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Minnesota continues to be the beating heart of nationwide anti-ICE movements with The Day of Truth and Freedom. Today, January 23, hundreds of businesses across the state are closing their doors in protest after community groups, faith-based organizations, and unions came together to call for an economic blackout. Minnesotans are coming together in moral reflection and action to stand together against the actions of the federal government against the state of Minnesota, a declaration reads on the organizing website, ICE Out of MN. The day-long protest follows a series of tragedies that stem from the Department of Homeland Securitys January 6 deployment of 2,000 officers to Minneapolis. One day later, an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, and just this past Tuesday, ICE detained five-year-old Liam Ramos and his father in their driveway. The family has an active asylum case and had no order of deportation, yet the father and son are now in a Texas detention center. What is the Day of Truth and Freedom? According to ICE Out of MNs statement: The ICE surge that cost the life of Renee Nicole Good is violating the Constitutional and human rights of Americans and our neighbors. It is time to suspend the normal order of business to demand immediate cessation of ICE actions in MN, accountability for federal agents who have caused loss of life and abuse to Minnesota residents and call for Congress to immediately intervene. The Day of Truth and Freedom’s demands are as follows: ICE must leave Minnesota now. The officer who killed Renee Good must be held legally accountable. No additional federal funding for ICE in the upcoming Congressional budget and ICE should be investigated for human and Constitutional violations of Americans and our neighbors. Minnesota and national companies should cease economic relations with ICE and refuse ICE entry or using their property for staging grounds. Minnesota-based publication Bring Me The News has an ever-evolving list of all the businessesfrom bookstores to cafesthat are closed on Friday. The list also includes businesses that will remain open, but are taking action, such as donating some or all of their profits to organizations like the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota and the recently launched Immigrant Rapid Response Fund. How individuals are participating in the Minnesota economic blackout Organizers are further calling for individuals living in Minnesota to not work (unless involved in emergency services), go to school, or do any shopping for the day, instead focusing on community, conscience, and collective action. The Day of Truth and Freedom also includes a march at 2 p.m. CT from the Commons downtown, and a 3 p.m. CT rally at the Target Center. Interested participants can reserve a free rally ticket on the ICE Out of MN website. Anyone who lives outside of Minnesota can take part in solidarity through a scheduled event or by organizing one. The ICE Out for Good website hosts a growing database of events taking place, provides a space to create an event, and has an event-planning toolkit. ICE Out for Good also encourages individuals to push businesses to speak out against ICE, such as Minneapolis-based Target, Delta, Home Depot, and more. It offers links to contact these businesses, alongside ones to reach members of Congress. Organizations that support anti-ICE activism The Day of Truth and Freedom movement isnt specifically asking for donations, but anyone who is inclined to support the cause can donate to organizations including: Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota Immigrant Rapid Response Fund National Immigrant Justice Center American Civil Liberties Union Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee Organized Communities Against Deportations Amica Center for Immigrant Rights
Category:
E-Commerce
In a hypothetical nuclear war involving Russia, China and the United States, the island of Greenland would be in the middle of Armageddon.The strategic importance of the Arctic territory under the flight paths that nuclear-armed missiles from China and Russia could take on their way to incinerating targets in the United States, and vice versa is one of the reasons U.S. President Donald Trump has cited in his disruptive campaign to wrest control of Greenland from Denmark, alarming Greenlanders and longtime allies in Europe alike.Trump has argued that U.S. ownership of Greenland is vital for his “Golden Dome” a multibillion dollar missile defense system that he says will be operational before his term ends in 2029.“Because of The Golden Dome, and Modern Day Weapons Systems, both Offensive and Defensive, the need to ACQUIRE is especially important,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday.That ushered in another roller-coaster week involving the semiautonomous Danish territory, where Trump again pushed for U.S. ownership before seemingly backing off, announcing Wednesday the “framework of a future deal” on Arctic security that’s unlikely to be the final word.Here’s a closer look at Greenland’s position at a crossroads for nuclear defense. ICBM flight paths Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, or ICBMs, that nuclear adversaries would fire at each other if it ever came to that tend to take the shortest direct route, on a ballistic trajectory into space and down again, from their silos or launchers to targets. The shortest flight paths from China or Russia to the United States and the other way would take many of them over the Arctic region.Russian Topol-M missiles fired, for example, from the Tatishchevo silo complex southeast of Moscow would fly high over Greenland, if targeted at the U.S. ICBM force of 400 Minuteman III missiles, housed at the Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana and the Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.Chinese Dong Feng-31 missiles, if fired from new silo fields that the U.S. Defense Department says have been built in China, also could overfly Greenland should they be targeted at the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.“If there is a war, much of the action will take place on that piece of ice. Think of it: those missiles would be flying right over the center,” Trump said Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Pituffik Space Base An array of farseeing early warning radars act as the Pentagon’s eyes against any missile attack. The northernmost of them is in Greenland, at the Pituffik Space Base. Pronounced “bee-doo-FEEK,” it used to be called Thule Air Base, but was renamed in 2023 using the remote location’s Greenlandic name, recognizing the Indigenous community that was forcibly displaced by the U.S. outpost’s construction in 1951.Its location above the Arctic Circle, and roughly halfway between Washington and Moscow, enables it to peer with its radar over the Arctic region, into Russia and at potential flight paths of U.S.-targeted Chinese missiles.“That gives the United States more time to think about what to do,” said Pavel Podvig, a Geneva-based analyst who specializes in Russia’s nuclear arsenal. “Greenland is a good location for that.”The two-sided, solid-state AN/FPS-132 radar is designed to quickly detect and track ballistic missile launches, including from submarines, to help inform the U.S. commander in chief’s response and provide data for interceptors to try and destroy warheads.The radar beams out for nearly 5,550 kilometers (3,450 miles) in a 240-degree arc and, even at its furthest range, can detect objects no larger than a small car, the U.S. Air Force says. Expert sees holes in Trump’s arguments Pitching the “Golden Dome” in Davos, Trump said that the U.S. needs ownership of Greenland to defend it.“You can’t defend it on a lease,” he said.But defense specialists struggle to comprehend that logic given that the U.S. has operated at Pituffik for decades without owning Greenland.French nuclear defense specialist Etienne Marcuz points out that Trump has never spoken of also needing to take control of the United Kingdom even though it, like Greenland, also plays an important role in U.S. missile defense.An early warning radar operated by the U.K.’s Royal Air Force at Fylingdales, in northern England, serves both the U.K. and U.S governments, scanning for missiles from Russia and elsewhere and northward to the polar region. The unit’s motto is “Vigilamus” Latin for “We are watching.”Trump’s envisioned multilayered “Golden Dome” could include space-based sensors to detect missiles. They could reduce the U.S. need for its Greenland-based radar station, said Marcuz, a former nuclear defense worker for France’s Defense Ministry, now with the Foundation for Strategic Research think tank in Paris.“Trump’s argument that Greenland is vital for the Golden Dome and therefore that it has to be invaded, well, acquired is false for several reasons,” Marcuz said.“One of them is that there is, for example, a radar in the United Kingdom, and to my knowledge there is no question of invading the U.K. And, above all, there are new sensors that are already being tested, in the process of being deployed, which will in fact reduce Greenland’s importance.” ‘Golden Dome’ interceptors Because of its location, Greenland could be a useful place to station “Golden Dome” interceptors to try to destroy warheads before they reach the continental U.S.The “highly complex system can only work at its maximum potential and efficiency if this Land is included in it,” Trump wrote in his post last weekend.But the U.S. already has access to Greenland under a 1951 defense agreement. Before Trump ratcheted up the heat on the territory and Denmark, its owner, their governments likely would have readily accepted any American military request for an expanded footprint there, experts say. It used to have multiple bases and installations, but later abandoned them, leaving just Pituffik.“Denmark was the most compliant ally of the United States,” Marcuz said. “Now, it’s very different. I don’t know whether authorization would be granted, but in any case, before, the answer was ‘Yes.'” John Leicester, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Shares in Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC) are plunging in pre-market trading this morning. The stock price fall comes after the chipmaker reported its Q4 2025 earnings after the closing bell yesterday. But its Intels forecast, rather than its latest results, that seems to be driving the stock price’s fall. Heres what you need to know. Intel reports Q4 earnings Yesterday, Intel reported its Q4 2025 and full fiscal 2025 results. For its full fiscal 2025, the company reported $52.9 billion in revenue. That compares with the $53.1 billion in revenue the company brought in during its fiscal 2024. But what investors were mainly interested in were the companys Q4 2025 results and its Q1 2026 forecastthe quarter Intel is now operating in. For Intels Q4 2025, the company reported revenue of $13.7 billion. That was down about 4% from the $14.3 billion the company reported in the same quarter a year earlier. The companys Non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) were 15 cents. That was an increase from the 13 cents Non-GAAP EPS the company achieved in its Q4 a year earlier. As noted by CNBC, Intels EPS of 15 cents and revenue of $13.7 billion both beat LSEG estimates, which were 8 cents and $13.4 billion, respectively. However, despite these beats, Intel shares fell sharply, with the stock down more than 13% in pre-market trading as of the time of this writing. Intel unable to meet AI data center demand There are two primary reasons for Intels pre-market share price plunge this morning. The first is its Q1 revenue and adjusted EPS forecast. The company said it expects revenue during its first quarter to reach between $11.7 billion and $12.7 billion. It said its adjusted EPS is expected to come in flat. As CNBC notes, Intel’s Q1 revenue forecast range is mostly below the $12.51 billion analysts were expecting. The companys adjusted EPS of 0 cents is also below the 5 cents analysts were expecting. But what has spooked investors the most is the comments Intel made about the demand for its server chips that are used in AI data centers. The good news is that the demand for these chips is extraordinarily high. The bad news, Intel announced, is that the company is unable to meet this demand. As Reuters notes, Intel decides years ahead of time on its manufacturing output, and the company was caught off guard by the AI data center boom. That means Intel is essentially leaving money on the table because it is unable to supply all the chips its customers are demanding. If theres a bright side to Intels forecast, its that the company expects its Q1 supply to be at the lowest level, before improving in Q2 and later. INTC stock plunges after earnings After Intels disappointing Q1 forecast, shares in the company sank after hours yesterday and remain highly depressed as of the time of this writing. Currently, INTC shares are down more than 13.6% in pre-market trading to $46.92 per share. Yet while investors are clearly disappointed in Intels Q1 forecast and the companys current inability to meet customer demand, its still worth noting that Intel shares have had a terrific run as of late. As of yesterdays close, before todays pre-market price drop, INTC shares have seen their price surge by a staggering 47% since the year began. Over the past twelve months, INTC shares have jumped more than 148% as of yesterdays close. What investors will be looking for now is signs that Intel can boost its manufacturing capacity to meet customer demand and thus fully take advantage of the AI boom engulfing the economy.
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E-Commerce
TikTok has finalized a deal to create a new American entity, avoiding the looming threat of a ban in the United States that has been in discussion for years on the platform now used by more than 200 million Americans.The social video platform company signed agreements with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX to form the new TikTok U.S. joint venture. The new version will operate under “defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurances for U.S. users,” the company said in a statement Thursday. American TikTok users can continue using the same app.President Donald Trump praised the deal in a Truth Social post, thanking Chinese leader Xi Jinping specifically “for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal.” Trump add that he hopes “that long into the future I will be remembered by those who use and love TikTok.”Adam Presser, who previously worked as TikTok’s head of operations and trust and safety, will lead the new venture as its CEO. He will work alongside a seven-member, majority-American board of directors that includes TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew.The deal ends years of uncertainty about the fate of the popular video-sharing platform in the United States. After wide bipartisan majorities in Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed a law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if it did not find a new owner in the place of China’s ByteDance, the platform was set to go dark on the law’s January 2025 deadline. For a several hours, it did. But on his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep it running while his administration sought an agreement for the sale of the company.“China’s position on TikTok has been consistent and clear,” Guo Jiakun, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson in Beijing, said Friday about the TikTok deal and Trump’s Truth Social post, echoing an earlier statement from the Chinese embassy in Washington.Apart from an emphasis on data protection, with U.S. user data being stored locally in a system run by Oracle, the joint venture will also focus on TikTok’s algorithm. The content recommendation formula, which feeds users specific videos tailored to their preferences and interests, will be retrained, tested and updated on U.S. user data, the company said in its announcement.The algorithm has been a central issue in the security debate over TikTok. China previously maintained the algorithm must remain under Chinese control by law. But the U.S. regulation passed with bipartisan support said any divestment of TikTok must mean the platform cuts ties specifically the algorithm with ByteDance. Under the terms of this deal, ByteDance would license the algorithm to the U.S. entity for retraining.The law prohibits “any cooperation with respect to the operation of a content recommendation algorithm” between ByteDance and a new potential American ownership group, so it is unclear how ByteDance’s continued involvement in this arrangement will play out.“Who controls TikTok in the U.S. has a lot of sway over what Americans see on the app,” said Anupam Chander, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University.Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX are the three managing investors, each holding a 15% share. Other investors include the investment firm of Michael Dell, the billionaire founder of Dell Technologies. ByteDance retains 19.9% of the joint venture. Associated Press writers Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong and Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report. Kaitlyn Huamani, AP Technology Reporter
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E-Commerce
For much of the modern corporate era, brand has been treated as surface area. A story told outward. A set of signals designed to persuade, attract, and differentiate. When companies spoke about brand, they were usually talking about perception: how they looked in the market, how they sounded, how they were received. That framing made sense in a world where markets moved a little more slowly, organizations were stable, and leadership could afford to separate strategy from culture, product from meaning, execution from belief. That world no longer exists. Todays organizations operate in a state of near-constant volatility. Strategy shifts quarterly. Teams scale overnight. Culture is tested publicly, in real time. And leadership is no longer judged solely by results, but by coherence and meaning. Do the choices make sense? Do the values hold under pressure? Does the organization know how to behave when the playbook runs out? In this environment, brand cannot remain a visual wrapper. It must become something more fundamental. It must become an operating system. When Brand Stops Being a Story and Starts Being Structure An operating system doesnt exist to impress. It exists to coordinate behavior, allocate resources, and make complex systems usable. It governs whats possible, whats prioritized, and what happens when things break. This is the shift now underway in the most forward-thinking organizationsbrand moving from expression to infrastructure. In this new paradigm, brand is no longer just what the company says. Its how the company defines itself. It shows up in how leaders frame trade-offs, how teams resolve tension, how products evolve, and how culture responds to stress. The question is no longer Is the brand consistent? but Is the brand functional? Does it help people make better decisions faster? Does it reduce friction? Does it offer clarity when data runs out and vision or judgment takes over? If it cant be used under intense pressure and scrutiny, it isnt an operating system at all. The End of the Brand Deck Era and What Comes Next This evolution didnt happen because brand teams failed. It happened because organizations asked brand to do the wrong job. For years, brand was tasked with alignment theater: values posters, messaging frameworks, tone-of-voice documents. Useful artifacts, yes, but largely disconnected from how power, priorities, and incentives actually worked inside the business. Meanwhile, leadership teams struggled with a different problem entirelyfragmentation. Smart people pulling in different directions. Strategy decks multiplying ideas while conviction thinned. Culture initiatives proliferating without changing behavior. The gap between what the brand claimed and how the organization actually operated grew wider. In that gap, trust eroded, employees disengaged, decision-making slowed. And companies found themselves saying the right things while doing the wrong ones. Brand-as-operating-system emerges as a response to that gap. Not as a creative flourish, but as a leadership correction. Brand as a Shared Logic System What does this look like in practice? When brand functions as an operating system, it becomes a shared logic layer across the organization. It provides a common mental model that helps teams answer questions like: What kind of decisions do we make here? What do we prioritize when values collide? How do we act when theres no precedent? What does good actually look like for us? This is where brand moves beyond language and into behavior. Hiring becomes more precise. Not just about skills, but about belief alignment. Innovation becomes more focused. Not just novel, but meaningful. Culture becomes less performative. Not whats celebrated on slides, but whats rewarded in practice. The organization stops asking people to remember the brand and starts enabling them to use it. Why This Is a Leadership Problem, Not a Marketing One Brand-as-OS doesnt install itself. It has to be architected, and that responsibility starts at the top. Brand-as-OS only works when leadership owns it, models it, and enforces it. This is where many organizations stall. Its easier to approve a campaign than to commit to a worldview. Easier to delegate brand than to live inside it. But brand is not neutral. Every organization already has an operating system. The only question is whether its intentional or accidental. Our Future of Brand Report 2026 reveals a clear pattern: companies that treat brand as infrastructure, embedded in systems, rituals, and strategic choices, outperform peers who treat it as a job left to the marketing department. What sets these companies apart isnt better branding. Its leadership that understands brand is the connective tissue between culture, vision, and execution. At Motto, weve seen this firsthand. In companies led by visionaries who treat brand not as a communications tool, but as a cultural code. Leaders who hold brand in the same regard as financial health or product strategy, because they understand its tied to both. And when that code is clear, everything else becomes faster, sharper, and more aligned. What emerges isnt language for the website or a better logo. Its a set of convictions that govern how the company behaves, especially when the answers arent obvious. The company doesnt just look different; it is different. The Cost of Not Making the Shift Organizations that fail to treat brand as infrastructure will continue to suffer from the same symptoms, no matter how many initiatives they launch. Theyll hire exceptional talent only to frustrate it. Theyll produce beautiful work that lacks cohesion. Theyll talk about alignment while reinforcing ambiguity. Most dangerously, theyll confuse activity with progress. In contrast, companies that build brand as an operating system gain something far more valuable than consistency. They gain velocity. Because when people share a belief system, they dont need permission for every move. They can act with confidence, even in uncertainty. The Next Frontier of Leadership Leadership in the coming decade will not be defined by charisma or control but by coherence. The ability to create systems that make sense to the humans inside them. Bran-as-operating-system is not a trend. Its a response to complexity. A way of giving organizations a spine when everything else is in flux. The leaders who understand this wont hand off brand to marketing and hope it holds. They wont treat vision, culture, and brand as separate lines of effort, but as one integrated system of belief, behavior, and direction. Theyll design for alignment from the inside out, not just to look good but to operate better. Because the future of brand leadership belongs to those who do more than tell the story. They architect the system. They run the code. They build companies where vision is felt, culture is lived, and brand is the connective tissue in it all. Not just brands with something to say. Brands built to lead.
Category:
E-Commerce
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