In addition to its technical innovations, HKC’s 6.67-inch Micro LED display also stands out for its sleek and modern design. The slim form factor and edge-to-edge display create a visually stunning aesthetic that is sure to impress. Whether it is used in smartphones, tablets, or other devices, this display is guaranteed to make a statement.Education Bureau Responds to High School Graduates' Political Screening Form Requiring Information on Ancestral Background: No Need to Fill Out, Blamed on Lack of Understanding of Policy by Registration StaffEncode, the nonprofit org that co-sponsored California’s ill-fated SB 1047 AI safety legislation, has requested permission to file an amicus brief in support of Elon Musk’s injunction to halt OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit. In a proposed brief submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Friday afternoon, counsel for Encode said that OpenAI’s conversion to a for-profit would “undermine” the firm’s mission to “develop and deploy ... transformative technology in a way that is safe and beneficial to the public.” “OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, claim to be developing society-transforming technology, and those claims should be taken seriously,” the brief read. “If the world truly is at the cusp of a new age of artificial general intelligence (AGI) , then the public has a profound interest in having that technology controlled by a public charity legally bound to prioritize safety and the public benefit rather than an organization focused on generating financial returns for a few privileged investors.” OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab. But as its experiments became increasingly capital-intensive, it created its current structure, taking on outside investments from VCs and companies including Microsoft. Today, OpenAI has a for-profit org controlled by a nonprofit with a “capped profit” share for investors and employees. But in a blog post this morning, the company said it plans to begin transitioning its existing for-profit into a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), with ordinary shares of stock and the OpenAI mission as its public benefit interest. OpenAI’s nonprofit will remain, but will relinquish control of the company in exchange for shares. Musk filed for a preliminary injunction to halt the company’s transition to a for-profit, which has long been in the works, late in November. He accused OpenAI of abandoning its original philanthropic mission to make the fruits of its AI research available to all, and of depriving rivals including his AI startup, xAI, of capital through anticompetitive means. OpenAI has called Musk’s complaints “baseless” and simply a case of sour grapes. Facebook’s parent company and AI rival, Meta, is also supporting efforts to block OpenAI’s conversion. In December, Meta sent a letter to California attorney general Rob Bonta, arguing that allowing the shift would have “seismic implications for Silicon Valley.” Lawyers for Encode said that OpenAI’s plans to transfer control of its operations to a PBC would “convert an organization bound by law to ensure the safety of advanced AI into one bound by law to ‘balance’ its consideration of any public benefit against ‘the pecuniary interests of [its] stockholders.’” Encode’s counsel notes in the brief, for example, that OpenAI’s nonprofit has committed to stop competing with any “value-aligned, safety-conscious project” that comes close to building AGI before it does, but that OpenAI as a for-profit would have less incentive to do so. The brief also points out that the nonprofit OpenAI’s board will no longer be able to cancel investors’ equity if needed for safety once the company’s restructuring is completed. “OpenAI’s touted fiduciary duty to humanity would evaporate, as Delaware law is clear that the directors of a PBC owe no duty to the public at all,” Encode’s brief continued. “The public interest would be harmed by a safety-focused, mission-constrained nonprofit relinquishing control over something so transformative at any price to a for-profit enterprise with no enforceable commitment to safety.” Encode, founded in July 2020 by high school student Sneha Revanur, describes itself as a network of volunteers focused on ensuring voices of younger generations are heard in conversations about AI’s impacts. Encode has contributed to various pieces of AI state and federal legislation in addition to SB 1047, including the White House’s AI Bill of Rights and President Joe Biden’s Executive Order on AI .
Luke Humphries bid for back-to-back World Championship titles on track after win
AUSTIN, Texas — A few years ago, with the nation in the throes of a pandemic, Sen. Nathan Johnson’s effort to add 1 million low-income Texans to Medicaid drew support from a handful of Republicans in the GOP-dominated Texas Legislature. Most of those lawmakers are gone from the Capitol, an exodus that strips away at the Dallas Democrat’s slim hope of seeing Texas join 40 other states and Washington, D.C. in expanding Medicaid under the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Even so, Johnson filed his bill for the upcoming session — his third try — just in case the leaders of an increasingly conservative Texas Legislature change their minds. “I just want a million people to get health insurance, I want health insurance premiums to come down, and I want to do it without levying any new tax on the people,” Johnson said. “The strategy is to present something that would allow Republican leadership to say, ‘This is a win for all of us.’ I think if there were a signal from leadership, then we would see Republicans fall in line behind this,” he said. Senate Bill 232 would create the Live Well Texas program, which would expand Medicaid while adding elements passed in other conservative states – including incentives to encourage self-sufficiency through health savings accounts, employment assistance and rewards for healthy behaviors. Additionally, the legislation seeks to increase reimbursements to health care providers who see Medicaid patients, potentially expanding access to care for Medicaid patients by bringing more hospitals, doctors and others to the program. In 2021, Johnson’s Medicaid-expansion bill had no Republican support in the Senate, but nine GOP House members joined 67 Democrats as co-authors of an identical House bill. The legislation was bottled up in a committee. Johnson tried again in 2023, but the effort gathered less bipartisan momentum during a particularly contentious session. “I was very serious about passing it when I first filed it, and we had a really good run at it, but I don’t see how the situation has improved,” Johnson said. “But I want something out there to say that if this state wants a conservative way to bring home its own tax dollars and improve the health of its population and bring down health premiums and stabilize family finances and help set people on a path to independence, there is a way to do it that has conservative bona fides.” Opponents of expanding Medicaid say the program is mismanaged, financially unstable, too expensive and fosters government reliance. They also argue that expansion does not improve health outcomes and prioritizes able-bodied adults over children and adults with disabilities who rely heavily on the program. Caroline Welton, who heads health care policy research at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank, said talk of expansion should be replaced by talk of reform. “Even to the extent there may be a need or a desire for some state coverage, Medicaid is a failing system which does not provide for the needs of the Texans currently enrolled in it,” said Welton, campaign director of the group’s Center for Health and Families. “So we should fix it and provide better options before expanding this failing system to more people.” Supporters point to billions of dollars in federal incentives available if Texas expands Medicaid, saying the state is rejecting money that would add to the state’s general revenue and lower costs for hospitals, which would lower costs for patients. “There’s no scenario in which this is not a good idea,” Johnson said. “This is the single-largest change we could make, and we’re not doing it. And it’s free.” The fight over the uninsured An estimated 20 percent of adult Texans lack health insurance — the highest rate in the nation. The state also has one of the country’s most restrictive Medicaid programs. Roughly 4.1 million residents are on Medicaid, including 3 million children. The program is also open to pregnant Texans, people with disabilities, and parents who earn up to 15% of the federal poverty level , which comes to about $390 per month for a family of four. Adults with no disabilities and no dependent children don’t qualify for Medicaid, no matter how little income they have. Many children who qualify for Medicaid have parents who don’t. The Affordable Care Act allows states to expand the Medicaid threshold up to 138% of the poverty level, or a monthly income of $3,588 for a family of four, and would allow people in the gap to be covered, including working single adults making $1,731 or less a month. In Texas, an estimated 1 million working adults with no access to job-related insurance make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, yet not enough for the government-subsidized health plans in the ACA marketplace. Prospects for including them in Medicaid will be particularly difficult in the 2025 session because lawmakers will be debating school choice, a divisive issue that could take time and attention away from something as complicated as Medicaid reform, said Tanner Aliff, visiting research fellow with Paragon Health Institute who was formerly with the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “It’s a competition for attention, and I think it detracts legislators from having the adequate amount of time to have the necessary robust and bipartisan conversation to reform Medicaid,” Aliff said. “If there’s anything to be bipartisan on, time-wise, school choice is the priority, and subsequently it will take up much of the political horse-trading dialogue.” Medicaid is significantly limited by a doctor shortage, with up to 30% of doctors not accepting new Medicaid patients and many rural areas being health care deserts where hospitals have closed, Welton said. “If there isn’t a primary care doctor in your county due to the physician shortage, having a Medicaid card won’t help you,” Welton said in an email. Welton also said recent studies show a significant number of uninsured people are eligible for Medicaid — nationally, that number is about 25% . While some say that’s a problem with the enrollment and access system, Welton says it’s also an indicator of the program’s inherent problems. “If more Medicaid were the solution, you’d expect people to be more excited about actually using Medicaid as it stands,” Welton said. Many GOP lawmakers aren’t motivated to debate Medicaid because President-elect Donald Trump is likely to have a very different relationship with Texas than President Joe Biden, who refused to entertain Texas’ suggestions to change the program and criticized how the state was spending its federal contribution for Medicaid, Aliff said. At the same time, enrollment in ACA marketplaces in Texas and other states is at an all-time high after some Biden policies expanded access to low-cost subsidized policies, which “kind of watered down the demonstrated need for Medicaid expansion,” Aliff said. The expanded access, part of Biden’s American Rescue Plan, is set to expire in 2025. ‘No low-hanging fruit’ Both sides of the debate acknowledge Trump’s plans for Medicaid are unclear, which makes it difficult to devote time to debating policy, Aliff said. “Conservatives in Texas are excited about the new freedoms they might have to reform Medicaid with Trump in office and a more friendly-run Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” he said. Without support from Texas leaders or from Trump, Johnson doesn’t see how expansion can move forward in Texas next year. In its absence, Johnson said, he will look for other ways to improve health outcomes, such as getting more people into the subsidized ACA marketplace. “It’s not easy – there is no low-hanging fruit out there,” Johnson said. “I will support other things. I want people to have health care. ... [But] anything that’s not Medicaid expansion, almost anything we can do to give some identifiable group of people health insurance, is more expensive and covers less people.” ©2024 The Dallas Morning News. Visit dallasnews.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
In today's digital age, parents often find themselves navigating the complex world of their children's online interactions. With the rise of social media and messaging apps, concerns about privacy, safety, and appropriate behavior have become prevalent among families. However, one father's method of closely monitoring his 14-year-old daughter's social life has sparked a debate about the boundaries of parental control.Larson Financial Group LLC lowered its stake in VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF ( NYSEARCA:GDXJ – Free Report ) by 90.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 839 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock after selling 7,589 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF were worth $41,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its holdings in shares of VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF by 2.6% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 15,641 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,744 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Verus Capital Partners LLC increased its position in VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,550 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF during the third quarter worth $37,000. VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF Stock Performance GDXJ stock opened at $47.68 on Friday. VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF has a 52 week low of $30.89 and a 52 week high of $55.58. The company has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of 24.80 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.48. VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF Company Profile Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners Index (the Index). The Index provides exposure to a global universe of publicly traded small- and medium-capitalization companies that generate at least 50% of their revenues from gold and/or silver mining, hold real property that has the potential to produce at least 50% of the Company’s revenue from gold or silver mining when developed, or primarily invest in gold or silver. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GDXJ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF ( NYSEARCA:GDXJ – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .The timing of these discussions is particularly significant, coming on the heels of the Economic Work Conference, during which Chinese officials outlined their economic priorities for the upcoming year. The emphasis on achieving stable and sustainable growth, as well as addressing structural imbalances, underscores the challenges that lie ahead for policymakers.
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