Silicon Valley’s Politics, Restaurants, The NBA, & Coconut Trees
July 23, 2024
Hello, readers – happy Tuesday! Today, we’ll be talking about Silicon Valley’s politics, birth rates and aging populations, a port fire, restaurant information, clean energy projects, the NBA, and that “coconut tree” meme.
Here’s some good news: The Federal Communications Commission voted to lower price caps on prison phone calls, saying, “Under the new rules, the cost of a 15-minute phone call will drop to $0.90 from as much as $11.35 in large jails and, in small jails, to $1.35 from $12.10.” Also, the Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center shared a post about a family that saved a baby Mississippi Kite bird by wrapping it in a tortilla to keep it warm. The bird was given the name Taquito in honor of his unconventional rescue.
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison
Biden Out, Venture Capitalists In

Last week, we wrote about the titans of Silicon Valley throwing their weight (and fortunes) behind Donald Trump. Elon Musk plans to send $45 million a month in support of Trump, and the co-founders of Andreessen Horowitz (one of the biggest venture capital firms in the world) announced that they’d give large sums to PACs backing Trump as well.
After the events of last weekend, though, things have changed. With Biden conceding the Democratic presidential nomination, many tech leaders’ apprehensions about the Democratic ticket have disappeared. According to Nihal Mehta, co-founder of major VC firm Eniac Ventures, “people are fired up,” with people across the startup sphere expressing relief at Biden’s withdrawal – some have even apparently started planning fundraisers for the next Democratic candidate. Whether you think they’re viewing political donations like a round of venture fundraising or a genuine expression of their political beliefs is up to your own interpretation.
Even outside the tech world, attitudes surrounding the Democratic ticket seem to have reversed. In a statement released on Monday, the Harris campaign (F.K.A. the Biden-Harris campaign) said it raised a whopping $81 million in the first 24 hours after Biden’s retirement. The spike in fundraising might change the tides in the campaign finance battle, which Trump has been winning since he was convicted in his New York hush money trial in late May.
Demographic Decline Doesn’t Age Like A Fine Wine
While the U.S. news cycle is focused on November, developed nations on the other side of the world are struggling with longer-term issues. Both China and Japan are pushing policies to combat the demographic declines associated with their aging populations.
In China, the state has chosen to increase its retirement age to keep workers in the labor force longer. Currently, China’s retirement age is 60 for men, 55 for women, and 50 for women working in factories – most developed countries have retirement ages of at least 65. The country’s average life expectancy is projected to reach 80 by 2050 while its birth rate continues to decline. The combination of those two trends means that pensions will see a funding ratio of just 2-to-1 by 2050.
Japan is facing similar problems but is turning to its young people for answers. Last Friday, the country’s Children and Families Agency (created in April 2023 to address the country’s birth rate issues) held its first-ever working group where the agency asked young, single people why they aren’t getting married and making babies. “The main premise is that marriage and child-rearing should be based on the respect for diverse values and ways of thinking of individuals,” said the minister in charge of child-related state activities.
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Two Strikes & A Port’s Out

- On Saturday, the IDF launched an airstrike on Yemen’s Hodeida port, the biggest port controlled by the nation’s Houthi rebel group. Israel claims that the strikes were aimed at Houthi military installments. Three days after the strike, the port is still out of commission as local firefighters struggle to put out the blaze. Now, there are fears that the fires could reach nearby food storage facilities and keep the port out of commission for an extended period – quite the issue for Yemen as Hodeida sees about 80% of the country’s oil, commercial, and humanitarian aid shipments.
- On Monday, the IDF also re-launched its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate areas across the dense urban zone and nearby areas previously marked as part of a humanitarian zone. According to locals, the evacuation order, which affected over 400,000 people, was given just a short while before a group of tanks rolled into the area. Over 70 Palestinians were killed during the Israeli offensive, with more than 200 others injured.
Personal Information Isn’t On The Menu
- On Monday, India’s top court ruled that the country’s restaurants cannot be forced to publicly display their owners’ names. The ruling comes in response to police orders in two northern states controlled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist BJP, which critics said were an attempt to provoke discrimination against Muslim restaurant owners.
- While police said the verbal orders were an attempt to help vegetarian Hindu pilgrims avoid restaurants that might serve meat, the country’s supreme court ruled that they exceeded the bounds of the law. The ruling held that, while local governments could require restaurants to state the types of food they serve, restaurant owners “must not be forced” to publicly display their personal information. The clash is just the latest development in Modi and his party’s culture campaign against India’s Muslim population, which critics say the prime minister is using to rile up his Hindu base for electoral gains.
More Mixed Nuts
- Better skills training will cut migration, vows PM (BBC)
- Mass protest on Spanish island Mallorca calls for ‘limits on tourism’ (CNN)
- Anti-whaling campaigner arrested in Greenland and police say he may be extradited to Japan (NBC)
- Russia’s Tuapse oil refinery damaged in Ukraine drone attack, Russian officials say (Reuters)
- Spain’s PM summoned as witness in wife’s alleged corruption case (Reuters)
Middle East Mixed Nuts
- Discovery of polio in Gaza further threatens besieged Palestinians (USA Today)
- Israeli military orders evacuation of part of Gaza humanitarian zone (Guardian)
- Israeli settlers attack foreign activists and Palestinian farmers in West Bank (CNN)
- Netanyahu to arrive in Washington as fears grow of wider war in Middle East (Guardian)
Big Money For A Big Problem
- As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, nearly $400 billion in spending and tax credits were set aside to expand the country’s clean energy. Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it will be sending $4.3 billion in grants to fund 25 projects in 30 states to reduce climate pollution.
- $396 million will go to Pennsylvania to reduce emissions from cement, asphalt, and other material, and $500 million will go to transportation and freight decarbonization at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Nebraska will get $307 million to boost “climate-smart” agriculture and reduce agricultural waste from livestock, and $250 million will go to boosting electric vehicle infrastructure along Interstate 95 from Maryland to Connecticut.
The League Goes To The Big Streamers
- Last week, the NBA’s Board of Governors approved 11-year deals with Disney, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video for a reported $76 billion to allow the networks to broadcast NBA games. Warner Bros. Discovery notified the NBA on Monday that it will pay about $1.8 billion per year to match an offer from Amazon to carry a package of games.
- WBD currently broadcasts the league’s games on the TNT network and Max streaming service. It’s unclear if the NBA will accept or reject WBD’s offer, which the league intended for a streaming partner, but WBD has implied that if they’re denied, they’ll bring a lawsuit against the league.
More Nuts In America
- Many Elected Democrats Quickly Endorsed Kamala Harris. See Who Did. (NYT, $)
- Secret Service director, grilled by lawmakers on the Trump assassination attempt, says ‘we failed’ (AP)
- Harris says in first remarks since Biden dropped out of race she’s “deeply grateful” to him for “his service to the nation” (CBS)
- Netanyahu returns to D.C. for three-day visit, speech to Congress (Axios)
- ‘A wise investment’: Trump’s $6,000 gift to Kamala Harris comes back to bite him (Guardian)
Kamala & The Coconut Tree, Explained
- If you’ve been trying to learn more about Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris, you’ve probably come across some videos of her doing some goofy dances, but also edits of the vice president asking a crowd, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who was confused by the question, so we’ve dug up some additional context to clear things up.
- The question was part of a speech where Harris was trying to discuss the importance of equity in education. “If you’re giving everybody an equal amount but they’re starting out on different bases, are they really going to have the opportunity to compete and achieve?” she asked the crowd.
- “None of us just live in a silo. Everything is in context,” she answered. “My mother used to — she would give us a hard time sometimes — and she would say to us, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?’ You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.” The comment, for some reason, gained traction among younger generations, and the rest is meme history.
More Loose Nuts
- LeBron James to be the U.S. male flag bearer at Paris Olympics opening ceremony (NPR)
- McDonald’s $5 value meal is staying on menus for a little while longer (CNN)
- Scientists discover ‘dark’ oxygen being produced more than 13,000 feet below the ocean surface (CNN)
- Chimpanzees communicate in similar quick-fire fashion to humans, study shows (Guardian)
- Astronomers discover technique to spot AI fakes using galaxy-measurement tools (Ars Technica)
Team Thoughts
Kayli – To all my friends and family: prepare to be sick of me asking if you just fell out of a coconut tree.
Marcus – Aside from interesting metaphors, Kamala is also a fan of Charli XCX – or at least her social media team is.