradition of presenting factual occurrences as objective, without acknowledging the subjectivity inherent in the camera’s frame. Document, on the other hand, was a bit more complicated but crucial to his practice as a filmmaker. It was, as Marie Nesthus observes, not simply a matter of whether there’s “a presence or absence of the artist’s mark, but rather in the degree of its visibility.”
The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes is, through and through, a document. Contrary to some of his earlier work, Brakhage shrugged off the urge here to intercut the morgue footage with more impressionable imagery, like mountains and open sky and snow, for he “knew it was impossible … to interrupt THIS parade of the dead with ANYthing whatsoever, any ‘escape’ a blasphemy.” There’s still an acknowledgement of the director’s imprint, with hyper close-ups and bodies framed in fragmented tableaux. But it’s arranged in such a way as to evoke the forceful machinations and oversight of institutional documents.
Brakhage is running us through the factory line, shoving the fine print of autopsy protocol right in our faces, prying our eyes open to make us look. In one of the starkest works of body horror, he strips away all the storytelling, all the shock, all the worldbuilding, and makes the monster our very own perception. While this has always been present in Brakhage’s work, nowhere is it done so insidiously.
It is a document in the sense that the filmmaker decided to make his imprint visible, but just barely enough to let the images and processes on display speak volumes in our registering of them. Without any literal volume – silent in often unbearable ways – this morbid work leaves all the heavy lifting on us. For that reason, it’s horror. Right to its disemboweled, de-brained core.
In a seminal essay, Stephen King argues that “When we pay our four or five bucks and seat ourselves at tenth-row center in a theater showing a horror movie, we are daring the nightmare.” While it’s a lot more expensive now (and personally, I don’t like the center of a row)King’s point is that, whether we are cognizant of it or not, we all desire the experience that horror affords. So why not add The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes to that pantheon that we cycle through every October? It’s a unique class of nightmare unto itself, daring us to spend 32 un-accessorized minutes of silence in a sub-basement that doubles as a city morgue, the only thing guiding us being Brakhage’s uncomfortably intimate curiosity behind the lens.
In most horror cinema, no matter its forays into various subgenres, you’re presented with a sense of hope (the final girl in slashers), the lack thereof (everything in torture porn), a message (high-concept, A24 fare), or a bonkers playground (ultraviolent weirdo stuff like Mandy). As shocking as a more contemporary cult breakthrough like Terrifier 3 may be, it’s too…fun. The bells and whistles make it so, and it doesn’t have the leverage of real, unfictionalized gore. With this unforgettable short, you’re in Brakhage’s world, with no higher power on which to anchor your resilience. You may find beauty, you may find despair, you may find meaning, or, most likely, you’ll find nothing at all — nothing but yourself, dressed down, literally nude, and tinkered with like clockwork.
A fitting experience for the season of All Hallows: in Brakhage’s world, there is no god. No anti-god either. Only flesh.
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Published 28 Oct 2024
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Stan Brakhage
It was a no brainer, Ben Zaitchik thought, standing outside in hiking shorts and a t-shirt. What else to wear on a day when the temperature was set to soar above 90 degrees? The air felt stuffy on this muggy afternoon in late August.
A professor and climate scientist at Johns Hopkins University’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Zaitchik and his graduate assistant, Ali Eyni, prepared to ride bicycles on a 17-mile loop of the city, measuring maximum temperatures at the height of a blistering heat wave to record temperature variations between neighborhoods with little tree canopy and those with better tree cover and more green spaces.
Zaitchik hoped the data will help create more precise models applicable to other cities with similar urban features. He and a Hopkins colleague, Darryn Waugh, had carefully plotted the route, stitching together Baltimore’s greener neighborhoods and those that faced unique environmental challenges.
Waugh had also arranged to borrow a temperature-recording bike from Mike Alonzo, a professor at American University. It looked like a regular bike except for the pole-mounted temperature device attached to its rear. The “bike-mounted rapid response thermometer” is used to capture spatial temperature variations across neighborhoods, Zaitchik explained. “We are seeing significant differences in temperature between urban areas and vegetated park spaces.”
Explore the latest news about what’s at stake for the climate during this election season.
It’s 2024, but the cultural climate feels like 1984, given book-banning, the reclassification of books and other methods of thought control nationwide.The British author George Orwell in his novel “1984” depicted the denial of objective fact, through censorship and other methods, as key indicators of a totalitarian state.His protagonist, the bureaucrat Winston Smith, spends his days manipulating archives, announcements and photographs to rid them of “unpersons” — people who have been erased from history by Big Brother, a dictatorial leader supported by an intense cult of personality manufactured by the party’s thought police.It appears the thought police are active in Montgomery County, Texas, and other places.Montgomery County, a suburban area near Houston, recently reclassified the book “Colonization and the Wampanoag Story” as fiction (and later reversed itself amid public pressure). The book about the Wampanoag nation that encountered the Mayflower, the 17th century ship that brought English colonists to the New World, is not fiction.
Montgomery County appears to want to shunt aside the troubled history of Indigenous Americans and European colonists.The erasure of historical fact, the repression of truth and the manipulation of thought portend a dark future for the U.S. if censorship impoverishes Americans, rendering them unable to wrestle with the unpleasant elements of American history.Craig Barner, Lincoln Square
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Trump’s disturbing behaviorsLetter writer Bill Hartman of Barrington wrote about people questioning Donald Trump’s cognitive impairment, but funny, he doesn’t remember any letters being written about Joe Biden’s cognitive impairment, he said. All we heard and read for months were articles questioning Job Biden’s competency, but the difference here is that when Joe Biden himself realized — a sign of competency — that he might not be up to the task of being president again, he stepped back for the good of the country. It’s a concept Trump is completely unfamiliar with. As usual, it’s Trump putting himself, the narcissistic and arrogant megalomaniac, first. He has spoken of people eating pets in Ohio; he danced for 40 minutes at one of his rallies instead of taking questions; he has said children go to school, have surgery and return home that day as the opposite sex. Those are among a myriad of very strange and questionable behaviors. At least Biden was cognizant enough to know not to run. Trump is unable to see his inadequacies. If my father or grandfather uttered even one of the ideas Trump has spouted, I’d be terribly disturbed. The only difference is, my father or grandfather isn’t running to be the leader of the most powerful country in the world.Louise Bajorek, BurbankNo love for red-light camerasA reader said that Chicago needs more red-light cameras, and I wholeheartedly disagree. In my opinion, fewer cameras are needed for some simple reasons. One, a lot of people cannot afford the fines. And rear-end collisions have greatly increased at intersections where they are at. Lastly, contesting a ticket is nearly impossible.David Gordon, NorthbrookDolton mayor pulls a TrumpI read with great interest that Dolton mayor Tiffany Henyard has decided to pull a Donald Trump by announcing that she wants to have her “enemies” arrested.Steven Herr, West RidgeTackle West Side food insecurityThere is a serious problem with food insecurity on the West Side. This area needs grocery stores and fresh food options. There is an abundance of unhealthy fast-food restaurants everywhere you look. I spend most of my time working there. As a Chicago police officer, I witness how the correlation between resources and crime intersects. Neighborhoods without resources, jobs, stores and reliable transportation deal with upticks of crime.I remember reading an article last year, “Food Deserts Plague Chicago Neighborhoods. Could the City Run its Own Grocery Stores to Fill in the Gaps?” written by Mariah Rush and Michael Loria, that reported on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to open a city-owned grocery store at the same location as a previous Aldi that closed down.
I think this is a great idea. In fact, this location would be perfect for any grocery store because there is a building nearby with residents who do not have a local place to shop for fresh food or groceries. While the community waits for the results of this idea to come to fruition, we can take an idea from the gentleman who was interviewed in that article. Maurice Richmond is a manager of a locally owned nonprofit fresh market. Richmond uses his knowledge from working at Whole Foods to manage the store. He believes in providing food access, but says it is not easy. He believes in “providing low-cost, high-quality options for residents,” the reporters wrote.Although a city-run grocery store is a great idea, there are still several questions that need to be answered before a project like this can move forward. For example, who will operate the store? The article outlines that there must be a commitment of at least 10 years for it to be successful, so who will continue to fund the store? Finally, we must ensure that there is alignment in the community. We must take into consideration what the community needs. That is why some stores fail or close after two or three years. Look what happened to Whole Foods in Englewood. Whatever happens with the idea, the West Side of Chicago needs grocery stores!Jacqueline Trabanino, Garfield Park
An economic downturn often causes panic among businesses. They try to cut costs and save money as quickly as they can while acting like they’re about to go bankrupt.Giving into fear can be one of the biggest mistakes made by entrepreneurs.
Are You Planning for Recession and Energy Price Increases? Things don’t look promising anytime soon – have you thought through how to navigate through difficult financial times that lay ahead? In such an unpredictable and unstable climate, how will we Manage and Grow Our Business?
Key steps to deal with tough times
Times of difficulty can bring immense opportunities. Some of the world’s most successful businesses were born during recessions; Disney, Netflix and Airbnb being some of them. Though conditions may be tough, these situations should force us to be resourceful; success won’t come easily but is still achievable.
Focus on changing customer needs
Rebrand yourself and your business during a downturn by understanding changing customer needs and adapting accordingly.
Client needs encompass both tangible and intangible desires of clients for their project to be a success. These needs should be clearly articulated from the outset of any endeavor to ensure its success and to build positive relationships.
During a recession, many entrepreneurs turn their focus away from customers to focus on surviving themselves. Listening to your customers can help ensure you understand their changing needs and can ensure continued loyalty from customers.
Improve your ability to recognize clients’ unspoken needs and challenges and don’t miss out on opportunities!
Grab the opportunities
Under pressure, it can be easy to become tunnel-visioned and miss what is happening around you. Focusing solely on one task or goal could cost you the chance of the best opportunities arising during difficult times – you should keep an open mind and remain alert in order to take full advantage of any that arise. Adversity comes with challenges; but so too do opportunities for growth, innovation and problem-solving; you must keep your eyes and ears open in order not to miss any!
Be prepared
Plan A may fail, but having an excellent backup plan is the surest way of being prepared in any circumstance. An effective back up plan allows you to respond swiftly and recover quickly when unexpected events arise.
An optimistic view may create unrealistic hopes, leading to feelings of being let down during difficult times and leading to decreased motivation for taking action.
Positive attitudes can be helpful, but they must remain grounded in reality and preparedness for challenges. Consider these elements when making business decisions:
Have you completed an up-to-date risk analysis and risk mitigation plan for your business? Have you purchased sufficient coverage to safeguard your business? What would your strategy be in case of cyber attacks against it?
Adapt new digital technologies
Many businesses are struggling to remain competitive and adapt in the face of rapid technological change, especially digital advertising and technology investments where unpredictability may prove fatal for a company’s viability. Partnering with experienced consultants is crucial during such uncertain times to make smart decisions and stay ahead of events.
Ask whether automation or technology could help lower costs. Ask if processes could be automated to increase productivity or if technology can assist in cutting expenses.
For example, Cyber threats have increased significantly as digital advertising spend has grown, so investing in cybersecurity measures to safeguard both your valuable data and reputation are essential to protecting them both. It is vital to identify vulnerabilities, implement best practices and reduce risks related to a cyberattack.
Review your Pricing Structure
Pricing strategy refers to how your business determines its product and service prices, and can include using various models and methodologies for doing so.
As client demand and services change, your budget should also adapt accordingly.
Reviewing costs and contracts and negotiating more favorably with providers may lead to investment opportunities down the line. For instance, an organization needs to sell off assets.
Check Your Resources
As the demands and customer expectations change, your HR requirements may also evolve accordingly.
Your workforce might no longer require as many employees, or their duties have altered significantly – for instance, customer service reps who previously visited clients in person may now work from home instead.
If your budget prohibits keeping all your employees, it will be necessary to determine if they can help move your business forward effectively. Without money to spend on salaries, creativity will need to come from elsewhere; how to foster an environment for innovation may also need consideration.
Foster Innovation
Today’s ever-evolving business environment requires businesses to embrace change and foster an innovative environment. Push your company towards adopting new technologies, ideas and processes so it remains flexible enough to adapt quickly to evolving market dynamics.
As part of long-term success, digital adaptability must be prioritized. You can safely navigate uncertain times using data analysis, agile marketing techniques, automation technologies, artificial intelligence systems and cybersecurity measures.
Being a Black entrepreneur is far from easy. If you are a Black business owner who is struggling, know that there are so many Black entrepreneurs who are exhausted from running a business with little to no assistance. And in 2021, Black and African-American owned businesses only accounted for about 3% of businesses in the United States.
It’s important to note that there are over 33 million small business owners in The United States alone. More than 80% of small businesses operate without any staff. But despite the odds, many Black men are overcoming adversity and thriving in entrepreneurship.
For example, Eszylfie Taylor, who is the president of Taylor Insurance and Financial Services, works with high profile families, executives, actors, athletes, and more. Taylor has extensive experience in both financial services and entrepreneurship. He even has a reality series and app called Mind.Body.Money, where he helps celebrity clients achieve financial freedom. He believes that it can be incredibly challenging to be an entrepreneur, especially a Black entrepreneur, in this economy.
“The most difficult part of being an entrepreneur in this economy is access to capital and people who can afford your services. The gap between the haves, and the have nots continues to widen, and it is becoming increasingly more difficult,” he told me. “Find those with not only the need but the discretionary income to utilize your products and services,” he said.
Plus, accessing capital can be even more difficult for Black entrepreneurs because (on average) African-American people have less exposure to financial literacy and have less intergenerational wealth than white Americans.
Things may be tough for Black business owners, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways for Black entrepreneurs to overcome adversity and thrive. From building relationships to tapping into underserved markets, there are plenty of ways for Black business owners to increase revenue while making an impact. I spoke with a few Black male entrepreneurs who have extensive experience in the business world. Here’s what they believe African-American business owners can do to be even more successful.
Build Strong and Authentic Relationships
Developing strong relationships is one of the most important parts of being an entrepreneur. And Taylor couldn’t agree more. He believes that building relationships is the foundation of being a successful entrepreneur.
“Building relationships is of utmost importance. It is the life blood of business. If people do not know, like, or trust you, they are not doing business with you. Most products and services or commodities— you can get them from any number of people anywhere. It’s the relationships in my business,” he told me.
“I take measures to strengthen relationships. Price is generally no issue, of no consequence, whenever a relationship is present and you’re supporting your friend, colleagues, and confidants,” Taylor said. He is one of many entrepreneurs who I’ve spoken to who has found success due to building strong and authentic relationships.
And Taylor doesn’t just have relationships with other Black entrepreneurs. He has worked with people from a variety of backgrounds. Regardless of what someone looks like or where they are from, the financial guru is on a mission— to help all of his clients achieve financial freedom. It’s important to note that he is one of many Black entrepreneurs who has absolutely crushed it in their career.
Leverage Data and Tap into Underserved Markets
Greg Maurice is also a major player in the business world. Like Taylor, he has become a big name in both business and entertainment. He is first-generation Haitian-American and is a globally respected executive and entrepreneur. He has acquired and licensed over three hundred films and $100 million in revenue for entertainment platforms like Amazon Prime, Apple TV, HBO, Hulu, Netflix, and Showtime.
Maurice is currently the head of acquisition and Black cinema for Filmhub. He was previously the director of global acquisitions & co-productions for Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment’s Black content division. He also founded Zaka Connect, a B2B and B2C career coaching and development platform for first and second generation immigrant professionals. He has great advice about how to become an even more successful entrepreneur.
“By leveraging data, entrepreneurs can identify gaps in the market where certain groups or needs are underserved. This data-driven approach allows for targeted efforts that not only open new revenue streams but also contribute to social impact by bringing services and products to those who need them most,” he told me.
“Entrepreneurs who understand their market at this level can differentiate themselves by offering solutions that matter to overlooked communities. I heavily relied on data to identify services and tools for immigrant professionals and international students, a large group that is often misunderstood or forgotten,” he said.
Invest in Compelling Brand Storytelling
Maurice stressed the importance of investing in compelling brand storytelling. Unlike some people in the corporate sector, Maurice believes that connecting emotionally with your audience is a vital part of becoming successful.
“As an entrepreneur, your brand is very important, you have to connect emotionally with your audience. That’s one of the only reasons that we invite immigrant professional leaders to share their career journey on our podcast. You get to relate to them. You learn the ups and downs and how they overcome challenges. For entrepreneurs, investing in a compelling brand story is crucial,” he told me.
“A well-crafted narrative not only sets a business apart but also creates a lasting emotional connection with customers. It communicates the brand’s values, mission, and the impact it aims to make in the world. This ongoing investment in storytelling ensures that the brand remains relevant, resonates with its audience, and fosters a deeper level of engagement,” he said.
Remember that these two men are just a few examples of Black men who are thriving in the business sector. Black people, especially Black men, have historically faced disadvantages across professions because of social issues like racism, lack of financial literacy, mass incarceration, and so much more. Despite all of this, Black male entrepreneurs are changing the face of business— and they’re just getting started.
High-powered lawyers representing Big Tech clients have co-hosted a series of blue-chip fundraisers for Kamala Harris’s campaign as the 2024 presidential election draws near – and antitrust watchdogs are crying foul.
Last Thursday, a group of “antitrust lawyers and economists for Harris” held a virtual fundraiser featuring an appearance by former US Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta. Ticket prices ranged as high as $6,600, according to a copy of an invitation obtained by The Post.
Notable co-hosts included Daniel Bitton, a partner at San Francisco-based law firm Axinn who is defending Google in the Biden-Harris DOJ’s lawsuit targeting its alleged monopoly over digital advertising
Other co-chairs included Renata Hesse, who once downplayed concerns about Google’s monopoly over online search; Edith Ramirez, a former Democratic FTC chair who once defended Google-owned YouTube in a class-action suit over kids’ privacy; and Ethan Glass, who has repped clients like JetBlue against US antitrust complaints.
Kamala Harris’s campaign surrogates has signaled she will take a friendlier stance toward businesses. ZUMAPRESS.com
“This is a confab of ‘Big Law’ lawyers who have been representing monopolists against the FTC and DOJ, and they are shamelessly trying to storm the castle after being locked out during the Biden years,” one Democrat who pays attention to antitrust issues told The Post.
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The Post reached out to the Harris campaign, Bitton, Hesse, Ramirez and Glass for comment but did not hear back.
Earlier this month, The Post reported on conflict-of-interest concerns that arose after several key members of Google’s legal team co-hosted an Oct. 18 fundraiser for Harris in Washington, DC – with tickets costing as much as $50,000.
Karen Dunn, a top litigator at white-shoe law firm Paul Weiss who infamously led Harris’s final debate prep against Trump on the same day that she delivered Google’s opening defense in the digital advertising trial, was listed as a co-chair.
Daniel Bitton is part of the team defending Google in the DOJ’s antitrust case targeting its digital advertising business. Axinn
Dunn’s colleagues Jeannie Rhee and Bill Isaacson also attended the event, which featured appearances by former US Attorney General Eric Holder, Uber general counsel and Harris’s brother-in-law Tony West and ex-acting Attorney General Sally Yates.
Just one day later, longtime Amazon general counsel David Zapolsky co-hosted a fundraiser alongside key Harris campaign surrogate and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by The Post.
In California, Newsom recently vetoed an AI safety bill that had been vigorously lobbied against by tech venture firm Andreessen Horowitz and trade groups representing Google and Meta. After initially opposing the bill, Amazon-backed AI firm Anthropic expressed tepid support for the bill after securing changes.
Edith Ramirez is listed as a co-chair of a fundraiser for the Harris campaign last Thursday. Getty Images
The offensive is playing out as Big Tech firms weather an unprecedented wave of antitrust litigation.
Apple and Google are in the midst of historic Justice Department antitrust cases, while Amazon and Facebook are currently being sued by the Federal Trade Commission. AI leaders like chip supplier Nvidia and OpenAI also have the attention of regulators.
“It should be deeply concerning to anyone, Republican or Democrat, that cares about reining in Big Tech monopolies, that (Harris’s campaign) continues to do fundraisers with lawyers for Google and other Big Tech companies,” public affairs executive Garrett Ventry said.
Top regulators appointed by the Biden-Harris administration, including FTC Chair Lina Khan and SEC chair Gary Gensler, have faced sharp pushback from Silicon Valley bigwigs for leading a crackdown on prominent firms active in the artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency sectors.
Renata Hesse once downplayed concerns about Google’s monopoly over online search. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
In July, billionaire Reid Hoffman sparked outrage among progressives when he accused Khan of “waging war on American business” and openly calling on Harris to fire her if she is elected. Other Democratic advocates, including Mark Cuban, have called for Gensler to be forced out.
The backlash has contributed to a surprising shift in Silicon Valley support toward Trump – most notably in the form of Elon Musk, who recently declared himself “dark MAGA” and contributed millions to his campaign.
The Harris campaign has made clear efforts to reassure Silicon Valley, a longtime source of support and major donations for Democrats.
Key Harris surrogates like Cuban and West have made the case in public and behind closed doors that she would take a friendlier stance toward corporate interests if she is elected.
Karen Dunn (center) and other Google attorneys hosted a fundraiser for Kamala Harris earlier this month. REUTERS
Cuban, when asked by The Post if he had a sense of how a Harris administration would handle Big Tech antitrust matters, replied, “I don’t.”
Last week, the Washington Post reported that West and ex-Treasury official Brian Nelson have been telling groups of tech executives that they are in “listening mode” during private outreach meetings on Harris’s behalf.
Andreesen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz, who previously expressed support for Trump, reversed course last month by pledging a “significant” donation to Harris. Horowitz said he “had several conversations with Vice President Harris and her team on their likely tech policies and am encouraged by my belief in her.”
Kamala Harris has yet to take a firm stance on how she’ll approach Big Tech antitrust matters. Getty Images
In September, Harris released an economic policy outline that provided arguably the most substantive look at the policies she would pursue in the office.
The 82-page document said a Harris administration would “encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting our consumers and investors” – but referenced the word “antitrust just one time.”
Some anti-monopoly watchdogs previously warned that corporate-friendly advisers in Harris’s orbit could lobby behind the scenes for leniency toward Google – potentially in the form of a “slap on the wrist settlement” rather than the full-fledged breakup sought by the feds.
In August, the DOJ won a historic victory after Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google was a “monopolist” with an illegal stranglehold over the online search market. He is expected to decide on remedies by next summer – and the feds have floated a forced selloff of Google’s Android software or Chrome browser as potential fixes.
Meanwhile, closing arguments in the DOJ’s digital advertising antitrust case are expected to wrap up in November. Google boss Sundar Pichai has admitted that he expects the company to be entangled in antitrust litigation and appeals for “many years.”
Hunan University of Medicine in China has named its newly inaugurated research building in honor of esteemed Pakistani scientist, Professor Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Chaudhry. The announcement was made during a special event at the university. This state-of-the-art facility spans 13,000 square feet and will accommodate 17 full-time researchers, dedicated to fostering scientific collaboration between Pakistan…