the weekly rundown

as part of our plans for world media domination, we’re incredibly excited to unveil our revamped website - theweeklyrundown.us - and a new weekly blog, hottakes! unlike twitter and your average newspaper’s oped section, we’re planning on doing some actual research here before proclaiming that Sesame Street is just a cover for a secret FBI sting operation targeting furries. 

expect lengthier articles published each wednesday directly to our website instead of emailed out, sometimes related to the news, sometimes not. we figured we’d start out with a super chill topic no one ever has opinions on - the origins of the arab israeli conflict .

big idea: progressives cry themselves to sleep

1. progressives lost a special primary election for a house seat in ohio this week. this followed similar defeats against moderate dems in recent weeks in new mexico, louisiana, virginia, and new york city. these losses came despite progressive luminaries like uncle Bernie and AOC endorsing and stumping for their losing candidates. most of these defeats weren’t even that close, with the ohio election ending in a six-point margin.
2. what’s particularly interesting is that these winning ‘moderate’ candidates are fairly left of center and embraced progressive talking points, like a $15 minimum wage, a permanent child tax credit, and medicare for all. what separated them from their progressive counterparts was mostly their tamer rhetoric, less flashy style, and unwillingness to insult the democratic party or Joe. turns out hating on a septuagenarian with aviators just comes off as elder abuse, not campaigning. 
3. progressives seem intent on looking down at the democratic base of black and minority voters and working class whites instead of earning their votes. they keep blaming money and advertising for their losses, despite their chosen candidate in ohio outraising her moderate opponent by more than a 2:1 margin. we’ll see if progressives learn anything from their defeats in time for 2022’s big redistricting fights.

story to watch: Apple spies on iCloud users

1. Apple is receiving considerable flak over its plan to begin scanning images uploaded to its iCloud service (including those taken on iPhones and iPads) for child pornography. if these illegal images are found on a user’s account by its algorithms, a human will verify the results and notify law enforcement. Facebook-owned WhatsApp has already criticized the move - who knew Facebook could ever be so right?
2. privacy advocates are disappointed because it essentially ends Apple’s promises of end-to-end encryption and that “what happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone”. this method could be weaponized by authoritarian regimes around the world which Apple has happily complied with in the past, like china. governments could order Apple to use its algorithms to target images of political dissent. experts analyzing Apple’s technical setup for this think it’s a way to view images, even if they’re encrypted.
3. the question here really is do the ends justify the means? can corporations decide which crimes are so heinous they’ll use your supposedly private data to turn you into the cops? what’s next - images of not wearing masks indoors? people breaking probation rules? kids skipping school? us shamefully chowing down on a Taco Bell black bean chalupa at midnight on a tuesday?

this week’s image: america as you’ve never seen it

• (FCC) the FCC released a map of the US - highlighting the 4G coverage of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. finally, the proof we needed to hate on AT&T’s garbage reception.

this week’s number: $37k racial equity difference

1. a recent analysis found that among workers who own shares in their employers, black employees typically own $36,764 less in equity than their white counterparts. the gap between latino and white employees was $29,197.
2. reasons for these gaps include discriminatory hiring practices (eg look at how many black engineers work in silicon valley), less financial and negotiation literacy in minority populations, and less access to capital (companies may require workers to pay money upfront to join equity programs). equitable ownership of stocks is one of the best ways to ensure wealth is distributed more equally than in the past, and companies are failing miserably at this. 

what we’re watching: “Ted Lasso”

1. “Ted Lasso”, the surprise (and only) hit on Apple+ is back for season two, and you can bet we’re watching it. the emmy nominated comedy stars Jason Sudeikis as a lovable but clownish american football coach attempting to coach a british soccer club. the show first premiered last year during the heart of the pandemic, delivering a much needed dose of folksy charm and optimism. 
2. so far, the second season keeps to the recipe which made the first season so deliciously heartwarming - and we can’t wait to see how the rest of the season...plays out

and, in case you missed it:

• new york’s auto show, one of the industry’s largest, was cancelled due to concerns over the delta variant
• scientists are predicting emperor penguins will be virtually extinct by 2100 due to climate change
• some old, mean white guy from new york sexually assaulted women he employed. surprise, surprise?

the weekly rundown is produced by Yunus, Faisal, and Ahmed. learn more about us and email us your comments and feedback!

we've always felt that it's creepy when facebook reminds us when we've been friends with someone for 10 years. we don't really mind that they know that fact, just that they've reminded us of how old we are. we hope us reminding you that TWR is now 25 issues in doesn’t make you feel old, but we do hope this special occasion encourages you to refer a friend. we still have groovy thank you gifts available, so grab some before they change this fall!

big idea: roll up that sleeve...if you haven’t already

1. the CDC revised its astonishingly confusing mask guidelines this week, recommending that everyone in high risk areas, including vaccinated individuals, wear masks. this dramatic shift came as new data revealed the delta variant is as infectious as chickenpox, may result in worse illnesses, and vaccinated people who catch it can still spread it (even though they won’t really get sick from it).
2. that’s a lot to unpack, but it’s clear that both public and private sector employers are requiring their employees to get vaccinated as a result. Walmart, Disney, Ford, Google, Morgan Stanley, the federal government, and the military have all announced that some or all of its workers must get vaccinated and/or face weekly COVID testing. some large public universities have also followed suit, and school districts in blue states may follow.
3. employers and Joe are trying to walk a fine line. heavy-handed tactics will likely only push dummies who refuse to get vaccinated even further away from reason, but the reality is the US is losing this latest battle against COVID. european and canadian vaccination rates are higher than ours. even bhutan (one of the poorest countries in the world) managed to vaccinate 90% of its adult population in a week, and those nurses literally had to climb mountains to get it done.

story to watch: scarjo sues Disney

1. Scarlett Johansson, star of the Marvel-produced flop “Black Widow”, is suing Disney for releasing her film on Disney+ at the same time as its theatrical release. she allegedly lost up to $50 million in bonuses because Disney+ took away from box office totals, which hollywood bonuses are tied to.
2. it’s hard to have sympathy for either party here. Johansson already made $20 million off the movie, and Disney’s stock is trading near all time highs. it’s more than likely this dispute will end in private arbitration or a negotiated settlement, but for the time being it’s fun imagining why a super-spy needs lawyers to fight her battles.
3. however, this lawsuit is likely a bellwether for the larger entertainment industry, including the likes of Netflix and Amazon. how should stars be compensated now that people don’t buy movie tickets and companies don’t pay for TV advertising? 
4. Warner Bros solved this problem by spending a whopping $250 million on actor payoffs when it moved its 2021 movie lineup to HBO Max, and will likely continue to shower cash on talent starring in upcoming movies to be released directly onto that streaming platform. Disney clearly just doesn’t want to spend that much on paying actors, though to be fair, all they're doing is playing make-believe.

this week’s image: baby tiger king

• (BBC) in honor of global tiger day on thursday, we present a tiger cub cuddling with his mama

this week’s number: maine spends $17.5 million on recycling annually

1. maine passed a groundbreaking law last week intended to recoup the about $17.5 million taxpayers spend funding recycling programs annually. the law establishes an extended producer responsibility program, which will essentially charge large manufacturers and distributors of products for the cost of recycling the packaging their products are sold in.
2. this type of program is already used in the US for products like mattresses and car batteries, but maine is extending it to virtually all consumer products. similar laws were passed years ago in europe and canada, resulting in recycling rates doubling or tripling in some countries.

what we’re reading: “Amusing Ourselves to Death”

1. listen, we can’t have an entire story on the entertainment industry without also plugging the classic societal critique “Amusing Ourselves to Death”. a 206-page read, the author argues that TV has fundamentally degraded our ability to inform ourselves, with even news becoming sources of entertainment, not information.
2. even though this was published over 30 years ago, this is still frighteningly prescient in the age of social media, reality TV presidents, streaming platforms, and endless email newsletters ;)

and, in case you missed it:

• for the first time since 1998, GM wasn’t america’s top selling car brand, with Toyota edging it out due to the ongoing chip shortage
• our favorite aardvark, Arthur, is going off the air, with PBS announcing it is ending the beloved children’s show after 25 wonderful years
• a llama is on the run in ontario, apparently deciding he’s had enough of all that poutine, and making for the border

the weekly rundown is produced by Yunus, Faisal, and Ahmed. learn more about us and email us your comments and feedback!

we hit up four parties last weekend, and we realized how much we missed...well, actual human interaction. let's not kid ourselves folks - before COVID, we just made excuses to stay home, but now we're all social butterflies. who knew it would just take a global pandemic to get us out of our cocoons? if you got another hot party invite, email us!

big idea: the olympics are...happening...

1. the 2020 olympics started this week - we won’t harp on the fact that it is 2021. we wouldn’t blame you if you thought these olympics would never happen after they were delayed by a year (costing nearly $3 billion), the chair of the organizing committee was forced to resign after making sexist remarks, tokyo being in the midst of a COVID lockdown resulting in no spectators at events, and 55% of the japanese public wishing the games just wouldn’t happen. now, we don’t really believe in omens, but none of that can be good luck.
2. closer to home, Comcast-owned NBC is still hoping people tune in to watch everything. they spent more than $1.1 billion on the rights to exclusively broadcast all the events in the US on its networks and its streaming platforms, NBC Olympics and Peacock. 
3. Peacock’s launch last summer was supposed to coincide with the tokyo 2020 games, which obviously didn’t happen. NBC is betting big that the postponed games will still generate subscriptions and interest in its service, which with fewer than 10 million paying subscribers, is running far behind rivals like Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max.

story to watch: crisis in south africa

1. reader S.K. reached out and asked us to explain the turmoil in south africa, where earlier this month former president Jacob Zuma was imprisoned and as a result riots broke out, costing over 300 lives and $1 billion in damages. Zuma resigned in 2018 amid corruption allegations, and he was imprisoned for not cooperating with that investigation. this whole episode is seen as a test of the rule of law in south africa, which became a democracy less than 30 years ago.
2. it is clear that Zuma is guilty of corruption, but he still controls parts of the state security apparatus, which makes quelling this violence all the more difficult. police largely refused to stop the rioting, prompting the government to send in 25,000 troops, the largest deployment since the end of apartheid. while the rioting stopped in recent days, the economic damage is immense, with one province’s entire supply chain essentially destroyed.
3. it is also clear that Zuma instigated the riots as a message to the government, in hopes they would end his prosecution. that’s not to say that south africans don’t have reason to be upset - unemployment among young people is 75% and the country is in the midst of a third COVID lockdown. unfortunately though, we should probably expect more violence as Zuma’s trial resumes next month and a conviction seems inevitable. whether the government can maintain rule of law by both imprisoning Zuma and maintaining order on the streets is the billion dollar question.

this week’s image: peace for eid

• (BBC) a girl in nigeria celebrates eid-ul-adha on tuesday. if only we had her flair...

this week’s number: food’s real cost is 3x the price tag

1. a study released this week found that for every $1 an american spends on food, they incur an additional $2 in societal costs, which means the “true cost” of food is three times what you’d expect. poor nutrition leads to about an additional dollar of healthcare spending, and destructive agricultural practices lead to about another dollar worth of environmental damage. we knew we’d regret that late night Taco Bell run eventually...
2. it should come as no surprise that these costs are unequally shared. black americans are exposed to air pollution 41% more than whites, and are 1.7x more likely to have diabetes. we hope this report will encourage policymakers to consider the real cost of food when revamping programs like food stamps and farm subsidies.

what we’re making: smashburgers

1. it’s summer and some of us got some fresh meat this week - which can only mean burgers!  with help from our friends over at Serious Eats, we made ultra-thin, crispy smashburgers with homemade shack sauce on pillowy-soft Martin’s potato rolls with some baby spinach and sliced pickles.
2. this is the perfect burger for those monsters people in your family who prefer their meat well-done, and can be made outdoors on a grill or indoors in your favorite skillet

and, in case you missed it:

• following up from a story in issue 22, OPEC+ agreed to increase oil production with the UAE getting a bigger share of the pie than it otherwise would’ve
• Ben & Jerry’s will stop selling ice cream in illegal israeli settlements in occupied palestine
• vaccinated americans will be able to travel to canada starting august ninth, a privilege which won’t be immediately reciprocated for vaccinated canadians, more evidence that canada is thirsty as heck

the weekly rundown is produced by Yunus, Faisal (@faisalc93), and Ahmed (@ahmedhcheema). learn more about us and email us your comments and feedback!

readers, know it took all our self-control not to spend this entire issue talking about how soccer’s racist and penalty kicks are stupid. our better angels won out, especially when we remembered we’re sponsoring a local soccer team and all the hate mail we got when we bashed college sports in issue 18. if you’d like to hear that soccer rant anyways, kick us an email!

big idea: uncle sam rolls out child tax credit

1. as part of Joe’s march stimulus package, 35 million families began receiving up to $300 per month, per child this week. this is the biggest anti-poverty step the US has taken in decades, with 90% of families expected to benefit and childhood poverty expected to drop by half. we know uncle sam is usually that creepy uncle who spies on you, but this eid he remembered to bring some cash to buy your love.
2. the stimulus bill only funded the program until december. dems are hoping that once americans get used to seeing those monthly checks, they’ll demand their GOP congressmen renew the tax credits indefinitely. the chances of that are fairly good right now - nothing riles up republicans like democrats claiming to be pro-family. it’s policies like these which could encourage americans to have more babies, something we discussed in issue 12.
3. this is also a bit of a social experiment. policymakers are hoping that providing this money on a monthly basis (instead of in a lump sum when you file your taxes) will stabilize living situations and encourage parents to spend on their kids.
4. this $110 billion is the last big bucket of stimulus money to slosh around in our economy, so expect some knock-on effects. grocery stores like Target and clothing retailers like Nike have said they expect the cash to boost back-to-school sales. 

story to watch: carbon tariffs are the hot new carbon tax

1. in preparation for the next climate summit this november in glasgow, china, the EU, and senate dems all released longterm green infrastructure plans this week. the european and american plans both include proposals for implementing carbon tariffs, a newish concept which will likely play a big role in future trade wars.
2. the idea is for the US & EU to impose import taxes (tariffs) on high-carbon products (like steel, cement, and fertilizer) produced overseas. production of these items are moving to developing nations which don’t force companies to abide by pollution or carbon controls. by imposing a tariff, the US & EU would be leveling the playing field for domestic companies which do follow those laws and have higher costs as a result.
3. passing and implementing such a system would be incredibly complex and take the better part of a decade, but could theoretically reduce carbon emissions instead of just shifting them to poorer countries. the hope among some environmentalists is just the threat of such tariffs will be enough for third world countries to move more quickly on regulating carbon markets.

this week’s image: photojournalist killed

• (NPR) pulitzer-prize winning photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed by taliban crossfire on friday. he was known for his work covering the rohingya refugee crisis, the wars in iraq & afghanistan, and india’s pandemic response.

this week’s number: 68% of far-right TV watchers are vaccine hesitant

1. a recent study found that 68% of republicans who watch far-right TV outlets like Newsmax or OANN are either vaccine hesitant or refuse to get vaccinated. compare that to 45% of republicans who watch Fox News, or 27% of all democrats.
2. while Joe is right in that social media platforms are “killing people” with vaccine misinformation, it’s also true that these extremist TV networks are doing the same, and there’s statistical evidence to prove so. if you’re still vaccine hesitant, we hope you know you’d probably fit in well at a maga rally.

what we’re...not...watching: “Black Widow”

1. “Black Widow”, the latest Marvel blockbuster, was released last weekend in theaters and on Disney+, and...well to be honest, we still haven’t bothered watching it. has Marvel’s spell over pop culture finally popped? 
2. Disney revealed less than 2% of its Disney+ subscribers watched it, and only about eight million movie tickets were sold, an anemic number for Marvel. there are a variety of theories as to why superhero movies were so popular for the last 10+ years, but it’ll be interesting to see if COVID changes any of that. while we’re waiting to figure that out, please excuse us as we go complete our Iron Man Lego set.

and, in case you missed it:

• some rich white dude flew really high into the sky last week, and another rich white dude is gonna try this week
• the EU has ruled it is totally okay and not at all islamophobic for companies to fire women wearing hijab
• plans to convert the tunnel between detroit and ontario into a COVID vaccination clinic were cancelled by canada’s health ministry. remind us again why single payer systems are so great?

the weekly rundown is produced by Yunus, Faisal, and Ahmed. learn more about us and email us your comments and feedback!

we were walking down the street the other night, and all of a sudden - two youths were blocking our path! before we knew it, our phone, laptop, and wallet had been stolen (don’t worry, no one was hurt). we only wish we could’ve told our muggers thank you for wearing facemasks. have something you wish you could tell us? email us today!

big idea: is inflation here to stay?

1. no, you’re not going crazy - that bag of skittles cost more than it did last year, and that box of cereal magically shrunk overnight. everyone is talking about inflation, and we figured we could break that down this week.
2. the big fear is that these price hikes will become an unfortunate cycle. people think that their money will be worth less next quarter, so they choose to spend their money now, increasing demand for goods. that increase in demand results in higher prices, which makes people think their money is worth less. it’s an inflationary cycle which the US was stuck in for the 1970’s (something else we can hate hippies for). we’re already seeing signs of this as grocery stores report higher than normal inventories as they hoard nonperishable items which may go up in price.
3. the question is whether we can compare now to the 70’s, and there are similarities but also differences. yes, there has been an influx of cash into the economy from the stimulus bills and wages are increasing, but part of the reason the 70’s were so bad was because the fed was afraid to raise interest rates and there was a hangover from WWII price controls. 
4. for now though, the fed is signaling that they could start pulling back on stimulus measures and low interest rates as early as next year. inflation is a bit of a mind game - if consumers think their dollar will be worth the same tomorrow as it is today, it will be!

story to watch: cracks in OPEC+

1. OPEC+, the cartel which controls the oil sector, had an acrimonious meeting last week, ending with no agreement on future oil production. OPEC+ drastically cut the rate of pumping oil out of the ground last year when COVID hit, and now the question is how fast to undo those cuts. oil has been trading at higher prices, and hit a nearly seven-year record after the cartel meeting broke up. 
2. the UAE is challenging saudi’s and russia’s leadership roles in the group, and wants to raise production levels more quickly than planned. the UAE has cut its production by a third for the past year, much more than other cartel members, and isn’t happy with the status quo. they want to pump as much oil as possible while the world is still hooked on fossil fuels. they plan to use those massive profits to diversify their economy - plans put on hold because of the cartel. 
3. if talks don’t resume soon, expect oil prices to rise further as supply is artificially constrained. there’s also a non-zero chance this disagreement will split apart OPEC+, with russia choosing to go its own way. it’s hard to figure out which murderous, earth-destroying dictator to root for in this story, huh?

this week’s image: aliens do exist

• (The Atlantic) an alien roller skates down the street in Roswell during the UFO Festival

this week’s number: DOJ prosecutes just 17% of hate crimes

1. the justice department released a report this week finding that between 2005 and 2019, prosecutors charged just 17% of suspects in hate crime cases, mostly due to insufficient evidence. there are signs of change though - that percentage was 48% between just 2015 and 2019, and about 85% of those prosecuted were found guilty.
2. most hate crimes end up getting tried at the state level, where laws vary dramatically. conservatives often argue that hate crime laws criminalize ideological thought, while liberals cry in a corner because they don’t know how to win local elections.

what we’re reading: “Mine!”

1. who knew we would ever call a 336-page book by a couple of lawyers about the minutiae of property law a fun and engaging read? “Mine!” is one of those few treasures which will transform the way you view the world, and who owns what.
2. the authors dive into today’s deep questions like who decides if you can recline your airplane seat, who owns the air above your home, and who truly owns that ebook you just bought on Amazon? it’s a delightful read which we can’t recommend enough.

and, in case you missed it:

• the groundbreaking black journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones will join Howard’s faculty after UNC flip-flopped on giving her tenure
• the FDA revised prescribing instructions for a new Alzhemier’s drug which caused an uproar when it was approved, as we discussed in issue 18
• Mary Simon was appointed Canada’s governor-general, the first indigious person ever to serve as head of state. now they just gotta get rid of their queen to join the 21st century, eh?

the weekly rundown is produced by Yunus, Faisal, and Ahmed. learn more about us and email us your comments and feedback!

our intrepid, impossibly consistent, and annoyingly OCD editor is partying it up in dubai this weekend, so don’t be surprised by any spelling or grammar mistakes this week. if you’re bored this independence day, feel free to email us a complaint anyways.

big idea: america gives up on afghanistan

1. as we discussed in issue 10, Joe is desperately trying to untangle the US from the war in afghanistan, and that took a huge step forward this week. the last remaining american and coalition forces unceremoniously, and (literally) under the cover of dark left the country.
2. apart from about a thousand american and turkish troops left to guard the american embassy and international airport in kabul, this is the first time in nearly two decades afghanistan is without western troops. this is despite the taliban controlling nearly 20% of the country’s military districts, including border crossings in the north, and little progress on a peace deal after years of negotiations. experts put the chances of the afghan government remaining in control of kabul at just 50% over the next few months.
3. it’s clear Joe and his team planned all this out to be as low key as possible. the troops completed their withdrawal just before a holiday weekend in the states when nobody would be paying attention, and the administration has released few other details on their future policy for the region. Joe knows there are no good options for anyone involved, and is coldly calculating that most americans won’t care if afghanistan devolves into a civil war.

story to watch: Facebook wins big in court

1. Facebook notched a huge win in court this week, with a federal judge throwing out landmark cases against it. the cases, which argued Facebook was a monopoly and should be split up, were filed last year by 46 states and the FTC. the judge has given the FTC some time to refile with new evidence, but the states’ case was dismissed entirely for waiting too long after Facebook bought WhatsApp and Instagram.
2. while we have no doubt that the FTC, under new aggressive leadership, will try their darndest to take Facebook down, it’s unclear that the courts will agree with the popular sentiment that these big tech companies are monopolies.
3. the cleaner and faster way to rein in big tech is for congress to act, not for the court system. current antitrust laws date back nearly a century, when the monopolies we were worried about traded oil and ran railroads. the internet age has made those laws obsolete, and the only way to update them is through legislation.
4. various House committees approved a number of bills last week to curb big tech’s power, but it’ll take time and political capital for them to become law. many of the bills have bipartisan support in the House, but the Senate will be the real challenge to watch

this week’s image: mud fight!

• (The Atlantic) farmers near kathmandu celebrate the beginning of the farming season with a huge mud fight

this week’s number: wages rise 3.6%

1. the june jobs report was released friday, showing not only did wages rise by 3.6% year-over-year, but also that 850k people went back to work. we’ve finally reached the point in the economic recovery where businesses are willing to pay higher wages in order to entice people out of their homes and into workplaces.
2. blue-collar companies are using hiring incentives traditionally reserved for white-collar workers, like signing bonuses, retention bonuses, and even gift cards just for showing up to interviews. who knew McDonald’s could be so thirsty?

what we’re making: chocolate coconut caramel cookie cake

1. a cookie cake inspired by our nation’s founding (jk, everyone knows july fourth isn’t the real independence day, right?) this hedonistic indulgence does fit in well with the weekend’s celebrations. it’s a giant brown sugar cookie slathered in melted milk chocolate, layered with toasted coconut flakes, and finished with homemade cajeta caramel. 
2. we’d offer to share some, but...it somehow disappeared just after this picture was taken

and, in case you missed it:

• the supreme court continued its hard right turn by overturning the voting rights act, limiting union organization efforts, and encouraging the flow of secret money into politics
• state prosecutors in New York indicted the Trump Organization and its CFO, arguing they illegally avoided taxes for years
• Joe has clinched a deal with over 100 countries on a global minimum corporate tax rate, a development we discussed in issue 9
• the airline industry is back baby, with United making its largest-ever airplane purchase, and American, Delta, and United desperately hiring anyone with a pulse and willing to get their feet run over by oversized carry-on luggage

the weekly rundown is produced by Yunus, Faisal (@faisalc93), and Ahmed (@ahmedhcheema). learn more about us and email us your comments and feedback!

we were with our niece recently, and she started playing with Frozen flashcards (one of her fav toys, despite her being terrified of the movie itself). we commented that our favorite character was the snowman, and she immediately corrected us by saying “his name is Olaffff!!” please, be like our niece and correct us when we’re wrong via email.

big idea: building collapses near miami

1. a twelve-story apartment building collapsed near miami on thursday, killing at least four, with over 150 additional people missing. search and rescue teams are battling heavy rain and a structural fire. hopes are dimming, as it is exceedingly rare to find survivors of such events after a few days.
2. the billion dollar question is why the building collapsed. severe damage to its concrete supports and foundations from sea water and salt air were discovered in 2018, and never fixed. the property also seems to have been sinking into the ground faster than neighboring areas since the 1990s.
3. while it’s far too soon to blame climate change for this disaster, we should expect similar stories in the years to come because of warming temperatures. miami is discussing building a twenty foot high sea wall to protect itself from rising seas and worse hurricanes along some of its most valuable beachfront land. 
4. a recent study found that a whopping 60% of all buildings in the US are located in weather-related disaster hotspots. this type of risky construction is only on the rise, despite additional wildfires (on the west coast), tornados (in the plains), and hurricanes & flooding (on the east coast). time for everyone to pack up and move to the midwest, huh?
5. local governments, which are responsible for zoning laws, are the least likely to prevent irresponsible building because they are the most dependent on property taxes and new development. miami-dade county is already facing scrutiny over its inspection practices after this week’s tragic accident.

story to watch: fake reviews online are everywhere

1. with Amazon’s prime days this week ending below expectations, we’re taking a look at a related story - fake online reviews. the UK is launching investigations of both Google and Amazon for failing to remove fake reviews. Amazon recently removed a number of its top third-party sellers, including Aukey and Mpow, for paying customers for positive reviews.
2. this is a huge problem which no one wants to talk about, especially Amazon. analysts estimate 20 to 70% of some products’ reviews could be fake or paid for. a study found that Amazon typically takes 100 days to remove a bad actor from its marketplace, but that’s plenty of time for sellers to make a ton of money. turns out flying to space is easier than managing online comments, huh daddy Bezos?
3. fake reviews aren’t going away any time soon, so readers are advised to take time and read through reviews, rather than rely on the average star ratings. sites like Fakespot.com can also be used to recalculate star ratings, with the fake and paid reviews taken out of the mix.

this week’s image: tracking Bambi

• (BBC) scientists mark and release a newborn deer in ireland. we think it was part of a study, but who knows what those leprechauns get up to.

this week’s number: 99.2% of May COVID deaths were unvaccinated

1. in May, 99.2% of the 18,000 deaths caused by COVID in the US were unvaccinated individuals. while some people may be forgiving and call these deaths tragic, we’re going to call them idiotic. go get your vaccine, dummy.
2. unfortunately, some of these deaths probably were tragic - there’s a small number of people with allergies to vaccine components who can’t get vaccinated, and some immunocompromised people in whom the vaccines may not fully work. so, once again, go get your vaccine, dummy.

what we’re watching: “Conan”

1. after 28 years and over 4,000 daily episodes, Conan O’Brien wrapped up his historic run as a weeknight talk show host on thursday. unlike the more popular Stephen Colbert and John Oliver, Conan focused on more absurdist and physical comedy. as he elegantly stated, he’s spent his whole life exploring the intersection of “smart and stupid”.
2. we’ll miss Conan, especially his remotes, his staff pieces, and his overseas trips, but not all is lost. he’s planning a weekly show on HBO Max, to begin in 2022. until then, we’ll just have to settle for playing with our giant Conan bobblehead.

and, in case you missed it:

• the ex-cop who murdered George Floyd was sentenced to 22 years in prison, and is now facing additional federal civil rights charges
• Microsoft unveiled Windows 11, to be released as a free upgrade later this year. it’s teaming up with Amazon to bring Android apps to PCs.
• it took three florida cops to get an alligator out from underneath a vending machine this week. the gator was apparently trying to shake free his stuck bag of M&Ms.

the weekly rundown is produced by Yunus, Faisal (@faisalc93), and Ahmed (@ahmedhcheema). learn more about us and email us your comments and feedback!

we were eating korean bbq the other night with a group of besties (and one acquaintance), and all of a sudden - bang! turns out some dude shot at our restaurant’s window, then ran off into the night. normally this is where we’d put a cheesy transition in asking for readers to refer a friend and earn yummy prizes, but we can’t think of one this week...we just really wanted to tell this story. got a problem with that? email us your comments 😉 !

big idea: juneteenth is official

1. we’d say we purposefully planned our nineteenth issue to come out around juneteenth, but let’s be real here - we’re not that smart. Joe signed a bipartisan bill to make it a federal holiday, the first new one in about 40 years. saturday celebrated the US emancipation, marking when slaves in texas were freed by union soldiers, two months after the civil war ended. last year, hundreds of national companies began recognizing juneteenth amid the BLM movement.
2. republicans largely backed the measure since it is mostly performative, especially when considering the backdrop of state republicans across the nation moving to restrict what history can be taught in schools. as usual, conservatives want to embrace a nostalgic view of ‘murica which glosses over the genocide of native americans and the enslavement of black americans.
3. activists who pushed for decades for the establishment of juneteenth as a holiday have moved onto bigger targets, like passing a new voting rights act through the senate, ending prison labor (the last form of legal forced labor), and establishing a famous black folk song as the national hymn. 

story to watch: the FTC has a new boss

1. Lina Khan was named the new head of the Federal Trade Commission, the agency most responsible for policing large national businesses in the US. she has promised to be radically transformative, pushing antitrust and consumer protection laws to their limits to go after big tech, including breaking up companies like Amazon. 
2. if she has the backing of other FTC commissioners, she will be able to block mergers and acquisitions, and sue companies to undo previous mergers. in related news, several bills were introduced last week to limit the power of big tech, some with bipartisan support.
3. don’t expect big tech to go down without a fight though. they’ve already come swinging at Lina Khan, demanding she recuse herself from any FTC decisions relating to tech companies, and reverting to the sinophobic talking point that big Chinese tech companies will take over the world if the American tech sector is regulated.

this week’s image: baby university

• (Twitter) a professor bought a crib for his office so one of his students can bring her baby into lab when she can’t find a sitter. 

this week’s number: the average vehicle age is 12 years old

1. the average age of an american vehicle hit an all time high of 12 years in 2020, as the quality of cars improve, people become more willing to stick with cars for longer, and as new cars become increasingly unaffordable. the average new car sold for more than $38,000 last month, also a record high.
2. this trend is only likely to continue into the future, as cars receive software updates online, further lengthening their lifespan, and as EVs take over. electric cars have far fewer moving parts than traditional internal combustion engines, which again will result in longer lifespans. as car companies sell fewer new cars, they’ll increase prices to compensate, which will only further depress demand.

what we’re reading: “The Ride of a Lifetime”

1. the NYT bestselling memoir by Disney’s former CEO, “The Ride of a Lifetime” will appeal to anyone interested in entertainment, corporate strategy, or the company behind big hits like Cars 2. it tracks Disney’s meteoric rise over the past two decades as it gobbled up Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox. 
2. soon to be released - the Disney+ book adaptation which portrays its CEO as a complicated antihero who wants to take over all global entertainment, but for good reasons, okay!

reader mailbag:

1. last week we really went after college athletes, and (as expected) we received quite an earful, along with a couple swirlies. reader S.M. in particular took issue with our treatment of these living crash test dummies. 
2. to clarify, we don’t really care if these students are paid or not - just that they shouldn’t be in the academic system to begin with. let the free market decide (via amateur leagues) what these guys & gals are worth, not a monopoly of money-losing athletics departments.

and, in case you missed it:

• iran has a new conservative president, and israel has a new hardliner PM (as we discussed in issue 17)
• 50 cops resigned from portland’s riot squad in fear protest after one of them was charged for using excessive force
• a florida man accidentally bought his town’s water tower for $55,000

the weekly rundown is produced by Yunus, Faisal (@faisalc93), and Ahmed (@ahmedhcheema). learn more about us and email us your comments and feedback!

it was a crazy busy week, with Joe and auntie Kamala abroad, all those cicadas scaring the living daylights out of our east coast readers, and that French dude getting slapped in the face. so, we’ll be skipping our usual “what we’re reading” section today - it’s not like any of you have actually been buying our recommended books anyways 😉

big idea: surprise - rich people don’t pay taxes

1. ProPublica got a hold of fifteen years of tax returns from thousands of america’s richest people, and they told us what everyone already knew - rich people don’t pay anywhere near their fair share of income taxes. the average ‘murican pays a 14% tax rate, while the richest 25 americans pay a tax rate of...3.4%.
2. daddy Bezos claimed to be so poor in 2011 that he claimed a child tax credit of $4000, which was designed to help low and middle class americans with the costs of raising families - despite his wealth increasing by $18 billion that year.
3. these fat cats sidestep income tax by using their stock holdings and other investments as collateral for loans. they then pay for their extravagant lifestyles (and/or more investments) with that borrowed money, and - wait for it - deduct the interest on their loans from their taxes.
4. nothing we’ve mentioned so far is illegal, and that’s really the problem here. expect this to amp up calls for a wealth tax from progressives in DC, among other tax reform ideas. republicans, as always, are focused on the wrong issue - they want to know who leaked these tax reports, probably because they’re afraid their donors will be the next targets.

story to watch: college athletes are gonna be $$$

1. the senate held hearings this week on potential federal legislation to allow college athletes to prostitute themselves to big business to license their names and likenesses. in a nutshell, that means that kid who got into UMich with a 2.9 high school GPA because he knew how to throw an inflated orange ball at an elevated metal hoop can become a TikTok influencer and sell branded CBD oil from a local dispensary.
2. well...it’s clear what we think about this. colleges shouldn’t be in the business of athletics, and all these NCAA teams should be spun off into independent amateur leagues (like how hockey and baseball work). universities lose tens of millions of dollars a year on their athletics programs, and now it looks like the student-athletes will be able to get in on the scam too.
3. it’s unlikely any federal legislation will be passed soon, but expect movement by the end of this month from state legislatures and the NCAA. some states have already legalized college athletes putting themselves up on OnlyFans, and universities are pushing for a uniform set of rules for everyone to play by.

this week’s image: terrorist attack in canada

• (AP) a mother talks to her daughter at the site of the fatal terrorist attack against muslims in london, canada this week. 
• three generations of a single family were killed when a radical extremist drove over five people crossing the street. while the perpetrator has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder, no terrorism charges have been filed. canadian muslims are rightfully outraged, as no terrorism charges were ever filed against the quebec city mosque shooter, who killed six people in 2017, either.

this week’s number: new alzheimer’s drug will cost $56k

1. the FDA approved the first new alzheimer’s drug in almost 20 years, with a sticker price of $56,000 per year of treatment. medicare will likely be on the hook for most of that, as the drug is aimed at older americans.
2. asides from the pricetag, what’s particularly disturbing about this drug is that it was approved over the objections of FDA scientific advisors, three of whom have resigned in protest. the scientists argued that the drug, while safe, is not effective against preventing memory loss. the FDA is essentially willing to give the pharma company a chance to prove its effectiveness after several years on the market - and after several billions of dollars of what are basically subsidies from medicare.
3. this is a complicated bioethical issue, but it’s clear big pharma won this battle. who knew helping old people could become so problematic? we probably should’ve learned that lesson after helping our mom join Facebook...

and, in case you missed it:

• turns out Apple helped He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named spy on house dems and their families in an attempt to pin down intelligence leaks
• Zahid Quraishi was confirmed as the first-ever American Muslim federal judge
• prices of popular consumer goods rose by 5.4% in may, the biggest single month inflationary jump in about thirteen years
• 60 million J&J vaccine doses produced by a troubled muslim-owned biotech company will be thrown out because of contamination
• a Canadian cop dressed in a full tactical vest...to pull a disposable cup off of a skunk’s head

the weekly rundown is produced by Yunus, Faisal (@faisalc93), and Ahmed (@ahmedhcheema). learn more about us and email us your comments and feedback!

loyal readers, it’s hard to believe that we’ve been putting out weekly issues for four months now! we want to hear from you (#notdesperate) in our first reader poll!  it’s quick, cute, and will really help us out. please tell us how we’re doing in three rapid-fire questions today.

big idea: arabs and israelis...compromising?

1. it looks like Benjamin Netanyahu is out as israeli PM, assuming he doesn’t pull any last minute shenanigans this week. as we discussed in issue 14, the recent gaza war was caused in large part by him trying to keep power.
2. what’s fascinating is how Netanyahu will be forced out. eight parties ranging from ultranationalist/racist to socialist/hippie are forming a coalition with no goal other than to kick Netanyahu out. this will be the first time in israeli history that the palestinian arab party will be included in the governing coalition. 
3. let’s just make this clear - the arabs are joining forces with a party which wants to annex the west bank and refuses to recognize a palestinian state. to put that in ‘murican terms, it would be as if Bernie and Mitch got together to force He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named out, only to replace him with...Ted Cruz. 
4. is that worth the compromise? would our politicians even have the courage to compromise? readers can decide for themselves, but we’d like to applaud the palestinians for using what little power they have in israel to give the boot to a guy who has systematically destroyed any chance of a two-state solution while creating an apartheid state within israel.

story to watch: killer robots are here

1. a UN report of violence in libya last year appears to document the first use of killer robots, as if 2020 could’ve gotten any worse. the UN thinks a fully autonomous turkish drone destroyed a russian tank in libya, possibly also killing a rebel. please give us a second while we go make sure our bunker is stocked with enough toilet paper to last WWIII.
2. while human-operated drones have been around for decades, some countries have been putting AI into them to remove the human element altogether. militaries release the drones into the wild, assuming its programming will find the appropriate targets. some are equipped with multiple missiles while others are just kamikaze, blowing up on impact.
3. turkey, china, the US, and israel are leaders in the field, exporting billions of dollars worth of drones (both the human-operated and killer robot variety) in recent years. turkey and china got into the game when we refused to export our weapons to them, so they’ve cornered the low-end of the market. the leading turkish drone manufacturer (which built the one cited in the UN report) uses off-the-shelf tech available to consumers. next up - baklava delivery by drone.

this week’s image: when in oklahoma

• (The Guardian) a horse decides he’s part of a bike club during tulsa’s parade commemorating the race massacre 100 years ago

this week’s number: 559k jobs added in may

1. the latest jobs report indicated that 559,000 jobs were added in may, a solidly meh month. while that’s double the number compared to april, it’s half the number some economists were expecting as covid cases continue to dwindle. the growing consensus is that the economy won’t return to ‘normal’ until the fall, when children go back to school and adults go back to pretending to work.
2. while there are more than 9 million americans unemployed at the moment (a 5.8% unemployment rate), there are also 8 million open jobs across the country. it seems that workers are demanding better pay, working conditions, benefits, and flexibility than before covid. some are even starting their own businesses to work exactly how they want, when they want. hey, maybe we could start making some money off of this newsletter thing...

what we’re watching: “Cruella”

1. yeah, yeah, we know “Cruella” dropped on Disney+ last friday, but we finally got around to watching it this week - and...well, asides from emma stone & emma thompson giving us the heebie-jeebies with their evil stares, there’s not a ton to love here. if you’re into fashion, you’d like the costumes and set designs, but you’re probably also not one of our readers…
2. but our main problem is the movie makes cruella (the lady who wanted to skin dogs in the 1996 film) less villain and more victim. someone tell disney that antiheroes don’t work well in kids’ movies.

and, in case you missed it: 

• Joe reached an agreement with some nations on a global corporate minimum tax, negotiations we discussed in issue 9
• we’re used to eating GMO plants, but the first GMO protein (fast-growing, sterile salmon) was delivered to restaurants this week
• a fisherman saved a squirrel from a school of bass. apparently the fish tried to spawn with the squirrel, so this incident obviously took place in canada.

the weekly rundown is produced by Yunus, Faisal (@faisalc93), and Ahmed (@ahmedhcheema). learn more about us and email us your comments and feedback!