Macron Mouths Off, The Port Strike Ends, & Astronauts Might Eat Rock Goo
October 4, 2024
Hello, readers – happy Friday! Today, we’ll be talking about Macron’s thoughts about the U.S. & China, the port strike, an island, the Middle East, student loans, election fraud, & astronaut goop.
Here’s some good news: Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters golf tournament, has pledged $5 million to help those affected by Hurricane Helene. Also, Gilead Sciences announced that cheaper versions of the “game-changer” HIV prevention drug lenacapavir will be made available in 120 low- and middle-income countries.
“Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.” – Emily Dickinson
Emmanuel Is A Man On A Mission
Emmanuel Macron isn’t here to make friends. Not in his country, and not outside it, either. After upsetting France’s left and right wings last month by creating a center-right government in Paris, the French president spoke out against the two most powerful countries in the world this week. He warned that the E.U. is lagging behind the U.S. and China on AI, defense, and security, and also criticized the superpowers for not respecting the rules of the World Trade Organization.
“I have a suggestion,” he said at the Berlin Global Dialogue meeting on Wednesday. “when both U.S. and China do not respect the rules, we should not be the only one in the room to just abide the rules. This doesn’t fly. I don’t suggest trying to become protectionist, this is an awful world, but at least to be fair. With our industry, with our farmers, with our people.”
On that note, the E.U. is set to vote on new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles later today that are likely to be implemented. France, Greece, Italy, and Poland are expected to vote in favor of the taxes, though Germany and Spain are set to oppose it.
The Container Industry Caves In
After just a few days, the International Longshoremen’s Association strike that shut down ports along the East and Gulf Coasts has ended. While the workers and employers (represented by the United States Maritime Alliance) started relatively far apart, they were able to find a middle ground quickly, which the alliance is surely happy about given the strike was holding up billions of dollars worth of cargo each day. Before things headed to a strike, the union wanted a 77% raise while the employers offered a 50% raise and a few other benefits. Yesterday, they agreed to a six-year deal featuring a 62% raise.
According to one analyst, shipping industry profits between 2020 and 2023 totaled over $400 billion (yes, that’s profits, not revenues). That number is more than the industry had earned between 1957 (when shipping containers were first used) and 2019, so you might understand why the workers want a piece of the pie. Dockworkers still need to vote to certify the deal, but the union workers are set to return to their jobs today. “I congratulate the dockworkers from the ILA, who deserve a strong contract after sacrificing so much to keep our ports open during the pandemic,” President Joe Biden said in a statement following the agreement.
The Island Hands Over The Islands
- The U.K. has finally given up its last colony in Africa. On Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed off on a historic deal handing the disputed Chagos Islands over to Mauritius, an East African island nation located in the Indian Ocean. The Chagos Islands are home to a joint U.S. and U.K. military base on the island of Diego Garcia, which will continue to remain under their control for the next 99 years.
- When the U.K. began construction on the base in 1971, its military forcibly expelled over 1,000 local Chagossians to make way for the project. According to a joint statement from Starmer and Pravind Jugnauth (Mauritius’ prime minister), the new deal “will address wrongs of the past and demonstrate the commitment of both parties to support the welfare of Chagossians.” Mauritius will soon begin repopulating all of the archipelago besides Diego Garcia.
- The decision is in line with a 2019 International Court of Justice ruling, which stated that the U.K. is “under an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible,” but Conservative former Defense Secretary Grant Shapps described it as a “weak and deeply regrettable act.”
Another Day, Another Escalation
- The conflict in the Middle East escalated even further yesterday. Shocker! On Thursday, Israel issued evacuation orders for communities in southern Lebanon as it dropped even more bombs on Beirut. According to Lebanese health officials, Israel killed at least 37 people over a 24-hour period, and its evacuation orders indicate that the IDF is poised to expand its ground offensive in the country.
- Meanwhile, when asked if the U.S. would support Israel attacking Iran’s oil facilities, President Biden told reporters “We’re discussing that,” but added that “there is nothing going to happen today.” In response to his comments, the price of oil quickly jumped, indicating investors’ concerns over a wider conflict causing supply chain issues. Earlier in the day, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, told reporters that his country had “a lot of options” for its retaliation against Iran, adding that Tehran should expect a military response “soon.”
More Mixed Nuts
- 2 dead as weakened and ‘weird’ Typhoon Krathon slams into Taiwan (NBC)
- 6 migrants shot dead near Guatemalan border when Mexican army troops open fire (ABC)
- Dominican Republic to deport up to 10000 Haitians a week, citing an ‘excess’ of immigrants (CNN)
- Former Singapore minister sentenced to a year in prison in rare corruption case (NPR)
- Tanzania suspends news websites over ad referencing killings of dissidents (Guardian)
- EU is taking Hungary to court. It says a law targeting foreign influence really targets basic rights (ABC)
Just In Time For Election Season
- A judge allowed the temporary restraining order on President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan to expire, which means the program can move forward. The states that brought the lawsuit have argued that the administration’s rule to cancel student debt en masse would hurt income tax revenue.
- The Biden administration is expected to publish its final version of the plan this month, which could cancel student debt for more than 25 million borrowers. The Supreme Court put a stop to Biden’s initial plan, which would have benefited about 43 million people – but hey, borrowers can’t be choosers, right?
Taking The Fall For The MyPillow Guy?!
- Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was sentenced to nine years in prison for a data breach scheme. Peters let a man misuse a security card to access the Mesa County election system and for being deceptive about that person’s identity. The man was affiliated with MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell, because of course he was.
- The judge did not hold back when delivering her sentence. “I am convinced you would do it all over again if you could. You’re as defiant as any defendant this court has ever seen,” he told her. “You are no hero. You abused your position and you’re a charlatan.”
When Peters tried to explain her theories, the judge said, “I’ve let you go on enough about this. The votes are the votes.”
More Nuts In America
- A downed power line is officially blamed for last year’s Maui wildfire (NPR)
- 11 damning details in Jack Smith’s new brief in the Trump election case (Politico)
- VP debate ratings show how many people watched the Walz-Vance showdown (CBS)
- Liz Cheney will campaign with Harris in Wisconsin while Trump holds a rally in Michigan (AP)
- Mayorkas warns FEMA doesn’t have enough funding to last through hurricane season (ABC)
- Virginia GOP Senate candidate suggests people tolerant of drag queens aren’t tough enough for the military (NBC)
This New Diet Sure Rocks!
- Freeze-dried rations take up too much space and on-board farms can’t be supported by current tech. So, what will the astronauts of the future eat as they make their long journeys to future colonies? According to one researcher, they might eat asteroids. Or at least, they’ll eat microbes that eat hydrocarbon compounds extracted from asteroids. Yum!
- A new study published yesterday in The International Journal of Astrobiology is looking to repurpose a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project that uses pyrolysis (“basically just cooking without oxygen,” according to one researcher) to break down plastic into a solid, a gas, and an oil. That oil is then basically fed to bacteria, which grow into an edible “biomass.”
- That biomass, on first attempts, took the form of “a flesh-colored slurry,” according to that researcher, Dr. Joshua Pearce. Eventually, that slurry was improved and turned into a caramel yogurt-like substance, which sounds just a little more appealing. The problem is that (as things currently stand), it would take, uh, between 5,500 and 175,000 tons of asteroid to feed a single astronaut for a year – depending on how efficiently the bacteria digest the material. Probably not any better than stuffing a spaceship full of astronaut ice cream, but maybe they’ll get more efficient in the future?
More Loose Nuts
- Doctor charged in Matthew Perry case pleads guilty to conspiracy to dispense ketamine (NPR)
- Wreck of US warship known as ‘Ghost Ship of the Pacific’ found in ‘exceptional’ condition (CNN)
- The fate of Nibi the beaver lands in court as rescuers try to stop her release into the wild (AP)
- France’s 31-year treasure hunt for a buried owl statue finally ends (Guardian)
- Asteroid that eradicated dinosaurs not a one-off, say scientists (Guardian)
- Thousands of shipping containers have been lost at sea. What happens when they burst open? (AP)
Team Thoughts
Kayli – Too bad the port strike wasn’t ended before everyone went and panic bought all the toilet paper.
Marcus – So to be an astronaut you’ll have to be cooped up in a giant aluminum can, eating bacterial goop for years, before you reach Mars or whatever? I think I’ll stay here.