Extreme Weather, The Far Right, & “Megalopolis” Is A Mega Flop
September 30, 2024
Hello, readers – happy Monday! Today, we’ll be talking about Hurricane Helene, the Middle East, Austria’s elections, a flood, an AI bill, DeSantis’ intimidation, and the Megalopolis flop.
Here’s some good news: the FDA approved the first new drug to treat people with schizophrenia in more than 30 years. Also, New Zealand has reclaimed the world record for the largest mass haka after more than 6,000 people performed the Māori dance.
“The true delight is in the finding out rather than in the knowing.” – Isaac Asimov
More Rubble In The Middle East
The conflict in the Middle East is only expanding as the days pass. Over the weekend, Israel began striking targets in Yemen, and also killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a missile strike on a suburb of Beirut (Lebanon’s capital). The IDF also killed a top general from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in that same Beirut strike, a development that might drag the regional power into a larger conflict with Israel.
According to the Washington Post analysis of IDF videos, Israel apparently used American-made, 2,000-pound munitions for its Saturday Beirut attack. The footage showed eight F-15 fighter jets (also made in the U.S.A.) carrying at least 16 bombs. Some of those bombs, according to the Post, were U.S.-made BLU-109s fitted with JDAM guidance kits. The strikes also leveled at least four large buildings in a 1,000-square-foot area. The White House noted that it had not been made aware of the strikes before the Israelis dropped the bombs.
The next day, Israel struck Houthi-controlled targets in Yemen. At least two IDF airstrikes hit the port of Hodeidah on the Red Sea – Israeli officials said the attacks were retaliation for the Houthis using the port to launch ballistic missiles at Tel Aviv. While Israel had hoped to take out important oil tankers with the bombing attacks, the Houthis claimed that the oil had been removed from the ships before the strikes took place. Four people were reportedly killed by the strikes, with 29 wounded.
Helene Wreaks Havoc
The South is reeling in the wake of Hurricane Helene. The storm made landfall on Friday in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane, becoming the most powerful storm to ever hit the region. After slamming into Florida, it kept moving north, leaving a path of destruction in the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Georgia. Some 90 people have been reported dead across the Southeast, and more than 400 roads have been closed in Helene’s path.
The National Weather Service office for Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, said the area was “devastated by the horrific flooding and widespread wind damage that was caused by Hurricane Helene,” describing the storm as “the worst event in our office’s history.” In Florida, winds reached highs of 140 miles per hour, and extremely heavy rainfall caused mass floods and landslides. Many people have been left without water, power, or cell service in the storm’s wake, and communities that have been literally ripped apart by the hurricane are just beginning their long rebuilding process.
What’s That Phrase About Repeating History?
- We know you read Daily Pnut for our delicate analysis and flowery prose, but there’s no way to make this story pretty: a far-right party created by former Nazis has won the most votes in Austria’s national elections. The Freedom Party (FPÖ) was founded in the 1950s by a former member of the Nazi SS paramilitary group and refers to their leader as the “Volkskanzler” or “people’s chancellor” – the title that Adolf Hitler used when he led Nazi Germany.
- In yesterday’s elections, the FPÖ finished first in polls, winning 29.1% of the vote. The incumbent conservative party, the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), came in second place with 26.2% of the vote, while the Social Democratic Party of Austria finished third with 20.4% of ballots cast. The FPÖ, which campaigned on a pro-Russia, anti-immigration platform, is expected to seek to build a coalition with the ÖVP to cement its rule over Austria, but it’s unclear whether enough moderate conservatives will agree to have an FPÖ-run government in power.
Storms On The Other Side Of The World
- As extreme weather continues to wreak havoc across the globe, the death toll from heavy rains in Nepal rose past 100 people over the weekend. The downpours started on Friday and continued through the weekend, causing mass flooding and landslides. The capital of Kathmandu, with a population of roughly 850,000, has been cut off from the rest of the country as landslides blocked the main highways in and out of the city.
- At least 34 people have been reported dead in Kathmandu alone, though nationwide death tolls are expected to rise as data trickles in from remote mountain villages. As the weather let up on Sunday, rescue workers dug people out of the debris while heavy equipment was deployed to clean up the country’s road systems.
More Mixed Nuts
- U.S. airstrikes on Syria kill 37 militants affiliated with extremist groups (ABC)
- Russia downs over 100 Ukrainian drones in one of the largest barrages of the war (AP)
- Melting glaciers force Switzerland and Italy to redraw part of Alpine border (Guardian)
- Europe’s space agency will destroy a brand-new satellite in 2027 just to see what happens (The Verge)
No Guardrails From Newsom
- Yesterday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed SB 1047, which would have placed first-of-its-kind limits on AI. It would have made tech companies legally liable for harms caused by AI models and required tech companies to enable a “kill switch” for AI in case it was misused or went rogue – you know, the robot takeover.
- The bill was popular among legislators, but Newsom said it would place too big of a burden on tech companies. Furthermore, he argued that it was too focused on big companies, and small companies could prove just as risky. Many expected the legislation to act as a blueprint for other states, but alas, we’ll have to wait a bit longer for that roadmap.
DeSantis Is DeVillain Of DeStory
- A near-total ban on abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy took effect in Florida in May, but abortion activists in the state are hoping to get legislation called Amendment 4 passed. It would change the state constitution to prohibit government interference with the right to an abortion before the viability of a fetus. Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t so thrilled with that idea.
- Registered voters in Florida have begun reporting unannounced visits from law enforcement personnel, asking questions about their decisions to sign petitions to get Amendment 4 on the ballot. Voters have reported being asked about signatures on petitions not matching their licenses, for example.
- Now, the state-run Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) has launched a website opposing the initiative, claiming it “threatens women’s safety.” It has also spent millions of dollars on television ads urging Florida voters to reject the proposed amendment. DeSantis argues that they are merely “public service announcements,” but others say he’s using state funds to intimidate voters.
More Nuts In America
- Dark Trump: Former president calls Harris “mentally disabled” (Axios)
- ‘Doing a Biden’ is new international shorthand for ousting past-due leaders (Politico)
- Both Trump and Harris say they’ll build more border wall. In this county, the parts have been waiting, and rusting, since 2021. (NBC)
- Hurricane Isaac and Tropical Storm Joyce move through the open Atlantic far from land (AP)
- Multiple people dead after plane crash at Wright Brothers National Memorial’s First Flight Airport (NBC)
- Former GOP Arizona senator endorses Harris (Politico)
Megalopolis Or Mega-Flop-Olis?
- It was a confusing weekend at the box office. Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis crashed and burned in its first weekend, netting an estimated $4 million against its $140 million budget. Meanwhile, DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot went into overdrive compared to expectations, scoring $35 million against its $78 million budget.
- ‘Megalopolis’ has been in the works since the 1980s, when Coppola began working on early iterations of the script. Set in “New Rome,” (literally a mashup of modern New York City and Rome at the end of the Roman Republic), the sci-fi epic is a massive passion project from Coppola, who financed the movie himself. Unfortunately for the 85-year-old filmmaker, both audiences and critics were split on the film, and word of mouth has been less than great so far.
- The New York Times described ‘Megalopolis’ as “wonderfully out-there,” while the Associated Press complained it was “nearly impossible to digest in a single, baffling viewing.” “The movie is an ambitious, personal vision. Sometimes a film like this beats the odds and makes a lot of money,” said one Hollywood analyst. “This one is not working. The result is going to be a big tax write-off.” Probably not the reception that Coppola was looking for, but we’re at least impressed by the amount of ego (and money) needed to pull off a passion project of this magnitude.
More Loose Nuts
- ‘SNL’ kicks off Season 50 with star-studded cold open about politics, of course (CNN)
- Mark Zuckerberg joins exclusive $200 billion club, closes in on third-richest person in world (CNN)
- YouTube pulls songs from Adele, Nirvana, and others due to SESAC dispute (The Verge)
- Google Maps Now Has AI to Zap Clouds and Haze (CNET)
