Dana Hull | (TNS) Bloomberg News Jared Birchall, Elon Musk’s money manager and the head of his family office, is listed as the chief executive officer. Jehn Balajadia, a longtime Musk aide who has worked at SpaceX and the Boring Co., is named as an official contact. Related Articles National Politics | Biden will decide on US Steel acquisition after influential panel fails to reach consensus National Politics | Biden vetoes once-bipartisan effort to add 66 federal judgeships, citing ‘hurried’ House action National Politics | A history of the Panama Canal — and why Trump can’t take it back on his own National Politics | President-elect Trump wants to again rename North America’s tallest peak National Politics | Inside the Gaetz ethics report, a trove of new details alleging payments for sex and drug use But they’re not connected to Musk’s new technology venture, or the political operation that’s endeared him to Donald Trump. Instead, they’re tied to the billionaire’s new Montessori school outside Bastrop, Texas, called Ad Astra, according to documents filed with state authorities and obtained via a Texas Public Information Act request. The world’s richest person oversees an overlapping empire of six companies — or seven, if you include his political action committee. Alongside rockets, electric cars, brain implants, social media and the next Trump administration, he is increasingly focused on education, spanning preschool to college. One part of his endeavor was revealed last year, when Bloomberg News reported that his foundation had set aside roughly $100 million to create a technology-focused primary and secondary school in Austin, with eventual plans for a university. An additional $137 million in cash and stock was allotted last year, according to the most recent tax filing for the Musk Foundation. Ad Astra is closer to fruition. The state documents show Texas authorities issued an initial permit last month, clearing the way for the center to operate with as many as 21 pupils. Ad Astra’s website says it’s “currently open to all children ages 3 to 9.” The school’s account on X includes job postings for an assistant teacher for preschool and kindergarten and an assistant teacher for students ages 6 to 9. To run the school, Ad Astra is partnering with a company that has experience with billionaires: Xplor Education, which developed Hala Kahiki Montessori school in Lanai, Hawaii, the island 98% owned by Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison. Ad Astra sits on a highway outside Bastrop, a bedroom community about 30 miles from Austin and part of a region that’s home to several of Musk’s businesses. On a visit during a recent weekday morning, there was a single Toyota Prius in the parking lot and no one answered the door at the white building with a gray metal roof. The school’s main entrance was blocked by a gate, and there was no sign of any children on the grounds. But what information there is about Ad Astra makes it sound like a fairly typical, if high-end, Montessori preschool. The proposed schedule includes “thematic, STEM-based activities and projects” as well as outdoor play and nap time. A sample snack calendar features carrots and hummus. While Birchall’s and Balajadia’s names appear in the application, it isn’t clear that they’ll have substantive roles at the school once it’s operational. Musk, Birchall and Balajadia didn’t respond to emailed questions. A phone call and email to the school went unanswered. Access to high quality, affordable childcare is a huge issue for working parents across the country, and tends to be an especially vexing problem in rural areas like Bastrop. Many families live in “childcare deserts” where there is either not a facility or there isn’t an available slot. Opening Ad Astra gives Musk a chance to showcase his vision for education, and his support for the hands-on learning and problem solving that are a hallmark of his industrial companies. His public comments about learning frequently overlap with cultural concerns popular among conservatives and the Make America Great Again crowd, often focusing on what he sees as young minds being indoctrinated by teachers spewing left-wing propaganda. He has railed against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and in August posted that “a lot of schools are teaching white boys to hate themselves.” Musk’s educational interests dovetail with his new role as Trump’s “first buddy.” The billionaire has pitched a role for himself that he — and now the incoming Trump administration — call “DOGE,” or the Department of Government Efficiency. Though it’s not an actual department, DOGE now posts on X, the social media platform that Musk owns. “The Department of Education spent over $1 billion promoting DEI in America’s schools,” the account posted Dec. 12. Back in Texas, Bastrop is quickly becoming a key Musk point of interest. The Boring Co., his tunneling venture, is based in an unincorporated area there. Across the road, SpaceX produces Starlink satellites at a 500,000-square-foot (46,000-square-meter) facility. Nearby, X is constructing a building for trust and safety workers. Musk employees, as well as the general public, can grab snacks at the Boring Bodega, a convenience store housed within Musk’s Hyperloop Plaza, which also contains a bar, candy shop and hair salon. Ad Astra is just a five-minute drive away. It seems to have been designed with the children of Musk’s employees — if not Musk’s own offspring — in mind. Musk has fathered at least 12 children, six of them in the last five years. “Ad Astra’s mission is to foster curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking in the next generation of problem solvers and builders,” reads the school’s website. A job posting on the website of the Montessori Institute of North Texas says “While their parents support the breakthroughs that expand the realm of human possibility, their children will grow into the next generation of innovators in a way that only authentic Montessori can provide.” The school has hired an executive director, according to documents Bloomberg obtained from Texas Health and Human Services. Ad Astra is located on 40 acres of land, according to the documents, which said a 4,000-square-foot house would be remodeled for the preschool. It isn’t uncommon for entrepreneurs to take an interest in education, according to Bill Gormley, a professor emeritus at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University who studies early childhood education. Charles Butt, the chairman of the Texas-based H-E-B grocery chain, has made public education a focus of his philanthropy. Along with other business and community leaders, Butt founded “Raise Your Hand Texas,” which advocates on school funding, teacher workforce and retention issues and fully funding pre-kindergarten. “Musk is not the only entrepreneur to recognize the value of preschool for Texas workers,” Gormley said. “A lot of politicians and business people get enthusiastic about education in general — and preschool in particular — because they salivate at the prospect of a better workforce.” Musk spent much of October actively campaigning for Trump’s presidential effort, becoming the most prolific donor of the election cycle. He poured at least $274 million into political groups in 2024, including $238 million to America PAC, the political action committee he founded. While the vast majority of money raised by America PAC came from Musk himself, it also had support from other donors. Betsy DeVos, who served as education secretary in Trump’s first term, donated $250,000, federal filings show. The Department of Education is already in the new administration’s cross hairs. Trump campaigned on the idea of disbanding the department and dismantling diversity initiatives, and he has also taken aim at transgender rights. “Rather than indoctrinating young people with inappropriate racial, sexual, and political material, which is what we’re doing now, our schools must be totally refocused to prepare our children to succeed in the world of work,” Trump wrote in Agenda 47, his campaign platform. Musk has three children with the musician Grimes and three with Shivon Zilis, who in the past was actively involved at Neuralink, his brain machine interface company. All are under the age of five. Musk took X, his son with Grimes, with him on a recent trip to Capitol Hill. After his visit, he shared a graphic that showed the growth of administrators in America’s public schools since 2000. Musk is a fan of hands-on education. During a Tesla earnings call in 2018, he talked about the need for more electricians as the electric-car maker scaled up the energy side of its business. On the Joe Rogan podcast in 2020, Musk said that “too many smart people go into finance and law.” “I have a lot of respect for people who work with their hands and we need electricians and plumbers and carpenters,” Musk said while campaigning for Trump in Pennsylvania in October. “That’s a lot more important than having incremental political science majors.” Ad Astra’s website says the cost of tuition will be initially subsidized, but in future years “tuition will be in line with local private schools that include an extended day program.” “I do think we need significant reform in education,” Musk said at a separate Trump campaign event. “The priority should be to teach kids skills that they will find useful later in life, and to leave any sort of social propaganda out of the classroom.” With assistance from Sophie Alexander and Kara Carlson. ©2024 Bloomberg News. Visit at bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani unleashed a long-winded rant against a New York judge on Tuesday, telling reporters that the jurist, appointed by then-President Donald Trump , is an "activist Democrat." "Have you figured out what side he's on?" Giuliani told reporters Tuesday, referring to U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman. "Are you too dumb to see what side he's on?" "I've been a lawyer for 55 years," Giuliani added, according to Politico. "I can figure out what side he's on." Trump nominated Liman to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in May 2018. He was confirmed by the Senate in December 2019 by a vote of 64-29. Giuliani, also a former Trump attorney, added that Liman "doesn't give a damn about the truth. He just gives a damn about being popular." His rant against Liman arrived after the two men were embroiled in a heated back and forth at a pretrial hearing in New York related to a $148 million defamation lawsuit that two former Georgia election workers filed against Giuliani. Liman asked Giuliani in court why he hadn't handed over the title to his Mercedes-Benz convertible to the two election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, as ordered by the court. Giuliani said he had requested a duplicate title for the car but that it hadn't been issued yet. "The implication I have not been diligent about it is totally incorrect," he said. "The implication you make is against me and every implication against me is wrong." "I don't have a car," Giuliani said, according to Politico. "I don't have a credit card. They have put a stop order on, for example, my Social Security account," he added, referring to Freeman and Moss. But Liman cut Giuliani off, telling him, "I permitted Mr. Giuliani to speak. Next time, I will not permit him to speak and the court will have to take action." Giuliani has been consumed by legal troubles since the 2020 election. In July, he was disbarred in New York over efforts to overthrow the election results that year and deliver Trump the White House. The former mayor made "demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers, and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump's failed effort at reelection in 2020," the New York appeals court wrote in its ruling. Two months later, Giuliani was disbarred in Washington, D.C. Giuliani also faces criminal cases in Georgia and Arizona over election subversion efforts, and he was also hit with defamation lawsuits from voting technology companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic. Newsweek reached out to a Giuliani spokesperson for comment on Tuesday.circus images 。

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Chris Cenac Jr., the top center in the Class of 2025 according to the ESPN100, has committed to play for the Houston Cougars. The five-star recruit announced his decision Tuesday via the Bleacher Report's B/R App. Cenac previously said he wouldn't make his decision until the spring, but his stock soared over the summer after his impressive play on the Puma Pro 16 circuit with Dallas-based YGC, vaulting him into the national top-10 rankings. The 6-foot-10 New Orleans native was reportedly choosing between LSU, Auburn, Arkansas, Baylor, Kentucky, Tennessee and others before making the decision to join Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson's team. "I just like the coaching staff a lot, I like their plan to develop me and I like coming into a winning program," Cenac told 247Sports. "I'm looking forward to producing and just helping them win more. But the main thing was development and them being able to get me better so I can be ready for that next level." Cenac's rating of .9978 by 247Sports Composite makes him the Cougars' highest-rated commit in the modern era, according to multiple outlets. "They see me as a four who can kind of play all over the court and do everything," Cenac told 247Sports. "I can get rebounds, push the ball, shoot and play all over the floor." With Cenac joining other Houston commits like five-star shooting guard Isaiah Harwell, four-star point guard Kingston Flemings and three-star wing Bryce Jackson, Houston's Class of 2025 is ranked No. 2 in the nation by 247Sports and ESPN. --Field Level MediaBelagavi, Dec 24, 2024 Karnataka Women and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar dared on Tuesday BJP MLC C. T. Ravi to swear before Lord Manjunatheshwara in Dharmasthala that he had not used “derogatory word” against her in the Legislative Council. Speaking to the media in Belagavi, Minister Hebbalkar said, “Let Ravi come to Dharmasthala. Let him swear before the god there that he had not used the word.” “I entered politics after a lot of struggle. I did not make my political career by using the name of god and creating strife in society. C. T. Ravi, you trust god right? Come to Dharmasthala. I will be present with my family. You also will have to come with your family and pledge before the god and state that you have not used the word in the council,” she said. “Ravi has to say before the god that he has not insulted a woman. I will be present with my family,” she reiterated. “This is not a challenge, I do not want an answer from him. I do not want an answer from a man with an evil mindset. However, Ravi and BJP leaders are misleading their workers and leaders,” she charged. “Do you believe in God a lot? Dharmasthala is very close to your hometown. The entire country rever Dharmasthala. You (Ravi) swear on God Manjunatha. If you have any morals, you will call me and come,” Minister Hebbalkar said. The row erupted on December 19 during a heated debate in the Karnataka Legislative Council. C. T. Ravi allegedly referred to Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, as a “drug addict”. This provoked strong reactions, with Minister Hebbalkar calling Ravi a “murderer”. Ravi reportedly responded with an obscene remark directed at Hebbalkar. The alleged comment led to Ravi’s arrest on charges of using derogatory language against Hebbalkar. However, following a High Court directive, Ravi was released. The Congress government has handed over the case to the special wing Criminal Investigation Department (CID) even as Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti stated that the case is a closed chapter and police interference is unacceptable. The popular belief is that whoever lies before Lord Manjunatheshwara in Dharmasthala will lose everything.(Agency)