Endorsements, Tax Incentives, Bad Statues, & The Case Of The Missing Cheese
October 28, 2024
Hello, readers – happy Monday! Today, we’ll be talking about newspaper endorsements, the Middle East, Japan’s elections, flooding in the Philippines, film industry tax incentives, Dwyane Wade’s statue, and the case of the missing cheese.
“It’s amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper.” – Jerry Seinfeld
Democracy Dies In Bezos’ Hands
It was quite the weekend in the land of the free, as the press (not us) found out that they weren’t so free after all. On Friday, the Washington Post announced that it would not be endorsing a candidate in the presidential election despite its editorial board (unsurprisingly) drafting a full endorsement of VP Kamala Harris. It was later revealed that Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, who owns the Post, had personally vetoed the decision to endorse Harris, framing it as an end to endorsing any presidential candidates in general. A few hours after those stories broke, executives from Blue Origin – Bezos’ aerospace firm – met with Donald Trump, and the CEO of Amazon also reached out to the former president over the phone.
Robert Kagan, who’s worked as an editor-at-large at the Post for over two decades, promptly resigned from his job following the news, describing Bezos’ decision to block the Harris endorsement as “clearly a sign of pre-emptive favor currying” with Trump. “The Post has been emphasizing that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy,” he added. “And so this is the election, this is the time when we decided that we’re neutral?”
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Grinding On In Gaza
On Sunday, Israeli air strikes killed at least 45 people in Gaza. 20 of those deaths – mostly women and children, according to Palestinian health officials – included people in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, as the IDF looks to expand its offensive in the area. “One of the darkest moments of the Gaza conflict is unfolding in the north of the Strip,” said the U.N.’s human rights chief following the attacks. “The Israeli military is effectively subjecting an entire population to bombing, siege and risk of starvation, as well as being forced to choose between mass displacement and being trapped in an active conflict zone.” Gaza’s health ministry added that IDF soldiers had detained every man in the Kamal Adwan Hospital “while confining women in one of the hospital rooms without water or food.” The hospital was subjected to a days-long siege by Israeli soldiers before they eventually stormed the facility.
Following those strikes and warnings, Egypt proposed a two-day ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which would see Israel receive four Hamas-held hostages in exchange for a handful of Palestinian prisoners. Neither party to the conflict commented on the deal, and one Palestinian leader close to the issue told Reuters, “I expect Hamas would listen to the new offers, but it remains determined that any agreement must end the war and get Israeli forces out of Gaza.” Talk about a tough crowd.
LDP Stands For “Losing Democratic Party”
- Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is no longer its ruling party following a historical loss. The LDP has controlled Japanese politics almost continuously since 1955, just eight years after the country’s constitution was rewritten by the U.S. In Sunday’s general election, the LDP and its coalition partner Komeito secured just 215 seats in Japan’s lower house of parliament – 18 votes shy of the 233 needed to win an outright majority. The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) won second place with 148.
- The LDP has struggled with public opinion for years, as it continues to find itself entangled in scandal after scandal. The LDP has also overseen a rough economic period for Japan, eroding public confidence. New Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had attempted to call a snap election to strengthen his government’s public standing, but that’s clearly backfired – now, he’ll have to form a wider coalition to maintain power.
Trami’s Trail Of Terror
- Tropical Storm Trami has claimed the lives of at least 85 people in the Philippines after leaving the South Asian island nation last Friday, with 41 others still missing as of Sunday. Over 5 million people lived in the storm’s path, and almost half a million were forced to evacuate as the storm made landfall. Some areas experienced two months’ worth of rain in just 24 hours, causing massive flooding and landslides.
- Rescue efforts are still underway as workers are using dogs to sniff out missing people and dig them out using construction equipment, and it’s expected to take a while for more remote locations and areas cut off by landslides. Meanwhile, President Ferdinand Marcos is looking to start work on a large infrastructure project that will hopefully prepare the country for these larger storms brought on by climate change.
More Mixed Nuts
- The Pope has shown openness to greater roles for women – but there’s pressure for him to go further (CNN)
- ‘There is no money’: Cuba fears total collapse amid grid failure and financial crisis (Guardian)
- Hundreds Killed in Days in Sudan as War Surges (NYT, $)
- Georgia’s crucial vote was marred by intimidation, European monitors say (AP)
- Bolivia’s Evo Morales says his vehicle hit by gunfire as political tension rises (Guardian)
Gavin’s Got A Plan
- Yesterday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a plan to boost the state’s annual film incentive tax program to $750 million – over twice what it is now. If it’s passed, California would be behind only Georgia in terms of tax credits (Georgia offers unlimited tax credits to lure in film productions).
- The film industry in California has struggled to bounce back from the strikes last year, but issues have been ongoing for years now. Legislators easily passed a five-year extension of the existing film tax credit program last year, and Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles has endorsed Newsom’s plan.
D-Wade Makes For D-Strangest Statue
- The election is, as you know, right around the corner, so let’s talk about something really important: the Dwyane Wade statue at Kaseya Center, home of the Miami Heat. Wade is now the first Heat player with a statue outside the arena, though that’s not surprising considering he’s the team’s all-time leading scorer.
- That’s all good news for Wade, but he may want to ask for some adjustments to be made to the statue, which looks almost nothing like him. Video footage of Wade taking in the statue is pretty hilarious (though perhaps he’s just looking at it with pride, it’s hard to say), and the internet was quick to make memes out of the statue’s…interesting appearance.
More Nuts In America
- Michelle Obama says she’s a ‘little angry’ at the hesitation to vote for Harris (NPR)
- Wisconsin’s critical Senate race devolves into bitter feud as GOP targets partner of gay senator (CNN)
- Elon Musk says the real threat to democracy is the people who accuse Trump of endangering it (AP)
- US intelligence says Russia is behind video of ballots being destroyed in Pennsylvania (USA Today)
- Congress may have created a boon for Trump in trying to Trump-proof the transition (Politico)
- Minneapolis shooting sparks outrage as suspect is charged but not arrested (NBC)
That’s Not Gouda News
- Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is doing his best Dora The Explorer impersonation this Halloween, asking his Instagram followers to help him solve the mystery of the missing cheese wheels. The post was an attempt to help Neal’s Yard Dairy, a British artisan cheese retailer that lost more than 950 wheels (over 22 tons) of its award-winning cheddar late last week in an incident Oliver described as a “brazen heist of shocking proportions.”
- The cheese retailer lost its massive payload of cheese in a scam involving people posing as a wholesale distributor for a large French retailer last week. The lost cheese wheels included Hafod Welsh organic cheddar, Westcombe cheddar, and Pitchfork cheddar, all products of small artisanal British cheesemakers.
- Luckily, the cheesemakers were already paid out (a total of £300,000) before the deal was made, meaning the small businesses won’t bear the brunt of the scam. For now, British Metropolitan Police are still investigating “the theft of a large quantity of cheese,” and Jamie Oliver’s Instagram sleuths are also on the lookout for “lorryloads of very posh cheese” being sold “for cheap.”
More Loose Nuts
- ‘If I had the power I’d destroy the whole thing’: what went wrong with the ghost town of Disney-style castles? (Guardian)
- ‘Stadium went silent’ but Dodgers know they can win World Series despite Ohtani injury (USA Today)
- Jury awards Apple $250 in design patent lawsuit against Masimo (CNN)
- Indiana Fever fire coach Christie Sides, becoming 6th WNBA team to make a change (AP)
- Lyft fined $2.1 million for misleading ads about how much drivers could make (The Verge)
