🌊 Drop the Google... Just Chrome

Plus: Gaetz confirmation battle heats up, smog cloud covers Asia, and 132 hamsters escape on plane ...

November 20, 2024

 

In today's episode of "Wow, that was recent!”….

We bring you smoking on airplanes. Lighting up on a flight was commonplace until roughly the mid-1980s; prior to 1973, planes didn't even have to have non-smoking sections. Airlines slowly phased out smoking — along with leg room, edible food, and the words "on time" — over the decades since. The final nail in the coffin (coughin'?) came in 2000, when President Clinton signed a full ban into law. We heard that when Clinton was later caught smoking on Air Force One, he responded, “It depends on what your meaning of the word ‘cig’ is.”

🤯 Google break-up coming?

🗳 Gaetz battle heats up

🐹 132 hamsters escape on plane

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Google Break Up?

The Justice Department (DoJ) will ask a judge to split Chrome off from Google

  • A judge ruled in August that Google had illegally built a search engine monopoly, including through making huge payments to Apple so that Google search would be the default search engine on Apple devices. The DoJ has since been considering which remedy to recommend

  • On Wednesday, the government will reportedly ask the judge to force Google to spin off Chrome, the world’s most popular web browser and a pivotal source of data for Google’s ad business

  • For the breakup to happen, the recommendation will have to be accepted by a judge and then held up on appeal

Dig Deeper

  • Google’s stock fell up to 1.8% on the news, wiping tens of billions off its market cap

  • A Google executive said the Justice Department “continues to push a radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case” and warned that the move would “harm consumers, developers and American technological leadership at precisely the moment it is most needed”

KEY STORY

Crypto’s New Biggest Dog

MicroStrategy – a software developer – became the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin

  • Launched in 1989 to create software that helps analyze raw data, MicroStrategy went public in ‘98, slowly growing from $5 to ~$15/share from 2001-2020

  • In late 2020, though, the company announced it would start buying bitcoin to hedge against inflation

  • MicroStrategy has since soared to $400+/share, earning a market cap of $80B+. On Monday, it announced that it bought an additional $4.6B in bitcoin, becoming the top institutional holder of the cryptocurrency. The company now holds ~2% of all Bitcoin in circulation

Dig Deeper

  • There’s more where that came from: The company also announced on Monday that it would be raising additional funds from investors to buy more Bitcoin

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KEY STORY

Gaetz Battle Heats Up

The battle over the confirmation of Matt Gaetz as attorney general is heating up

  • Gaetz faces a difficult path to confirmation, given his baggage and the Republicans’ narrow Senate majority

  • Trump has reportedly been calling Senators to win their support, while on X, Elon Musk called Gaetz the “Judge Dredd” the Justice Department needs

  • Before voting to confirm him, Senate Republicans say they are eager to see the House Ethics Committee's findings on Gaetz's alleged sexual misconduct, including sleeping with a 17-year-old

Dig Deeper

  • Incoming Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R., IA), said, “I’m saying to the people that want any cabinet person to get through—not just Gaetz—but it’s going to be a lot faster if you give us all the information that we want”

  • The defection of just four Republican senators would tank Gaetz’s confirmation. He is seen as the most controversial of Trump's cabinet picks

KEY STORY

Smog Cloud

Toxic levels of pollution have caused millions of people across South Asia to fall ill this month

  • Every November, a combination of dropping temperatures and crop burning – done to clean fields and prepare them for harvest – causes pollution in India and Pakistan to soar

  • This year, the pollution has been particularly intense, forcing cities to shut down businesses, schools, and parks; issue stay-at-home orders; and prevent medical workers from taking leave

  • Pakistan’s government recently estimated that over 1.8M people had fallen ill as a result of the current smog wave

Dig Deeper

  • At times, these cities have recorded over three times the level of air particulate matter deemed “hazardous.” In recent weeks, the smog has been dense and widespread enough to be visible from space

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🇺🇸 President-elect Donald Trump nominated Fox News contributor and former Representative Sean Duffy (R-WI) to run the Department of Transportation, making him the second Fox News personality tapped for the Cabinet

💰 Private equity firm Blackstone is expected to buy Jersey Mike’s Subs for $8B

🇺🇸 Donald Trump nominated Howard Lutnick to be his commerce secretary

🇺🇦 Days after the US permitted Ukraine to use US-made long-range missiles to strike Russia, it struck an ammunition depot deep in western Russia

🇭🇰 A Hong Kong judge sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists and politicians to jail

👨‍⚕️ Donald Trump tapped Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

COMMUNITY

🧐 Yesterday’s question: Do you support the nomination of RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary?

In terms of RFK being nominated for HHS - I'm here for it. Not that I necessarily agree with all of his viewpoints, but I think the FDA, CDC, and NIH need to be challenged. They've been toted around like the golden standard and the end all be all for health, but then allow chemicals that are banned in other countries because of their link to health problems to run rampant in our food. Then there are treatments used in other countries but can't happen here in America because there isn't enough research? Where is the sense in that? Plus, the FDA just had supposed decongestants pulled from shelves because they actually don't do what they say they do. And some of those have been around for decades. Having someone to challenge and make sure that big money isn't playing a role in our health would be beneficial for everyone.

Kayla from Undisclosed

I am SO excited for RFK to serve as HHS Secretary! While some of his views are radical, he is absolutely right that Big Pharma and Big Food have capitalized on Americans' unhealthiness and used their power and resources to continue to do so. Obesity and overmedicating are epidemics in this country and I hope someone like RFK with Trump's support can take some strides over the next four years to reforming that.

Mitchell from Ohio

I'm opposed to RFK's appointment as Health Secretary. The autism/vaccine link has never been proven, and throwing out that "nobody was diagnosed with autism 30 years ago" is a ridiculous argument. Those who grew up during those times DEFINITELY had undiagnosed autistic kids in their classes. His war on vaccines and fluoride could do tremendous permanent damage to unborn children and our nations future health, as it did in Samoa when they stopped using the measles vaccine at RFK's advice, causing a massive spike in measles, a disease we've essentially rid ourselves of BECAUSE OF THE VACCINE.

J.B. from Madison

🧠 Today’s question: Is Ohio the most quintessentially American state?

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🇮🇳 Vegetarians Be Like: Two brothers in Bhopal, India allegedly killed their 22-year-old sibling after a drunken fight over his plan to bring chicken for a party, violating their vegetarian household

🙈 Classic WFH Excuse: Some 200 monkeys broke free from an enclosure and laid siege to a police station in Lopburi, Thailand, a town famous for its massive macaque population

🐹 Hamsters on a Plane: A TAP Air Portugal plane was grounded for four days in the Azores after 132 hamsters escaped from their shipping containers in the cargo hold

🚗 No Harm, No Foul: An Australian man claims he did nothing wrong by driving off with a five-year-old who was left in an unattended vehicle

🇺🇸 Morning WHO?!: MSNBC's "Morning Joe" hosts shocked viewers by revealing they held a private meeting with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago, their first meeting in seven years

ROCA WRAP

Big Coral Alert

Solomon Islands

Scientists have discovered the world's largest single coral in this Pacific nation.

In the southwest Pacific is Melanesia, a batch of islands northeast of Australia. It contains four countries, including Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands – a nation comprising six major islands and over 900 smaller ones. The country gained independence from Britain in 1978 and is known for its rich marine biodiversity, with its waters housing some of the world's most pristine coral reefs.

This week, it was announced that National Geographic's Pristine Seas expedition found what they believe to be the world's largest single coral in the Solomon Islands’ Three Sisters Islands. Initially mistaken for a shipwreck, the "mega coral" measures 112 feet by 105 feet and stands 16 feet high – larger than a blue whale and equivalent to five tennis courts combined.

The coral (which is an animal) is estimated to be 300 years old and consists of up to a billion coral polyps. Unlike many reefs suffering from bleaching, likely due to warming seas, this colony remains healthy, possibly due to its location away from the Pacific's main cyclone belt.

Scientists described the discovery as a "beacon of hope" amid widespread coral degradation. The coral's size is so significant it can be seen from space, surpassing the previous record holder, "Big Momma," in American Samoa.

The finding suggests that despite climate change's impact on marine ecosystems, some areas remain capable of supporting extraordinary coral growth, and while the researchers almost missed it entirely – they found it just hours before departing – this colossal coral proves that sometimes the biggest discoveries come at the last possible moment.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

We wrote today’s newsletter from Youngstown, OH. This morning we interviewed a guy who grew up in Youngstown and expected to come back to a job at the steel mill when he got out of the Army. Unfortunately, the mills left town while he was abroad, and he developed an alcohol and drug addiction. At one point, he was about to end it, but a friend’s phone call saved his life. We’ve heard many powerful stories here. Great people.

–Max and Max