https://www.forbes.com/sites/graisondangor/2021/09/03/kraft-heinz-fined-62-million-for-phony-accounting/?

Executives at Kraft Heinz, one of the world’s largest food companies, paid a $62 million fine to settle charges that it created more than $200 million in fake cost savings to improve its standing with investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reported Thursday.

The company best known for its ketchup and canned beans manipulated its accounting to make it seem like it was making its products more cheaply than it really had been.

That inflated its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), a key financial metric watched by investors.

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/09/03/california-senate-votes-to-mail-ballots-in-all-elections/

SACRAMENTO — Democrats advanced a major overhaul to California’s elections on Thursday, voting to make sure all active registered voters will get a ballot in the mail at least 29 days before every election — even if they didn’t ask for one.

A majority of California voters have been casting ballots by mail for years, but most of them had to ask their county elections office to send them one. That changed in 2020, when officials worried crowded polling places on Election Day would be superspreader events for the coronavirus.

California was one of four states — joining Nevada, New Jersey and Vermont — that temporarily changed rules for the 2020 presidential election to require all voters receive a ballot in the mail ahead of Election Day. California lawmakers kept that rule in place for 2021 elections, including the recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 14.

As Pakistan grew closer to China the Taliban grew in Afghanistan, carry on

https://www.livemint.com/news/world/china-eyes-bri-extension-to-afghanistan-as-it-awaits-taliban-to-form-govt-11630678935241.html

China on Friday expressed hope to extend its multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) into Afghanistan, saying the “Taliban believes" that the initiative is good for development and prosperity in the war-ravaged country and the broader region.

China in the recent past has outlined plans to extend its USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under its tripartite diplomatic initiative, incorporating the three countries.

The plan has not made much headway due to political differences between the previous Ashraf Ghani-led government in Kabul and Pakistan over Islamabad’s support to the Taliban militants.

The BRI was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping when he came to power in 2013. It aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/democrat-supreme-court-shadow-docket-judiciary-committee

Both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees have announced that they will hold hearings into the Supreme Court’s use of the shadow docket shortly after the Court virtually outlawed abortion in Texas through the expedited forum.

“This anti-choice law is a devastating blow to Americans’ constitutional rights—and the Court allowed it to see the light of day without public deliberation or transparency,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Dubin (D-IL) said in a statement. “At a time when public confidence in government institutions has greatly eroded, we must examine not just the constitutional impact of allowing the Texas law to take effect, but also the conservative Court’s abuse of the shadow docket.”

Neither committee has yet announced the dates of the hearings.

https://dailycaller.com/2021/09/03/nicholas-kristof-run-for-governor-oregon-2022/

Nicholas Kristof, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The New York Times, is reportedly planning to launch a bid for governor in Oregon.

Kristof recently reached out to campaign consultants, according to Politico. He is an Oregon native, and many know him for his writing on human rights and international affairs.

If he runs, Kristof would join state House Speaker Tina Kotek as the second high-profile candidate in the field. As Oregon’s current governor, Kate Brown, is term-limited, whoever wins the Democratic primary would enter the general election as a heavy favorite for next November’s general election. President Joe Biden won Oregon in the 2020 presidential election by 16 points.

https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/news-services/article253974723.html

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania conservative who is retiring next year, said that Republicans must not back Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee in 2024 because of his “completely unacceptable” effort to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden.

“After what happened post-2020 election, I think the president’s behavior was completely unacceptable, so I don’t think he should be the nominee to lead the party in 2024,” Toomey said at a policy conference in Italy.

Toomey was one of a handful of Republican senators to vote in favor of convicting Trump at his impeachment trial, a move that fell short of the two-thirds vote needed. A conviction would’ve barred the de facto leader of the GOP from running for the White House again.

>>14514313

And this year Pat Toomey

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrosetti_Forum

Purpose

The Forum presents forecasts of the economic and geo-political outlooks for the world, Europe and Italy. The forum also analyzes the main scientific and technological developments and their impacts on the future of business and society. This is accomplished through meetings, debates and presentations of special, ad hoc studies.

Participants and speakers

Forum participants, typically business leaders from major Italian and international corporations, are privately invited.

Among those who have taken part in recent years: H.S.H. Albert II, Prince of Monaco, José María Aznar, Silvio Berlusconi, Joe Biden, Ian Bremmer, Richard Cheney, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Renato Dulbecco, José Manuel Durão Barroso, Larry Ellison, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, François Fillon, Bill Gates, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Felipe González, Neville Isdell, Alain Juppé, Henry Kissinger, Vaclav Klaus, Christine Lagarde, Rita Levi Montalcini, Abu Mazen, John McCain, Mario Monti, Giorgio Napolitano, Shimon Peres, Romano Prodi, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, H.M. Rania Al-Adullah Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Card. Joseph Ratzinger, Michel Rocard, Nouriel Roubini, Eric Schmidt, Helmut Schmidt, George Shultz, Giulio Tremonti, Jean-Claude Trichet, Umberto Veronesi, James Wolfensohn, Jimmy Wales, Gianroberto Casaleggio.

https://www.stripes.com/branches/space_force/2021-09-03/firefly-aerospace-rocket-explodes-california-liftoff-2764468.html

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. — A rocket launched by Firefly Aerospace, the latest entrant in the New Space sector, exploded minutes after lifting off from the central California coast on Thursday, officials said.

The Alpha rocket was "terminated" over the Pacific Ocean shortly after its 6:59 p.m. liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base, according to a base statement.

Firefly said an "anomaly" occurred during the first-stage ascent that "resulted in the loss of the vehicle" about 2.5 minutes into the flight.