• Trump's estranged niece swiped the former president after it was reported he fell asleep in court.
• Mary Trump joked that she feared "narcolepsy ran in the family."
• Opening remarks for Trump's hush money trial are set to begin Monday.

Donald Trump's estranged niece, Mary Trump, swiped the former president after it was reported he fell asleep in court, saying she's concerned narcolepsy runs in the family.

According to a The New York Times report Monday, the Republican presidential candidate "appeared to nod off a few times. His mouth going slack and his head drooping onto his chest" during the first day of his New York hush money trial.

Speaking on her uncle's apparent drowsiness on SiriusXM on Wednesday, Mary Trump joked, "I'm a little worried that narcolepsy runs in the family."

Narcolepsy is a condition where the brain struggles to control sleep-wake cycles, leading sufferers to feel drowsy throughout much of the day.

Mary Trump said she believes "we can't underestimate the extent of the depth of the narcissistic injury he's suffering" as a result of the hush money trial, which enters its second week on Monday.

President Joe Biden's campaign moved quickly to exploit the reports of Trump dozing off, dubbing the former president "Sleepy Don." Trump had as long insulted Biden as "Sleepy Joe."

He was also taunted on social media with hashtags including #DonSnorleone.

"It's a moment that, unconsciously, he's probably been dreading for the last five and a half decades," Mary Trump said of the trial in New York.

"Part of him was probably always terrified that it was going to come, but also, he probably never believed it would because he always gets away with everything. And here we are. And trust me, he understands how serious this is," she said.

Mary Trump has been a longtime and fervent critic of her renowned relative. In a Business Insider interview in 2021, she said, "He is a fascist. But he probably doesn't know what fascist means."

The jury for Trump's hush money trial was selected this week, with opening remarks expected on Monday. The former president faces allegations he falsified 34 business records to cover up a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election.

On Saturday, Trump took to social media to express his anger against the judge and the circumstances of the trial.

"THIS SCAM 'RUSHED' TRIAL TAKING PLACE IN A 95% DEMOCRAT AREA IS A PLANNED AND COORDINATED WITCH HUNT," he wrote in block caps in one of several Truth Social posts Saturday morning. "IT IS BEING PRESIDED OVER BY POSSIBLY THE MOST CONFLICTED JUDGE IN JUDICIAL HISTORY, WHO MUST BE REMOVED FROM THIS HOAX IMMEDIATELY."

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/Jjyn7v9
via IFTTT

• Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg weighed in on the AI data race in a new interview.
• As the AI arms race heats up, many tech companies are scrambling for new data sources.
• But Zuckerberg says 'feedback loops' will be more important for training AI models than data.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a hot take on Big Tech's race for AI training data: It's not about the data.

"The thing that I think is going to be more valuable is the feedback loops rather than any kind of upfront corpus," Zuckerberg said in an interview with the Command Line, a tech industry newsletter.

Feedback loops are used to retrain and improve AI models over time based on their previous outputs. These algorithms let AI models know when they make an error, for example, and provide them with data to adjust their future performance.

"Having a lot of people use it and then seeing how people use it and being able to improve from there is actually going to be a more differentiating thing over time," he said.

Sourcing new data for their insatiable AI models to consume —which theoretically will make them smarter — is now an obsession for companies racing to dominate AI.

Companies like OpenAI, Google, Amazon, Meta, and others have considered some wild solutions. Meta, for instance, was so desperate for data at one point that it considered buying the publishing company Simon & Schuster and even weighed risking copyright lawsuits for more material, The New York Times reported.

Another solution to the problem of limited data is just creating new data, something Big Tech calls "synthetic data." Synthetic data is artificially generated and designed to mimic data generated by real-world events. Zuckerberg's into it.

"I think there's going to be a lot in synthetic data, where you are having the models trying to churn on different problems and see which paths end up working, and then use that to reinforce," he said.

Anthropic, the maker of chatbot Claude, has also fed internally generated data into its models. And ChatGPT maker OpenAI is considering it, although CEO Sam Altman said at a conference last May that the key is having a model "smart enough to make good synthetic data."

And while Zuckerberg sees feedback loops as the key to building powerful AI models, there are also risks in relying on them. They could reinforce some of their mistakes, limitations, and biases if they're not trained on "good data" to begin with.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/fv6mPl8
via IFTTT

• Squatters occupying a Gordon Ramsay pub have said they've struck a deal to stay.
• "We've made a deal. With the owner, not Ramsay," they said, per The Telegraph.
• The pub is listed for sale for £13 million, which is around $16 million.

A group of squatters that took over a Gordon Ramsay pub in London's affluent Regent's Park area have said they are staying put, The Telegraph reported.

The squatters occupied the York & Albany gastro-pub last week, saying they aimed to create a "community space" with the building.

"It seems only fitting that £13 million properties that most locals would never be able to afford to visit should be opened up to all," the group said.

Lawyers for Gordon Ramsay Holdings International Limited (GRHI) secured a court order for the possession of the property earlier this week.

But a set of the orders, which had been taped to the pub's door, were taken down on Saturday, with one of the squatters claiming they had "made a deal" with the owner.

"We've made a deal. With the owner, not Ramsay. We're still here, and we're going to carry on staying here. We're going to be security for him," they said, per The Telegraph.

The Grade II listed building has been part of a legal battle between Ramsay and film director Gary Love, who acquired the freehold in 2007.

Ramsay, a celebrity chef, restaurateur, and television presenter, had leased the pub from Love under a 25-year agreement.

However, attempts to terminate the lease in 2015 were unsuccessful.

The building is now up for sale for £13 million, or around $16 million.

London's Metropolitan Police department told Business Insider at the time the squatters moved in that it was "aware" of the situation and that it would "take action when appropriate."

Business Insider contacted Gordon Ramsay's team for comment.

It's not the first time that squatters have made headlines this year.

In New York City, a couple was unable to move into the $2 million home they purchased in Queens after a squatter refused to vacate the property.

The couple sued the squatter in an attempt to evict him, but he countersued for harassment.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/CcSNqtK
via IFTTT

• The US is set to sanction an IDF unit following reported human rights abuses, Axios reports.
• The Netzah Yehuda battalion was implicated in the death of an 80-year-old US citizen in 2022.
• Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decried the US decision, calling it  "a moral low."

The US is poised to sanction a controversial battalion in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for reported human rights abuses, Axios reported.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to announce sanctions against the Netzah Yehuda battalion for alleged human rights violations in the occupied West Bank.

It would be the first time the US has imposed sanctions on an Israeli military unit. The battalion is composed of over 900 soldiers.

The news of the possible sanctioning of the IDF unit came as the House of Representatives on Saturday passed a bill that includes more than $14 billion in military aid to Israel as well as $9 billion in humanitarian assistance, much of which will go to Gaza.

The unprecedented sanctions will prohibit the battalion and its members from receiving US military assistance or training.

The imposed measures are in accordance with the 1997 Leahy vetting policy, which forbids US foreign aid and Defense Department training programs from going to foreign security, military, and police units credibly alleged to have committed human rights violations.

In 2022, the State Department requested the US embassy interview Israelis and Palestinians about the battalion's conduct in the West Bank following reports of abuse of Palestinians, the Israeli outlet Haaretz, reported.

Last month, a State Department panel recommended that Blinken disqualify multiple Israeli military and police units operating in the West Bank from receiving US aid, ProPublica reported.

Blinken confirmed on Friday that he had made determinations based on this investigation and stated, "You can expect to see them in the days ahead" regarding the sanctions, per Axios.

Senior members of the Israeli government pushed back at the potential sanctions move against the Netzah Yehuda battalion.

"Sanctions must not be imposed on the Israel Defense Forces," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X.

"At a time when our soldiers are fighting the monsters of terror, the intention to impose a sanction on a unit in the IDF is the height of absurdity and a moral low," he wrote.

Minister of Defense Benny Gantz wrote on X that the Netzah Yehuda battalion was "an inseperable part of the Israel Defence Forces."

Radical settlers

The Netzah Yehuda unit, part of the Kfir brigade, was originally set up in 1999 to accommodate the religious beliefs of recruits from ultra-Orthodox and national religious communities, including those from extremist settlements.

All of its members are men. The unit has a reputation for recruiting some radical settlers who are not accepted by other IDF formations, said Axios.

Historically, the Netzah Yehuda battalion has been primarily deployed in the West Bank, gaining notoriety for its treatment of Palestinians.

Notably, soldiers from the unit were accused in the death of Omar Assad, an 80-year-old US citizen, who died of a heart attack in 2022 after being detained, bound, gagged, and abandoned by members of the battalion.

While Israel has deployed the Netzah Yehuda battalion out of the West Bank since the incident, the unit has continued to serve— primarily in the country's north and in the Gaza Strip during the ongoing conflict with Hamas.

Business Insider contacted the State Department for comment.

Washington gives $3.8 billion in annual military assistance to Israel and has remained a steadfast ally throughout Israel's military campaign against Gaza, which has killed over 30,000 Palestinians.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/d0X6cpW
via IFTTT

• Israel used a "Rampage" missile in its strike on Iran, Israeli media reported.
• The supersonic missile is designed to strike ground targets such as military bases.
• Its manufacturer describes it as "a long-range, air-to-ground" missile.

Israel used a long-range, supersonic missile in its strike on Iran earlier this week, Israeli broadcaster Kan reported, per The Times of Israel.

US officials said Israel carried out a missile strike on a military base near the city of Isfahan, Iran, on Friday. Israel has not confirmed the reports, while Iran has sought to downplay the incident, only referencing small drones used in the attack, which its foreign minister said were "like toys our children play with."

While it remains unclear what weapons were used in the strike, Kan reported that Israel used a "Rampage" air-to-surface missile, claiming it was identified in photos and that damage caused by the attack was consistent with a Rampage strike, per The Times of Israel.

The Rampage missile was designed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for use against targets such as "communication and command centers, air forces bases, maintenance centers and infrastructure," according to the company's website.

The company describes the missile, which weighs 1,250 pounds, as "a long-range, air-to-ground, seekerless, precision strike weapon."

It has the ability to fly at 1,250 mph with a range of up to 190 miles.

It can be fired from an aircraft or as a stand-alone system and uses GPS/INS guidance navigation and anti-jamming capabilities, it adds.

It has a blast fragmentation or general-purpose warhead.

A video shared on the company's YouTube channel simulates a strike by the missile.

Two Western officials said that the Israeli strike on Iran, which was launched in response to Iran's attack on Israel last week, was intended to show Tehran that it could evade its air defense systems undetected, The New York Times reported.

Business Insider contacted the IDF and the IAI for comment.

It was reported last year that the UK's Royal Air Force was considering buying the advanced Israeli weapon to replenish its missile stocks after having donated many of its own Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine.

The Rampage is considered an economical alternative costing hundreds of thousand of dollars versus the $3 million cost of each Storm Shadow, reported The National.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/gDPX4Qd
via IFTTT

• The Portugal-based carpentry company Madeiguincho began building tiny homes for European customers in 2016.
• The company's eco-friendly designs are now for sale in the US, with the first tiny home shipped to Queens, New York.
• Take a look inside a variety of their tiny homes, ranging from $58,619 to $74,535 in price.

Craftsmanship runs in Gonçalo Marrote's veins.

His father was a carpenter, and so was his father before him. In 1990, the Marrotes founded Madeiguincho, a Portugal-based, family-run woodworking company specializing in furniture.

Drawing from his architectural education and inspired by his travels to places like Berlin, New York, India, and Nepal, Marrote steered the company toward a new frontier in 2016: tiny homes.

"Some people would say, 'Why would you change something that is already good?' but I wanted to do something connected to my studies and my love for tiny houses," Marrote told Business Insider. "I made one, people liked it, and then I made two, and the company started to grow."

So far, the company has built 25 tiny homes, with prices starting at €55,000 (about $58,600). The homes vary in size, ranging from 10 meters (about 108 square feet), 12.5 meters (about 135 square feet), to 17.5 meters (about 188 square feet).

Marrote, with a deep appreciation for nature, designs each custom-built home — no two are alike — to feel like an extension of its surrounding natural environment.

"About 90% of our product is sourced from wood," he said. "The tiny homes are designed to make you feel at one with nature."

In 2019, Madeiguincho, which constructs the tiny homes in Portugal, collaborating with local builders and architects, began shipping to the US. The first home landed in a Queens, New York backyard, where it is being used as an Airbnb property.

Take a look inside some of Madeiguincho's tiny homes.

When a home is purchased from Madeiguincho they pre-build on-site in their workshop in Portugal.

Homes destined for the US are pre-assembled in Portugal before being transported in containers to their final destination. Once they arrive in the US, they are assembled on-site. The entire process, from transaction to delivery, typically takes about 10 months, according to Marrote.

Beginning in early 2025, the company intends to divide the construction process, with half of the work carried out in Portugal and the other half completed in the US.

Madeiguincho's tiny homes are eco-friendly and use sustainable construction methods.

Some of Madeiguincho's tiny homes use well water systems and electricity from neighboring properties, while others are designed to operate independently from conventional utility systems.

These homes, in essence, operate off-grid, free from connections to public electrical grids or water mains. Instead, residents rely on sustainable methods like rainwater harvesting, and solar or battery-powered electricity.

"It's almost like an organism that doesn't need help to live," Marrote said.

Madeiguincho doesn’t offer pre-defined models for customers to select from.

Each home is custom-crafted and tailored to meet the unique needs and preferences of the customer.

Marrote said that some clients have requested features like saunas, skylights, or French doors — windows designed to be opened like a door — to be incorporated into their homes.

"Clients just tell us the specific things they want and then let us be freely creative," he said.

While each tiny home is unique, they are only available in one of three sizes.

Each home includes a bathroom, sleeping area, and kitchen space, with some offering additional features such as two sleeping areas, a living room, or even desk space.

All of the homes are mobile, mounted on trailers with wheels for easy transport.

The first tiny home purchased for US buyers was sent to Queens, New York.

The couple who purchased the tiny home paid €80,00 (about $85,200). Transported to the US in a container, it arrived after a couple of months.

It was the first and so far sole home dispatched to the US, but Marrote said that the company is working on various designs for US-based clients.

This tiny home named Ursa was built for a client in Sintra, Portugal. (All of Madeiguincho’s homes are named after Portuguese beaches).

The home measures 7 x 2.5 m (about 23 x 8 ft) and, excluding delivery costs, was priced at €70,000 (about $74,500).

It features a sleeping area, a lengthy desk serving as both a dining and workspace, a washroom, and a compact kitchen area equipped with a sink, stovetop, mini fridge, and shelves.

The Ursa also features solar panels, a horseshoe-shaped window, and an attached porch.

The window lets in an abundance of natural light, making it ideal for both stargazing under the night sky and enjoying the morning sunrise.

The Meco bears a resemblance to a treehouse.

The 7 x 2.5 m (about 23 x 8 ft) home also comes with a price tag of €70,000 (about $74,500 USD).

It was designed with a couple and their children in mind, serving as both a comfortable workspace and a playful retreat.

The tiny home features two bedrooms —one with a closet — a washroom, and a kitchen area complete with a spacious countertop that doubles as a work desk.

While compact, it provides two sleeping areas, including one in a loft space.

The ground-floor bedroom, pictured above, offers generous storage space and features a wood-burning fireplace to keep its occupants warm.

The Vigia tiny home also has a loft-style bedroom.

Strategically placing the bedroom above the bathroom allows the tiny home to maximize its floor plan.

Additionally, the kitchen demonstrates clever space utilization by including a cozy nook and seating area rather than a traditional dining table.

The tiny home is priced at €70,000 (about $74,500 USD).

Vigia's bathroom is crafted from locally sourced wood and features matte black fixtures.

Marrote believes in minimizing Madeiguincho's environmental footprint. The company prioritizes the use of natural materials for each project, tapping into the resources of its surrounding environment.

"We mainly use European wood," Marrote said. "But we like to work with wood that is close to the place where we are building."

The Adraga, a two-story home, has swing barn doors that welcome ample light, creating a warm and inviting vibe.

Its design blends indoor and outdoor spaces, allowing it to harmonize with its natural surroundings — it also maximizes the sense of space within the 17.5 square meter home.

The €70,000 ($74,535) tiny home was tailor-made to accommodate the preferences of a retired couple.

The 17.5 square meter (188 square feet) tiny house has one bedroom, a bathroom, and a small kitchen area.

In place of a secondary bedroom, the home offers a living room area, along with a small table.

Marrote said the couple chose this layout because they wanted a comfortable area for dining and entertaining guests.

This tiny boat, nicknamed Moura, is still a prototype and hasn’t yet been built.

While the Moura shares similarities with other Madeiguincho tiny homes, it stands out as the only model designed to be placed on a floating platform.

Crafted with lake and river enthusiasts in mind, the boathouse blends the artistry of a custom-built home with the allure of waterfront living.

The tiny home, measuring 5 x 2.5m (about 16 x 8 ft), is priced at €70,000 (about $74,500). It is still in the prototype stage and has not yet been built.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/6aP58Ak
via IFTTT

• I was excited to study abroad in Florence and to take small, cheap trips while abroad.
• My classmates are not traveling cheaply; they are flying to luxury places like Dubai and the Alps.
• I wonder if they are just doing it for social media, but I'm still enjoying my time abroad.

As a third-year college student attending Colorado State University in Fort Collins, I jumped at the chance to study abroad. Trading in a semester of snow and freezing temperatures for beautiful architecture and centuries-old art was a no-brainer.

I was so excited that I filled out the application to study in Florence nearly a year before the day I would depart. Four months in Florence, Italy, was comparable to the cost of a semester at my state school. After talking to my parents and counselor, I believed the cultural experience and travel opportunities were worth it.

I knew that when I arrived, I would have to budget when traveling —doing so through communal hostel stays and low-cost airlines. I was prepared for overstuffed backpacks and bus tickets; upon arrival, though, it became clear that pinching pennies was not on everyone's agenda.

The other students are jet-setting every weekend to expensive locations

The first few days in Florence were comparable to a freshman welcome week. The time was full of activities, including hikes, dinners, and other various ventures to get students to meet one another. My roommates and I attended one of the dinners to make connections before classes began.

Standing among groups of strangers, I expected to converse about majors and hometowns; however, I witnessed a quiet competition between students on who would be going to the most places in the coming months.

Comments such as "I have every weekend planned and booked" or "I would go, but I've already been" were stacked on top of one another as my peers attempted to one-up each other. At this time, I had a total of zero trips planned. When caught in these conversations, I felt oddly pressured to also fill my calendar each weekend, accompanied by the feeling of stress due to not being able to afford travel every five days. I feared I would be left behind.

I've been here for over two months, and this conversation hasn't ended. Every Monday, I hear whispers about where my peers had jet-setted to days before. Places like Dubai and Morocco have been mentioned, leaving me just as shocked as that first dinner. I knew studying abroad was a privilege before getting here, but "a weekend in Dubai" was not what I expected.

Nobody is 'roughing it' like I thought they would be

My spring break was only three weeks into the start of the semester, and this was when I decided to take my first trip. When booking, I scoured sites, such as KAYAK and Skyscanner, but plane tickets and hotels were still extremely pricey. Eventually, my roommates and I decided to spend five days in Prague after finding affordable tickets on Ryanair. One of the greatest appeals of Prague was it was walkable, cheap, and had a good nightlife — my top three requirements as a traveling college student.

My three roommates and I booked a studio apartment for around $100 each for a total of five nights. It took us two trains, one bus, a plane, and some walking to get there, but the price was right. I was excited for the following week and felt satisfied with our trip and housing accommodations.

That was until I scrolled through Instagram to see my peers skiing in the Alps and skydiving in Copenhagen. It was almost unbelievable that the people I attend classes with could afford this style of travel while my school backpack was stuffed with a week's worth of clothes cause I opted out of the carry-on baggage fee Ryanair required.

I thought everyone at this stage made sacrifices when traveling, but I was mostly wrong.

I'm convinced people are traveling for the sake of their Instagram

I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that anyone can experience a new country in the span of 48 hours.

I do know, however, that people are really good at making their time away look like the best time ever on my Instagram feed. It's as if they're collecting comments like postcards or putting another notch in their belts by showing one another how many stamps they have accumulated in their passports.

Traveling while studying abroad is a competitive sport with a large price tag that no one told me to train for.

I've learned that such comparisons defeat the purpose of traveling. Maybe I haven't flown on the best airlines or stayed in an oceanfront villa, but my experiences abroad have been enriching and allowed me to engage with other cultures. Best of all? I didn't have to spend much money, and my Instagram still looks good.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/SNF2g1C
via IFTTT

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with 29-year-old Pete Ballmer, a standup comedian living in San Francisco and one of the sons of billionaire and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. It has been edited for length and clarity.

When I meet people, they usually don't know that my dad is Steve Ballmer.

It's a funny thing — my dad's at a very interesting level of famous where some people immediately make the connection while most people have no idea. I have some friends for whom it took a really long time — like many months — before they realized the link.

Some kids were actively mean about who my dad was

I don't think there was an exact moment when I realized just how rich we were, but at some point as a kid, I went from knowing that we were rich to realizing that it was something people brought up when they met me and knew about ahead of time.

There were a couple of kids who were actively mean to me about who my dad was. I was on a field trip once, and my mom packed my lunch in a to-go bag from an Italian restaurant. And this kid was like, "You got Pallino Pastaria for lunch??" I responded, "No, it's just a sandwich. It's just in the bag." It's not even an especially fancy restaurant, but he was looking to give me grief. Some kids tried to "get" me on stuff like that, like, "Oh, you're so spoiled."

I started noticing people treat me differently in college

When I was a kid, no one was nicer to me because of who my dad was. But in college, I noticed that some people were definitely nicer; they were more intently focused on me when I talked, and there was just a certain air of people treating me like we were better friends than we actually were.

Sometimes it was explicit; I remember this guy in my dorm (whom I didn't know very well) telling me, "It's pretty cool — I tell my family back home that I get to party with Steve Ballmer's son at school." I was thinking, what's the point of telling me this? The interaction made me uncomfortable and felt weird.

I didn't like that people would know about my family and how much money we had before meeting me, or how they would bring it up to me in a way that made my own identity seem secondary to what they saw me as: a kid from a wealthy family.

During Family Weekend my freshman year, my three suitemates and I had our dads come in and play beer pong with us and some of our other friends. Stanford used to have an unofficial "open-door policy" allowing students to drink freely as long as we left our doors open. So we set up a beer pong table in our dorm room and had a father-son game going on.

I was just having fun, but then I noticed people in the dorm coming up one at a time, just to peek in to look at my dad playing beer pong. That was kind of annoying, but I get it — it's a spectacle, whatever.

To some people, I'm only seen as an asset or connection

I can tell when some people consider me only as an asset, someone it'd be good to stay connected with.

A couple of people text me about the Clippers, which my dad owns, and those are the only text messages I receive from them. Those aren't the kinds of people I'm interested in being friends with at all.

There was this guy I used to be friends with who went out of his way to talk to me. I liked him at first and held off on assuming anything too soon, but his actions over time showed that he clearly just saw me as an asset.

I've made an active effort to kind of cut him out, although he still texts me sometimes. He's a venture capital douchebag — for lack of a better description — so I know he's thinking about how he can leverage his relationship with me because he wants to be close to tech money. He wants to have me be on display so that his friends can see that I'm a connection of his, and that sucks.

Of course, it feels weird to assume that someone has impure motives. But I feel like there have been enough times where it's like a sixth sense by now. I don't actively avoid people, but I'm mindful to keep at arm's length those who I think may have some kind of ulterior motive for being connected to me.

With my real friends, my dad's identity fades into the background

I think having good friendships is important, and I trust my read on the people I've gotten to know and become close with — I feel extremely lucky about my friends in general. I have a close-knit group here in San Francisco, and we have a lot of fun together. I'm also very fortunate to have a tight college friend group and close friends from high school. My comedy friends are also awesome, and my newest group of friends, my girlfriend's friends, are really cool.

You see articles about how people have fewer friends than they used to and that friendships are on the decline, but that's not been my experience at all (although I'm generally pretty gregarious and easy to get along with, which helps when you're trying to make friends!).

Over the course of my closest friendships, my dad's identity has faded into the background. It's not something to really talk about on a day-to-day basis, in the same way that most people don't talk a ton about their parents with their friends.

I never experienced anyone dating me for my money

Everybody thinks that my family background would have a massive impact on my dating life, but it really didn't. From an anonymity standpoint, dating apps were honestly pretty great because profiles only included a first name and sometimes a last initial.

I wouldn't talk about my dad or my financial situation during my dates, but at a certain point, it felt like I was lying by omission if I didn't bring it up.

I would only have the conversation once I felt like I had a sense of the person and a decent idea that I wanted to spend more time with them — usually on the second or third date. By that point, I felt like I knew they already liked me, so I wouldn't see a complete shift in how they approached me.

I actually never had the experience of someone trying to date me for my money or anything. I feel like it's kind of a two-way street. If someone is looking to date someone with a lot of money, they're most likely looking for someone who spends a lot of it. Since I'm not a big spender, I don't think anybody eyed me and thought, "I can probably get a ton of money out of him."

For me, I never focused on the other person's job or financial background. I had the privilege of not needing to consider someone's financial situation in either direction because I knew that I would be fine, and I don't think that a person's work defines them.

I was mainly concerned with how I felt hanging out with this person — do I feel comfortable? Am I having a nice time? Do I like talking to them?

My girlfriend and I have very similar approaches to money

I think that how someone approaches money is a byproduct of their general life philosophy. If you encounter someone who's very pragmatic, reasonable, grounded, and down-to-earth, it's unlikely that they'd randomly have a completely different approach to money than how they approach everything else.

So that's what I looked for: someone with a life philosophy that jived with mine and, usually, that extended to finances. For my girlfriend, it certainly did. We've been together for almost two years, and I feel very lucky we're aligned in our approach to money.

We live together in an apartment that's perfect for our purposes. It's a two bed, one bath — no bigger than it has to be. We're both pretty practical — we will occasionally do the late-night UberEats order even if we have food at home, but neither of us spends excessively.

I would be uncomfortable not splitting bills evenly

My girlfriend has worked hard in her career — she has a good job in tech — and worked hard on being responsible with money and wants to be financially independent.

While we're quite confident that we'll remain together indefinitely, neither of us wants to merge financially yet. One day, though, my money will become our shared money.

For now, we approach our finances pretty independently; house expenses, groceries, and everything else we share are evenly split. We never considered splitting bills and expenses proportionally. If I were dating someone who proposed proportional spending, I would feel a little miffed and feel that perhaps they saw part of the deal with dating me as a benefit to their lifestyle.

I've learned that my family background doesn't define me

As much as I've been cognizant of some people wanting something from me over the years, that has been a very small percentage of my experiences.

I'm still pretty open when meeting new people. I used to be concerned that once I left school, I'd be met with less empathy or grace because of all of the (rightful) negative rhetoric around rich kids. I understand why some people are pissed that people like me exist in this economic system, and I agree that there's a tragedy to that fact.

But while some people have questions, I've found the overwhelming majority of people don't seem to treat me differently than they do anyone else.

When you hang out with people, your presuppositions fall into the background pretty quickly, and instead, you just experience how it feels to spend time with them.

I've learned that my identity doesn't define me. I thought that I would have to work through more bias against the type of person I am or people's presuppositions about me to earn their favor, but at the end of the day, most people just want to get along with other people.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/KbP5iy2
via IFTTT

• The Pentagon is expediting preparation for a military aid package, awaiting Senate approval.
• The $95 billion aid bill, expected to pass next week, designates $60 billion for Ukraine.
• The Pentagon said it can transport material very quicky: "We can move within days."

The Pentagon could rush vital air defense weapons and artillery shells to Ukraine within days if the military aid bill clears the Senate as expected and receives President Joe Biden's signature, said the Department of Defense.

The House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill on Saturday. The bill is widely expected to pass the Senate in the coming days. It generally mirrors a $95.3 billion national security bill passed by the upper chamber in February. President Biden has pledged to sign it into law.

With the Senate approval, officials told The Washington Post that preparations for the assistance package were well underway ahead of the anticipated legislative approvals.

Divisions within the Republican Party, exacerbated by opposition from far-right factions, have led to delays in advancing the funding bill. Indeed, a majority of Republicans voted against the bill, which passed by a 311-112 margin.

The aid allocation earmarks about $60 billion for Ukraine, with additional funds designated for allies, including Israel and key partners in Asia.

According to the Post's insider sources, The Department of Defense has expedited the assembly of this aid package in response to mounting concerns over Ukraine's ability to resist Russian advances.

Top US military officials have warned that any delay in providing support could result in significant territorial losses and devastating casualties for Ukrainian forces.

Russia has been outgunning Ukraine 10 to 1 on artillery

The new aid package addresses critical shortages of Ukrainian units, including 155 mm ammunition for NATO-standard artillery systems and medium-range rocket artillery.

The US could send certain munitions "almost immediately" to Ukraine, according to a US military official, per The Guardian.

Officials in Ukraine have voiced growing frustration over perceived inaction from Washington as the conflict escalates.

Recent setbacks, such as the retreat from Avdiivka and subsequent Russian advances, have left Ukraine needing bolstered support from its allies.

As Ukraine grapples with ammunition shortages, its forces have been rationing existing armaments, with reports indicating that the Russian troops possess a significant advantage in artillery firepower.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that his army was facing a profound shell shortage, and Russia was firing 10 times more artillery than Ukraine.

Ukraine's president thanked the House for its decisive bipartisan action on Saturday in a statement on X.

Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Thursday that the Pentagon stands ready to rush crucial supplies to Ukraine after clearance from Congress.

"We have a very robust logistics network that enables us to move material very quickly; as we've done in the past, we can move within days," he said.

Earlier this week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on allies to "speed up the delivery of missiles, artillery, and ammunition."

Ukraine is using the weapons we provided to destroy Russian combat capabilities. This makes us all safer."

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/UCIaEJn
via IFTTT

• Gordon Ramsay grew up with a disadvantaged childhood.  
• Today, he is a multi-millionaire and holds sway over a restaurant and TV empire. 

If Gordon Ramsay had a dollar for every time he shouted the F-word … he'd probably still be the multi-millionaire he is today.

The global celebrity chef places 19th on Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid celebrities and has amassed a substantial fortune. Ramsay's net worth isn't known, but estimates range from $220 million to $750 million.

But the star chef wasn't always surrounded by the trappings of success that he enjoys today.

Ramsay grew up in an abusive household and relied at times on handouts from neighbors. It was only through dedication and perfectionism that he made it to the top of his game.

"I'd like to be remembered for perfection. Because it's an absolute bitch to get right, but when it is, it's the most beautiful fucking thing on the planet," he told GQ.

This is how the foul-mouthed, Michelin-starred celebrity chef made his way up in the world.

Gordon Ramsay grew up in council housing on the outskirts of Glasgow

Gordon James Ramsay was born in Johnstone, a town on the outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1966.

His mother was a nurse, and his father, also called Gordon, was a swimming pool manager, welder, and shopkeeper.

In his autobiography, Humble Pie, Ramsay revealed that his father had abused and neglected his children.

'He hit us when he was drunk, things were thrown, we had to run for our lives. We spent many nights, weekends, hidden in DHSS rooms," Ramsay told the Daily Telegraph in 2008.

When Ramsay was nine, he moved with his parents and three siblings to Stratford-upon-Avon in England. He did not reconcile with his father, who died in 1997.

After an injury killed his hopes for a career in soccer, Ramsay pursued cooking

Ramsay had aspired to be a professional soccer player as a child and by the age of 12 had made it onto a national youth team. He had been training with the Scottish team Rangers for several months when a knee injury ended his career as a sportsman.

Instead, he turned to the kitchen, a decision which he later called "a complete accident."

After studying hotel management at North Oxfordshire Technical College, he started work as a commis chef in the mid-80s.

An apprenticeship under legend Marco Pierre White taught the young chef how to run a serious kitchen

When he was 19, Ramsay entered the kitchen of Marco Pierre White.

White was the first British chef to be awarded three coveted Michelin stars and is often called the first "celebrity chef." He ran the kitchen at his restaurant Harvey's in the high-pressure, cutthroat style notorious at the time, but now viewed as toxic by some restauranteurs.

White was known for being volatile and even made the famously tough Ramsay cry.

Though the two chefs had a long-running feud, Ramsay has credited White with instilling a perfectionist mentality in him and showing him he could reach for the impossible.

"I stood alongside Marco for two years. Side-by-side for 16 hours a day. It was relentless," he said in a 2023 episode of the High Performance Podcast.

"I was in that pursuit of perfection and this guy put food on a plate like Picasso. I wanted to get that level of discipline."

"I was hungry" — Ramsay worked his way through restaurants, reaching for Michelin star glory

After a couple of years at Harvey's, he moved to the 3-Michelin Star French Restaurant, Le Gavroche; and also apprenticed under French icons like Albert Roux, Pierre Koffman, Guy Savoy, and Joel Robuchon.

In 1993, he took on his first gig as head chef in the restaurant Aubergine in London. After just three years, Ramsay earned the restaurant a two-star Michelin rating, and in 1995, he was named Newcomer of the Year at the prestigious Catey Awards.

"I was hungry. I was in pursuit of something to better myself," Ramsay said in an interview with the High Performance Podcast.

By 1997, he had founded his first restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, and started gathering a handful more Michelin Stars. But it was in 2001 that he received the coveted accolade of three stars from the Michelin Guide for his flagship restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.

He was only the second British chef to be awarded three stars at the time, after White.

In 2005, Ramsay started appearing on American TV screens. He hasn't left since

After hitting the Michelin milestone, Ramsay began his journey into the world of TV.

After a brief debut on the British show "Boiling Point" in 1999, he started hosting the British versions of shows like "Hell's Kitchen," "The F-Word," and "Kitchen Nightmares."

In 2005, "Hell's Kitchen" made its way across the pond to the US, soon followed by "Kitchen Nightmares."

It was through the screen that his fans fell in love with his brash, profanity-laden persona and the occasional heartwarming pride he held for the chefs brave enough to sign up for his shows.

"Hell's Kitchen" is now in its 22nd US season and draws in millions of viewers.

According to Forbes, Ramsay's shows accounted for more than $150 million yearly in ad sales for Fox in 2020.

Alongside show business, Ramsay has continued building an empire of 58 restaurants

The chef's growing celebrity persona helped attract hungry fans to his growing network of restaurants.

From casual bars & grills to 3-Michelin star white table experiences that can set you back more than $1,000, Ramsay has built a sweeping empire of restaurants.

During the COVID pandemic, Ramsay said that his restaurants lost $80 million in turnover. But today, the British chef owns 58 restaurants in countries including the UK, the US, China, Malaysia, and France.

His signature establishment, and one of the most opulent, is Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in the affluent area of Chelsea, London. Other renowned favorites include Hell's Kitchen, The Fat Cow, Pétrus, and Le Pressoir D'Argent.

The Ramsay empire is still expanding and a second location of Gordon Ramsay Burger at the Flamingo Las Vegas was recently announced. The restaurant will cover 8,000 square feet and will be his seventh restaurant in Sin City, according to Eater.

Ramsay's family helped soften his fiery temper

Ramsay married his wife, Tana, in 1996 when he was 29.

Tana, a former Montessori-trained teacher, chef, and cookbook author had been engaged to someone else when she met Ramsay at a New Year's Eve party in London, she told the Guardian in 2008.

The couple initially struggled to conceive and went through in-vitro fertilization before welcoming their first child, Megan, in 1998.

Tana gave birth to their sixth child, Jesse, last November. They are also parents to twins Jack and Holly, 23; Matilda, 22; and Oscar, 5.

Ramsay, known for his fiery temper, told People that having children has "brought the emotion" out of him.

But he has compared having six kids to "running a restaurant where no one goes home."

Despite earning millions of dollars, Ramsay is still working hard today

Another milestone in Ramsay's rise to success came when he was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006 for his services to the hospitality industry.

But despite his success, he has at times disparaged his celebrity persona.

"'Don't call me that. I am a chef who happens to appear on the telly, that's it. I am a grafter. I work my arse off. So it's wrong to give me that title," he told The Telegraph in 2008. "Being called a celebrity makes a mockery of how hard I have worked."

That hasn't stopped him from lining up a range of celebrity friends, including David Beckham and Gigi Hadid.

In recent years, Ramsay's TikTok career has also taken off, and he has 20 million subscribers on his YouTube account.

Ramsay has also dedicated time and money to supporting a range of charities and helping disadvantaged individuals

Having spoken out about the struggles of his disadvantaged childhood, Ramsay has also shared his wealth with a number of philanthropic causes, including those close to his own experiences.

For years, he has supported the charity Women's Aid, which runs refuges for victims of domestic violence, and supported his own mother in the past.

In 2020, Ramsay quietly donated $50,000 to help with the medical bills for a 14-year-old MasterChef junior contestant who had cancer.

He and his wife, Tana, also have a charitable foundation that has previously committed to raising $2 million for Make-A-Wish and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Recently, Ramsay helped a terminally ill woman fulfill her bucket list dream of meeting him and dining at one of his restaurants after spotting her viral video on TikTok.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/0bKDypJ
via IFTTT