Looking at the last few weeks... 11/21/22
What a crazy time we're all living through.
Hello! You may have signed up for this newsletter a long time ago, or you may have just recently subscribed. Either way, this is the first time since 2017 I’ve decided to digest my thoughts and share with others. Hope you learn something or at least enjoy the read. This past week and month has been one of the most newsworthy and outrageous series of events I can recall in years. Even these past few weeks especially.
The US midterm election occurred and shifted power in Congress with the democrats keeping a majority in the Senate and the republicans winning a majority in the House with some governor seats turning blue and surprising voters. Many commentators (link added) have highlighted the impact of the youth vote this time around. A study was also released indicating a larger number of people died during the pandemic who politically leaned right versus left. And a number of candidates are crying foul about the legitimacy of their results - only if they are on the losing side, unsurprisingly.
Joe Biden Just Had the Best Midterms for a Democrat President in 24 Years: James Bickerton via Newsweek “This makes 2022 the Democrats most successful midterm election since 1998, when former President Bill Clinton retained the same number of seats in the Senate while picking up five in the House.”
Opinion | How Democrats can keep young voters in their corner: Jennifer Rubin via Washington Post “If Republicans are insufferably angry, mean and gloomy, Democrats would be smart to adopt an ethos of hope, fearlessness and confidence. That, more than any single issue or political leader might be key to the Democrats’ continued popularity with young voters.”
Almost Twice as Many Republicans Died From COVID Before the Midterms Than Democrats | Matthew Gault via VICE Motherboard “COVID-19 is killing more Republicans than Democrats, according to a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research. The study, titled Excess Death Rates for Republicans and Democrats During the COVID-19 Pandemic, used voter registration and death records to answer a question: is there a link between political affiliation and rates of COVID related death in the U.S.? The short answer is yes.”
Tech industry layoffs have exceeded the 2000's dot-com bubble burst with most of the biggest silicon valley companies downsizing between 10-15% of their workforces, respectively, after record losses reported for the 4th quarter of 2022, the biggest drop since prior to the pandemic. Notable participants in the mass layoffs include Meta, Amazon, Twitter, Salesforce, Microsoft, Stripe, Coinbase, Shopify, Snap, Robinhood, Lyft, Tesla
Big Tech Layoffs Are Hurting Workers Far Beyond Silicon Valley | Billy Perrigo via Time ““The tech world goes way beyond Silicon Valley and its directly-hired workers,” says Jonas Valente, a researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute’s Fairwork project. “There is a planetary workforce doing all sorts of jobs for tech firms. Full- or part-time workers in outsourcing companies, especially in Global South countries, usually have lower working conditions and worse contracts than those in big tech firms.” Valente adds that in countries with less protective labor laws, workers often have little bargaining power and can end up being easier targets for dismissal decisions.”
Salesforce, San Francisco's largest employer, lays off hundreds | Fiona Lee, SFGATE “With approximately 10,000 employees in San Francisco, the company is the city’s largest employer. As of August 2022, Salesforce had 73,542 employees in offices around the world.”
Here’s a rundown of tech companies that have announced layoffs in 2022 | Sofia Pitt via CNBC “The job cuts in tech land are piling up, as companies that led the 10-year stock bull market adapt to a new reality.”
A major Crypto firm crashed overnight with $10 billion missing and investors furious after the young prodigy SBK tried and failed to merge with Binance. The outcry from people across sectors has even more serious doubts about Crypto getting raised, from how liable celebrities who promote shady startups to how people raise money with minimal financials in these worlds. This is not the end of crypto though, as many enthusiasts keep saying.
Opinion | The stunning collapse of FTX, explained | Zeeshan Aleem, MSNBC “...After reporting alleging that Bankman-Fried had covertly and inappropriately used funds from FTX customers to make risky bets for a hedge fund he also ran, a huge number of customers rushed to withdraw their money from the platform quickly, causing the exchange to implode.”
Special Report: FTX's Bankman-Fried begged for a rescue even as he revealed huge holes in firm's books | Angus Berwick, Anirban Sen, Elizabeth Howcroft and Lawrence Delevingne, Reuters “As customers withdrew billions of dollars from crypto exchange FTX one frantic Sunday this month, founder Sam Bankman-Fried worked the phones in a futile bid to raise $7 billion in emergency funds. …In the end, the calls came to naught and FTX filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, leaving an estimated 1 million customers and other investors facing total losses in the billions of dollars. The collapse reverberated across the crypto world and sent bitcoin and other digital assets plummeting.”
Bankman-Fried’s Assets Plummet From $16 Billion to Zero in Days | Venus Feng and Tom Maloney, Bloomberg “The entire $16 billion fortune of FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried has now been wiped out, one of history’s greatest-ever destructions of wealth. The downfall of his crypto exchange and its trading house, Alameda Research, means assets owned by the mogul once likened to John Pierpont Morgan have become worthless. At the peak, the 30-year-old was worth $26 billion, and he was still worth almost $16 billion at the start of the week.”
Why the Investing Pros Were Such Suckers for FTX | Jason Zweig, The Wall Street Journal “Hedge funds, venture-capital firms and other professional investors earn billions of dollars of fees for their purported skill in judging the potential of businesses and the integrity of their managers. Yet dozens of the world’s leading investment firms, including Sequoia Capital, Singapore’s state-owned investment company Temasek, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, SoftBank Group Corp., and hedge funds Third Point and Tiger Global, showered SBF with money. Despite their vaunted investing expertise, these firms all missed the many red flags fluttering high above FTX. And seldom in financial history have red flags been redder than this.”
Twitter was formally purchased by Elon Musk and the internet is bursting with everything from deep analysis of the role in social media in society, to the hottest and freshest memes, to a renewed angry mob of voices arguing against the asymmetrical power the billionaire class have over the rest of the population. No matter what ends up happening with the platform, the shift of Twitter from a traditionally-run silicon valley publicly traded company to a private company ran by a skeleton crew with a sole decision-maker behind every choice will have a lasting impact sooner than later.
Welcome to hell, Elon | Nilay Patel, The Verge “Twitter is a disaster clown car company that is successful despite itself, and there is no possible way to grow users and revenue without making a series of enormous compromises that will ultimately destroy your reputation and possibly cause grievous damage to your other companies. I say this with utter confidence because the problems with Twitter are not engineering problems. They are political problems. Twitter, the company, makes very little interesting technology; the tech stack is not the valuable asset. The asset is the user base: hopelessly addicted politicians, reporters, celebrities, and other people who should know better but keep posting anyway. You! You, Elon Musk, are addicted to Twitter. You’re the asset. You just bought yourself for $44 billion dollars.”
Elon Musk’s Twitter Teeters on the Edge After Another 1,200 Leave | Ryan Mac, Mike Isaac and Kellen Browning, NYTimes “Twitter is teetering on the edge as Mr. Musk remakes the company after buying it for $44 billion last month. The billionaire has pushed relentlessly to put his imprint on the social media service, slashing 50 percent of its work force, firing dissenters, pursuing new subscription products and delivering a harsh message that the company needs to shape up or it will face bankruptcy. Now the question is whether Mr. Musk, 51, has gone too far. On Thursday, hundreds of Twitter employees resigned after Mr. Musk gave them a deadline to decide whether to leave or stay. So many workers chose to depart that Twitter users began questioning whether the site would survive, tweeting farewell messages to the service and turning hashtags like #TwitterMigration and #TwitterTakeover into trending topics.”
Musk’s Twitter Deal Still in Focus for Data-Security Review | Daniel Flatley, Jennifer Jacobs, and Saleha Mohsin, Bloomberg “Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter Inc. is still facing US government scrutiny over national-security concerns that his foreign partners may be able to access user data, people familiar with the matter said.”
The Justice Department has announced that Ticketmaster’s parent company is under investigation after a botched effort to sell Taylor Swift tickets turned into a major enough crisis that Congresspeople started vocally chastising Ticketmaster.
Justice Dept. Is Said to Investigate Ticketmaster’s Parent Company | David McCabe and Ben Sisario, NYTimes “The Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation into the owner of Ticketmaster, whose sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets descended into chaos this week, said two people with knowledge of the matter. The investigation is focused on whether Live Nation Entertainment has abused its power over the multibillion-dollar live music industry. That power has been in the spotlight after Ticketmaster’s systems crashed while Ms. Swift fans were trying to buy tickets in a presale for her tour, but the investigation predates the botched sale, the people said.”
Ticketmaster cancels Taylor Swift general sale ticket sales set for Friday | Julian Mark, Washington Post “The chaotic week has even sparked calls to break up the large ticketing company, which some critics have accused of having a monopoly in online ticket sales. The company has cited extraordinary demand for Swift’s tour and tried to pace the rollout of sales. Tickets have been reselling for as much as $28,000, Reuters reported. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R) said Wednesday that his office has received complaints from people who tried purchasing tickets through Ticketmaster, and said he would look into whether the website violated consumers’ rights and antitrust regulations.”
Ticketmaster faces antitrust scrutiny after Taylor Swift ticket chaos | Catherine Shu, TechCrunch “Consumers are also pushing for a breakup of Ticketmaster and Live Nation. An alliance of consumer rights groups, including antitrust nonprofit American Economic Liberties Project, launched a campaign last month called Break Up Ticketmaster, saying that Ticketmaster’s “market power over live events is ripping off sports and music fans and undermining the vibrancy and independence of the music industry.””
Donald Trump is back in the news, again including: 1) announcing he is running for president in 2024, 2) the Department of Justice has formally appointed a special counsel headed by an international criminal prosecutor to investigate Trump’s involvement in the January 6th insurrection as well as and handling of classified documents, and 3) Elon Musk just re-invited Trump back onto Twitter; though whether Trump chooses to engage or not is uncertain
Scandal-plagued suspected criminal launches presidential campaign | Steve Benen, MSNBC “Hanging overhead was an inconvenient truth: The new front-runner for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 2024 is a suspected criminal facing multiple ongoing investigations — in Georgia over alleged election interference, and simultaneously at the federal level, where the Justice Department is scrutinizing both his alleged Jan. 6 misdeeds and his decision to take highly classified national security documents to Mar-a-Lago. And did I mention that Trump’s scandalous business enterprise is also actively on trial right now in New York on fraud charges? And that his former White House chief of staff, just this week, accused him of illegally trying to weaponize the Internal Revenue Service?”
The End of Trump? | Susan B. Glasser, New Yorker “...There has been a surprisingly bipartisan consensus this week about the advisability of Trump running again: Democrats and an increasing number of Republicans now seem to agree they’d prefer that he not do so. Sixty-five per cent of Republicans in that Politico/Morning Consult poll, in fact, said they didn’t really want Trump to run again in 2024. But so what? He is running, and their lack of enthusiasm for Trump never stopped them from voting for him before. Donald Trump does not care if they don’t like him. He does not care if you call him a liar, a cheat, a fraud, and a huckster. But, as the past two years have shown, he is willing to do anything, including blow up the foundations of American democracy, if you declare him a loser. ”
Attorney General Merrick Garland names Jack Smith special counsel in Trump criminal probes | Dan Mangan, CNBC “U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday named former federal prosecutor Jack Smith as special counsel for two ongoing criminal investigations by the Department of Justice of former President Donald Trump.Smith’s appointment came three days after Trump, a Republican, announced plans to run for president in 2024. Trump’s move directly led to Garland’s decision to appoint a special counsel, who will recommend whether criminal charges should be lodged against the ex-president.”
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced to 11 years in prison by a California judge after a multiple year trial. She is set to begin serving in spring of 2024.
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for felony fraud | Ethan Baron, The Mercury News “A judge has sentenced charismatic Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes to more than 11 years in prison following her conviction for felony fraud in one of the most closely and widely watched trials in Silicon Valley history. Holmes, 38, who is pregnant and the mother of a 15-month-old son, will not have to surrender to prison authorities until April 27. She is expected to appeal a jury’s January verdict that found she had defrauding investors out of more than $144 million — with total losses pegged by federal authorities at more than $800 million.”
People seem angry at billionaires these days:
Opinion | This Week, Billionaires Made a Strong Case for Abolishing Themselves: Anand Giridharadas via The New York Times “It is a commendable sacrifice on their part, because billionaires, remember, exist at our collective pleasure. If enough of us decided to, we could enact labor, tax, antitrust and regulatory policies to make it hard for anyone to amass that much wealth while so many beg for scraps. It is not only the vast political power of billionaires that keeps us keeping them around, it’s also the popular embrace of certain myths — about the generosity, the genius, the renegade spirit, the above-it-ness of billionaires, to name a few.”
Billionaires like Elon Musk want to save civilization by having tons of genetically superior kids. Inside the movement to take 'control of human evolution.' | Julia Black, Insider “What these movements all have in common is a fixation on the future. And as that future starts to look more and more apocalyptic to some of the world's wealthiest people, the idea of pronatalism starts to look more heroic. It's a proposition uniquely suited to Silicon Valley's brand of hubris: If humanity is on the brink, and they alone can save us, then they owe it to society to replicate themselves as many times as possible.”
Billionaires emit a million times more greenhouse gases than the average person: Oxfam | Hannah Ward-Glenton, CNBC “The investments of 125 billionaires produce 393 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year, according to a report by Oxfam. That’s the equivalent CO2 output to the whole of France and makes the average billionaire’s annual emissions a million times higher than a person in the poorest 90% of the world’s population, the global poverty charity says.
The wealthiest 10% of Americans own a record 89% of all U.S. stocks | Robert Frank, CNBC “The top 1% gained more than $6.5 trillion in corporate equities and mutual fund wealth during the Covid-19 pandemic, while the bottom 90% added $1.2 trillion, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. The share of corporate equities and mutual funds owned by the top 10% reached the record high in the second quarter, while the bottom 90% of Americans held about 11% of individually held stocks, down from 12% before the pandemic."
Psychedelic mushrooms are now decriminalized in Colorado thanks to a voter initiative. And while not everybody agrees the text of the law might be the best foot forward, Coloradoans and tourists now have a lot to look forward to in the new legal and regulatory landscape that will shape how psychedelics are accessed by the general public.
Colorado voters decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms | Thomas Peipert, Associated Press “Colorado voters have passed a ballot initiative to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms for people 21 and older and to create state-regulated “healing centers” where participants can experience the drug under supervision. Colorado becomes the second state, after Oregon, to vote to establish a regulated system for substances like psilocybin and psilocin, the hallucinogens found in some mushrooms. The initiative, which would take effect in 2024, also will allow an advisory board to add other plant-based psychedelic drugs to the program in 2026.”
Colorado Voters Legalize Magic Mushrooms and Other Hallucinogenics | Anthony Martinelli, The Marijuana Herald “Proposition 122 legalizes the personal use and possession of several hallucinogenic/entheogenic plants and fungi for those 21 and older. Those include: dimethyltryptamine (DMT); Ibogaine; mescaline (excluding peyote); psilocybin; and Psilocyn. In addition to decriminalizing the possession and use of these substances, the initiative would make it so that anyone who was previously convicted for the personal use or possession of such psychedelic plants and fungi would be able to file a petition asking a court to seal the record of the conviction, if they’ve completed their sentence.”
So, quite a lot of news recently. If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading. I don’t expect the same volume of big stories to keep happening; but in today’s world you never know.
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Thank you and have a wonderful day,
Andrew