🌊 The (Silicon) Valley of Death

Day 1 of the DNC.

We arrived in Chicago late yesterday afternoon after spending the day in Kenosha, WI. Our first stop was the hotel where many of the Democratic delegates are staying. We probably looked out of place wearing our Wisconsin cheesehead hats instead of “Madam President” ones and smelling of Jack’s Links instead of Sauvignon Blanc. The scene in the hotel lobby looked like a “Where Are They Now?” convention of 1995 student government treasurers. Also, we saw at least 10 “,la” t-shirts — sound it out.

Today we mix in with the protesters and attendees. Stay tuned.

–Max, Max, and Owen

KEY STORY

2024 Election Update

Kamala Harris’ first proposals met a mixed response

• On Friday, in her first policy-focused speech, Harris proposed expanded tax credits for families, an end to taxing tips, housing construction incentives, limits on prescription drug prices, and a ban on “price gouging.” The last policy elicited much criticism, with the economist who led Obama’s economic council calling it “not sensible policy”

• The Washington Post – which, for decades, has endorsed Democrats – said that Harris “instead of delivering a substantial plan, squandered the moment on populist gimmicks”

Dig Deeper

• Trump’s allies, meanwhile, have been trying to get him to avoid personal attacks on Harris, whom he has called “stupid” and accused of being fake black

• Last week, Vivek Ramaswamy called for Trump to “reset” his campaign and “focus on policy”

• Sen. Lindsey Graham said, “Trump, the provocateur, the showman, may not win this election”

• Gov. Chris Sununu (R.-NH) – a frequent Trump critic – said, “Almost any other Republican candidate would be winning this race by 10 points”

• Polls show Harris leading nationally and Trump up slightly in key swing states

KEY STORY

Startup Bloodbath

Startup failures are skyrocketing

• Low interest rates in 2021 led venture capital firms to plow billions into startups. By late 2022, though, high interest rates had popped the bubble in the market, as investors shifted their money into safer investments and potential funding dried up

• Many startups that raised during the boom are now unable to get more and are going out of business

• While closures accelerated last year, they’ve picked up significantly in recent months, with the failure rate now 60% higher than a year ago. Roughly three venture-backed startups are now closing daily

Dig Deeper

• According to Carta, a startup stock management platform, 254 venture-backed startups on its platform shut down in the first quarter of 2024 – a rate more than 7x that in 2019, and that would imply roughly three venture-backed startups are closing daily

• The companies that have shut down include ones valued well over $1B

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Dig Deeper

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KEY STORY

Impeachment Report

House Republicans released their report that makes their case for impeaching President Biden. Repubs have alleged that Biden used his clout to facilitate corrupt deals for his son, Hunter

• The 291-page report, released Monday, claims that Biden “conspired to commit influence peddling and grift…In doing so, he abused his office and, by repeatedly lying about his abuse of office, has defrauded the [US] to enrich his family”

• Repubs conceded that there was no direct evidence that Biden broke the law but said his actions constitute an impeachable offense

Dig Deeper

• To move forward, a majority of the House – which the Republicans have – will have to vote to impeach Trump

• Yet some Republicans don’t support the effort, especially now that Biden won’t be on the 2024 ticket

KEY STORY

Real Estate 2.0

Major changes to the processes of buying or selling a house in the US came into effect on Saturday

• The changes come on the back of a class-action lawsuit that accused the Nat’l Assoc. of Realtors of enabling brokers to set artificially high fees

• The changes will eliminate backdoor channels agents used to communicate and collude on fees and make the purchasing process more transparent by requiring upfront commission agreements

• Before Saturday, house sellers would cover the fee, typically 5-6%. Now, fees will likely be split between the buyers and sellers and be decided ahead of time

Dig Deeper

• Real estate agents say the change will create a feast-or-famine environment for brokers: Top-performing agents stand to gain while under-performing agents will be pushed out of the industry

• If you’ve sold a home in the past five years, you may be entitled to compensation from the lawsuit. You can file a claim at realestatecommissionlitigation.com

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🛥️ Mike Lynch – one of the most prominent UK tech entrepreneurs – is missing after a storm caused his yacht to capsize. His yacht hit rough waters off the coast of Sicily, causing it to sink. There were 27 people on board, of whom the Italian Coast Guard rescued 15, but Lynch – who founded a billion-dollar company called “Autonomy” – wasn’t among them

🎤 President Biden delivered a speech at the opening night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Protests accompanied the start of the DNC, with at least seven people arrested on day one after a group breached the outer perimeter of the convention 

🤝 The US said Israel accepted a revised ceasefire proposal. If true, it leaves the deal’s fate up to Hamas. The new deal is a so-called “bridging proposal,” which seeks to compromise on points of disagreement. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who’s leading the negotiations for the US, called the current talks “maybe the last opportunity” to avoid a regional war

🇮🇳 India is facing ongoing protests after a 31-year-old doctor-in-training was raped and killed at an Indian hospital. Police arrested a volunteer at the hospital, but the incident has stirred up memories of past egregious crimes against Indian women, prompting protests by people who say India and its government have failed to protect women

📈 US stocks rose for an eighth consecutive trading day. The S&P 500 is now up 7.9% over the period – its best eight-day streak since March 2022. It’s now just 1% below its July peak, meaning it has recouped almost the entire sell-off it underwent earlier this month

COMMUNITY

🧐 Yesterday’s question: What should we ask voters at the Democratic National Convention this week?

🧠 Today’s question: What gets you up in the morning?

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🥡 Wok this way: A car plowed through the window of a Chinese restaurant in England on Tuesday. It’s the third time a car has crashed into this restaurant in 15 years

🐭 Mouse trap: Chuck E. Cheese is launching a nationwide monthly membership program. The basic membership costs $7.99 monthly

🍔 Whopper of a sentence: A Colorado man received a 143-year prison sentence after being convicted of pointing a gun at a Burger King drive-thru worker who refused to accept drugs as payment. It was one of his eight counts of attempted murder

🇷🇺 Cyberbeast unleashed: A Russian warlord leader mounted a machine gun on a Tesla Cybertruck, which he plans to send to Russian forces in Ukraine

🐟 Hooked on trouble: A 58-year-old Tasmanian woman accused of performing a sex act with a live fish on a boat appeared in court for the first time

ROCA WRAP

The Ambush in Tinzaouaten: Part 1

The Mission

On the morning of July 28, 2024, a convoy of Russian and Malian troops advanced toward Tinzaouaten, a remote town near Mali’s border with Algeria in the Sahara desert.

Their mission was clear: Root out rebels based in the region.

Among the forces were fighters from the Wagner Group, a shadowy Russian paramilitary organization known for its involvement in various global conflicts. The troops were well-armed and prepared, but what awaited them in the harsh desert terrain was beyond what they had anticipated.

The Tuareg Rebellion

The troops were in the region because of a rebellion by the Tuareg people, an ethnic group native to the Sahara with a long tradition of being nomads in one of the world’s harshest environments.

Their history is one of resistance against colonial powers and national governments who have sought to control their land and threatened their way of life.

Since Mali’s independence in 1960, the Tuareg have launched multiple rebellions, each driven by a desire for greater autonomy or even outright independence for their traditional homeland, known as Azawad. At times, the Tuareg have waged secular rebellions; at others, they’ve partnered with al-Qaeda-linked jihadist groups.

Enter, Russia

In 2021, Mali’s military government, which had come to power through a coup, sought new allies after turning on France, long a close foreign military ally. Russia stepped in, offering military assistance through the Wagner Group, a private military company with close ties to the Kremlin.

Officially, the Russian troops were there to help train the Malian Armed Forces and provide security against the numerous insurgent groups that threatened the state. However, Wagner’s presence in Mali was also a strategic move by Russia to expand its influence in West Africa, a region traditionally under French sway.

The mission on July 28 was part of a broader effort by the Malian government and its Russian allies to reclaim control over the north, a region that had long been a stronghold for both Tuareg rebels and Islamist militants,

Tinzaouaten, a town situated in the barren desert near the Algerian border, had recently become a flashpoint. The Malian army, bolstered by Russian mercenaries, aimed to push the insurgents further out, but they were walking into a trap,

As the convoy moved through the desolate landscape, it was ambushed by a coalition of Tuareg rebels. The attack was swift and brutal: IEDs planted along the convoy’s path exploded, causing chaos. Gunfire then erupted from the dunes, where the attackers had lain in wait. The well-armed Russian and Malian troops found themselves surrounded and outmaneuvered. As they retreated, they came under a second ambush by jihadist fighters from an al-Qaeda-linked group active across the Sahara.

The ambush led to a catastrophic defeat for the Russians: Wagner, which rarely acknowledges its losses, confirmed that many of its fighters were killed, including a high-ranking commander who runs a popular Telegram channel. The attackers claimed to have killed 84+ Russians and 47+ Malians while losing just two of their own. The rebels also seized a significant cache of weapons.

The defeat at Tinzaouaten was more than just a military setback; it was a blow to Russia’s prestige and strategy in West Africa. For the Malian government, the loss underscored the vulnerability of their control over the northern regions and the limits of Russian power.

The defeat also highlighted the resilience and coordination of the insurgent groups, which included both Tuareg nationalists and Islamist militants, two forces with distinct but occasionally overlapping objectives.

Then, two days later, Ukraine’s military intelligence service said the rebels “received necessary information, and not just information, which enabled a successful military operation against Russian war criminals.”

The defeat at Tinzaouaten wasn’t just a defeat for Russia – it was a victory for Ukraine.

ROCA VIDEO

The Philosophy of JD Vance

We know we plugged this yesterday, but it’s an important one! Oren Cass is reshaping the Republican Party and one of the most influential thinkers for senators like JD Vance, Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton, and Marco Rubio. In order to better understand the “New Right,” what it stands for, and what Vance believes, we interviewed Cass for a new episode of We The 66. The video is below, but if you’d prefer to listen, here are the links: Apple and Spotify.

Make sure to subscribe to the channel! 

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

On this day in 1998, Canada’s supreme court ruled that Quebec cannot legally secede from Canada without Canada’s approval. But doesn’t that kind of ruin the point of a secession? Isn’t that like having to ask your girlfriend if you can break up with her?

O, Canada…

–Max and Max