‘Restaurateurs have become millionaires’

‘Chipotle just saw its worst year ever. It may not get any better.’

Gustavo Arellano at the Los Angeles Times

Chipotle’s “core problem is its stagnant approach and underwhelming food, which no longer justifies its premium pricing to budget-conscious consumers,” says Gustavo Arellano. Restaurateurs have been “capitalizing on the insatiable American appetite for nearly any foodstuff from south of the border. But as all empires inevitably do, the good times stop.” Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright “would be wise to heed this history and either take Chipotle into new frontiers or prepare for its inevitable irrelevance.”

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‘Does “Wuthering Heights” herald the revival of the film romance’?

Richard Brody at The New Yorker

Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” is an “unabashedly romantic movie emerging at a time when few such films are being made — at least, for theatrical release and by directors with some artistic cachet,” says Richard Brody. The “silliness of the movie falls short of camp — it’s neither intentionally self-parodic nor exaggeratedly theatrical.” What Fennell “really appears to be adapting is less Bronte than a cinematic genre that has more or less fallen into oblivion: the romantic drama.”

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‘Kids are using AI. Here’s what adults need to do right now.’

Sarah Sword and Shai Fuxman at Newsweek

When “new technology lands in children’s hands, they don’t read the manual. And they don’t tell their parents,” say Sarah Sword and Shai Fuxman. Kids “push every button, test every limit and try to break it,” and “millions of kids are doing that with AI tools like ChatGPT.” Parents are the “most influential figures in shaping children’s decisions and habits,” and should “make AI part of your family’s conversations, just as you would with social media.”

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‘Trump’s planned visit to Venezuela would be a catastrophic mistake’

Andres Oppenheimer at the Miami Herald

Donald Trump is “planning a historic trip to Venezuela,” but “visiting Caracas before opposition leader María Corina Machado is allowed to return would legitimize a dictatorship and be a shameless reward for repression,” says Andres Oppenheimer. Trump’s “priorities in Venezuela are stability and increased oil exports to the United States, not democracy.” If Trump “goes before Machado’s return, Venezuelans will get the worst of both worlds: massive deportations from the United States and a fortified dictatorship at home.”

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