Klaus Schwab Calls For Global Government To "Master" AI Technologies

by Steve Watson via Summit News,

Arch globalist Klaus Schwab has called for elites to come together globally in order to “master” advanced technologies, warning them that if they don’t act swiftly the world could “escape our power”.

Yes really. The guy doesn’t hold back.

The World Economic Forum founder was speaking at a gathering in Dubai not so subtly titled the World Government Summit.

Schwab pointed to “fourth industrial revolution technologies,” and stated “Who masters those technologies – in some way – will be the master of the world.”

“Ten years from now we will be completely different,” Schwab said, adding “My deep concern is that [with] #4IR technologies, if we don’t work together on a global scale, if we do not formulate, shape together the necessary policies, they will escape our power to master those technologies.”

Schwab is obsessed with AI and other advanced technologies and has previously predicted that “What the Fourth Industrial Revolution will lead to is a fusion of our physical, our digital, and our biological identities.” 

Klaus Schwab: Great Reset Will “Lead to a Fusion of Our Physical, Digital and Biological Identity”

Schwab also openly endorses something the media still claims is solely a domain of discussion for conspiracy theorists, namely “active implantable microchips that break the skin barrier of our bodies.”

World Economic Forum Suggests There Are “Solid, Rational” Reasons For Children to Be Microchipped

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/watch-klaus-schwab-calls-global-government-master-ai-technologies

White House Announces Tesla Will Open Supercharger Network To Expand EV Access

 The Biden administration announced Wednesday new plans to expand the nation's charging network "so that the great American road trip can be electrified." 

According to a fact sheet published on the White House's website, the administration plans to build a network of 500,000 electric vehicle chargers from coast to coast. To achieve this goal, the administration announced Tesla would open 7,500 chargers to all electric vehicles, including 3,500 new and existing 250 kW Superchargers on highways. 

Tesla, for the first time, will open a portion of its US Supercharger and Destination Charger network to non-Tesla EVs, making at least 7,500 chargers available for all EVs by the end of 2024. The open chargers will be distributed across the United States. They will include at least 3,500 new and existing 250 kW Superchargers along highway corridors to expand freedom of travel for all EVs, and Level 2 Destination Charging at locations like hotels and restaurants in urban and rural locations. All EV drivers will be able to access these stations using the Tesla app or website. -WH

The Biden administration also said Tesla would "double" its nationwide network of Superchargers produced in Buffalo, New York.

Late last month, Reuters reported that Elon Musk met two top White House officials to discuss expanding EV production and charging networks. 

On Tuesday, White House infrastructure chief Mitch Landrieu told reporters that Musk was involved in discussions with the administration about charging infrastructure. 

"He was very open, he was very constructive," Landrieu said. "And at that time, he said his intent was to work with us to make his network interoperable. Everybody else on the call agreed."

Landrieu added, "It was critically important to us that everybody be included in the conversation."

The rapid buildout of the nation's EV charging stations is to handle the future demand for all the new EVs to hit roadways. The administration has set a goal for EVs to account for at least 50% of new car sales by 2030. And it's only a matter of time before the US power grid will have to be upgraded to handle all these new EVs.  

Today's development shows the White House and Musk might have repaired strained relations since the billionaire accused Biden of being "unable to say the word 'Tesla'" last year. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/white-house-announces-tesla-open-superchargers-all-evs

Lilly cut to Sell by Soc Gen

 From Hold

https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=LLY&p=d

NYC considering allowing some city employees to work remotely again: Adams

 New York City is considering allowing some city employees to work remotely again, Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday.

When asked during a news conference if he would consider allowing city employees to work from home, Adams said he has already asked city agencies to “come up with creative ways of having flexibility.”

Adams’ commitment to operating “as a team” and accommodating remote work is a drastic shift from his stance just a year ago when he decried remote work and famously told New Yorkers: “You can’t stay home in your pajamas all day.”

At the time, Adams argued that remote workers were hurting service-oriented businesses that rely on a steady stream of customers.

“That accountant that’s not in his office space is not going to the cleaners,” Adams said during a speech last February at the state Democratic Committee’s Nominating Convention.

The mayor said Tuesday he already asked agencies to come up with flexible solutions to allow working from home for some roles.

JOHN NACION/Shutterstock

The mayor’s change of tune on remote work also comes as it was reported that working from home has caused Manhattan to lose at least $12.4 billion a year.

Getty Images

“It’s not going to the restaurant. It’s not allowing the cooks, the waiters, the dishwashers [to make a living],” Adams added.

In being flexible, Adams noted his administration is working to keep things fair for city employees and make sure they avoid a “two-tier system where some can work from home and others cannot.”

“So we want as a team to say, how do I look out for my fellow civil servant to say you have to come in, how do we compensate you in some way? And that is what we need to do,” Adams added.

It’s unclear what kind of “flexibility” some city agencies would be granted, which agencies would be included and when that change might take place.

His pledge to be flexible also comes as the city — and the country as a whole — are struggling to fill thousands of jobs.

Adams said the city plans on becoming competitive in its efforts to fill civil service jobs.

Adams’ commitment to flexibility is a far cry from his stance a year ago, when he decried hybrid work and its negative impacts on the city’s economy.

JOHN NACION/Shutterstock

“We have to be clear now. To keep hearing everybody report it’s a New York City crisis, it’s a national crisis of how do we shift to a post-pandemic work environment.”

Adams’ change of tune on remote work also comes as it was reported that working from home has caused Manhattan to lose at least $12.4 billion a year, as workers in Manhattan are spending about $4,661 less per person in the areas near their offices.

https://nypost.com/2023/02/15/nyc-considering-allowing-city-employees-to-work-remotely-adams/

New warning strikes in the public sector - Friday also at airports

 Due to the collective bargaining dispute in the public sector, employees in several German states also stopped work on Wednesday. To build up pressure, employees went on warning strike in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, among other places. On Friday, the Verdi union plans to extend the walkouts to airports.

In the current round of collective bargaining, the service sector union Verdi and the civil servants' association are demanding an increase in income of 10.5 percent, or at least 500 euros more. The municipal employers reject this as economically unfeasible. The new collective agreement for the approximately 2.5 million public sector employees is to run for twelve months. The second round of negotiations is scheduled for February 22 and 23 in Potsdam.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, mainly municipal administration employees went on strike on Wednesday. The warning strikes affected municipal administrations in Oberhausen, Essen and Duisburg, for example. Work stoppages were also planned for the administrations in Bochum, Remscheid and Solingen. In addition, daycare centers, municipal swimming pools, depots and parks departments were affected by the walkout.

Many areas of the public sector were also affected by strikes in Ludwigshafen and Kaiserslautern. Hospitals and energy suppliers were in part only operated with an emergency service, a Verdi spokesman said. In Ludwigshafen, all daycare centers were closed.

Public sector employees in Saxony-Anhalt also took part in the warning strikes. In Halle and the surrounding area, for example, employees in daycare centers, administrative offices and savings banks stopped work.

The walkouts are expected to continue in the coming days. For example, Verdi called on employees in Hamburg to participate in the warning strikes for the first time on Thursday. In addition, the union is extending the strikes nationwide to airports: All-day warning strikes are planned in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Stuttgart, Dortmund, Hanover and Bremen.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/LUFTHANSA-436827/news/New-warning-strikes-in-the-public-sector-Friday-also-at-airports-42997251/

Bayer's 3 biz units 'perfectly positioned,' trade union says in resistance to potential breakup

 It took several years of investor pressure to oust Bayer CEO Werner Baumann. Last week the company revealed former Roche pharma chief Bill Anderson would replace Baumann, a year before his hitch was up.

Investors have started to speculate that under Anderson’s leadership, Bayer will be more open to follow an industry trend by separating its three business sectors—pharma, consumer health and crop science. It’s a move that Baumann held out against late in his tenure.

But not all interested parties are on board with a potential new direction at Bayer. German trade union IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie (IGBCE) is resisting any major changes according to a report in left-leaning German newspaper Taz.

“From the point of view of the employees, Bayer with its three pillars is perfectly positioned for the challenges of the future,” Francesco Grioli, who sits on the executive board of IGBCE and the supervisory board at Bayer, told Taz.

With news of the CEO switch last week, Bayer’s shares increased by 5%. But since then, they have returned to pre-announcement levels.

Bayer’s board unanimously backed Anderson in a selection process that began several months ago, the company said. Chairman Norbert Winkeljohann lauded Anderson’s “outstanding track record of building strong product pipelines and turning biotech breakthroughs into products.”

Bayer could have relieved some of the investor pressure with an in-house choice. But according to Refinitiv’s Lipper Alpha Insight, the “narrow” selection of Anderson sets the scene for a breakup of the company.

“Given the new chief’s background, investors have good reason to prepare for a spinoff of the crop science division,” the investor news outlet wrote. “Putting a candidate with no agriculture background in charge suggests a spinoff of the seeds and pesticides division is in the cards.”

Many have speculated that the potential added value of the breakup of the company could be significant.

Investor pressure on Baumann has been acute since he orchestrated an ill-fated acquisition of Monsanto for $66 billion in 2018. The company brought weed-killer Roundup and a litigation headache that has mushroomed over the ensuing years and contributed to Bayer’s share slump.

Among the activist investors coming after Bayer have been Elliott Management, Bluebell Capital Partners and Union Investment. Most recently it was Inclusive Capital Partners’ Jeffrey Ubben bringing the heat after taking an .83% stake in the company.

“You can only manage the transformation of the industry with a corporate policy based on risk diversification and sustainability, not on hedge fund activism,” Grioli told Taz.

https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/bayers-3-business-units-are-perfectly-positioned-trade-union-says-resisting-breakup-company

Amarin jousts with activist investor Sarissa as board vote nears

 With sales of Vascepa tanking in the U.S. and Amarin working to get the heart-helping drug to the market in Europe, activist investor Sarissa Capital Management is attempting to oust Chairman Per Wold-Olsen and muscle its way onto the company’s board of directors.

The acrimonious battle heated up Monday as a vote approaches next week. In a letter to investors last week, the company urged them to reject Sarissa’s “harmful” proposals, citing the activist's “track record of value destruction in the healthcare space.”

Then on Monday, the Dublin-based drugmaker cited a proxy advisory firm, Glass Lewis, which backed up Amarin's call to reject Sarissa's effort.

"Glass Lewis recognizes that change led by Amarin’s new board is already underway, and Sarissa representation is not warranted," the company wrote.

Also on Monday, Sarissa clapped back with its own letter, asking shareholders to stick with their original vote to remove Wold-Olsen.

“Do not be misled by Amarin’s tactics to switch votes and do not be confused by the multiple mailings,” Sarissa wrote.

Sarissa also charged Amarin with wasting money in “its self-serving attempts to keep shareholders out of the board room,” pointing out that CEO Karim Mikhail was compensated to the tune of $5.8 million in a year in which the company’s stock price declined by 31%.

Amarin will try to get the last word in Tuesday morning when it hosts a Q&A webcast to answer shareholder questions. In addition to Wold-Olsen and Mikhail, the call will include Adam Berger, the independent chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee, and Erin Enright, the independent chair of the audit committee.  

Amarin has been in free-fall since losing patent protection in the U.S. for its lone commercial product, Vascepa. The fish oil derivative hit the market in 2012 to lower triglyceride levels in adults with severe hypertriglyceridemia.

In 2019, Vascepa gained a coveted label expansion to treat patients at risk for cardiovascular issues. The following year, it generated $598 million in sales in the U.S., a 40% increase from the previous year.

But, in late 2020, Vascepa was dealt a blow when it lost an appeal to retain its patent protections on the drug. Since then, sales have plummeted, and the company has reduced its staff in the U.S. by 90%, turning its attention to Europe.

For roughly a year—since Connecticut-based Sarissa became Amarin’s top shareholder—the drugmaker has resisted the investor’s increasingly public efforts to secure shareholder representation on its board.

Amarin says it engaged an independent search firm to find six new board members that it added over the last year. But Sarissa isn't buying it, arguing Monday that the "current regime is wasting a uniquely valuable opportunity."

https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/amarin-activist-investor-sarissa-joust-proxy-vote-approaches