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Good morning and welcome to Tuesday.
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⏰🚀 Ready, Set, Go: Today’s newsletter takes 4.23 minutes to read. (With the 360° view: +3.26 minutes.)
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👇📰 Quick Bits
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🌀 Hurricane Ida: The Aftermath
New Orleans' historic Karnofsky Shop in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida; Devika Krishna Kumar/Reuters
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🎁 DONUT Headline: Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the U.S. before weakening into a tropical storm overnight as it moved through Mississippi.
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🤿 A deeper dive… Ida struck Louisiana as a Category 4 storm with gusts of up to 172 MPH. While the new $14 billion levee system appeared to hold, more than one million customers - particularly in southeast LA - remained without power on Monday, as energy companies said it would take weeks to fully restore power to all customers.
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Speaking on NBC’s “Today” show, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards described the damage as “catastrophic” and said he “fully expect[s] the confirmed death total to go up considerably."
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The death toll in Louisiana now stands at two, possibly three after an alligator encounter in the floodwaters.
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In Mississippi, two people were killed and 10 others injured after part of a highway was washed away Monday night near the town of Lucedale, officials said. Seven vehicles went into the ~50-foot-wide and 20-foot-deep hole created by the washout, which was likely related to the rain from Hurricane Ida.
“We’re hearing about widespread structural damage, significant structural damage, several buildings that have potentially collapsed, a number of hospitals that are operating on generator power… These are just the initial reports. We are going to see a lot more… I don’t think there could have been a worse path for this storm.” –FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell
👁️ Looking ahead… Tropical Storm Ida is expected to cross into northern Alabama early this morning before traveling northeast through Tennessee as the day progresses. (Ida’s projected path.)
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Gas prices across America are expected to increase by 5 to 15 cents per gallon due to production losses after nine Gulf Coast refineries were shut down due to the storm, per tracking firm GasBuddy.
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🚫🎮 China Restricts Kids’ Online Gaming
Image: Mashable
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🎁 DONUT Headline: China issued new rules yesterday forbidding minors from playing video games more than three hours a week.
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From September 1st on out, those living in China under the age of 18 will be able to game online on any device from 8-9 pm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – and that’s it.
“No biggie, I’ll just use a throwaway or my parent’s account”... Think again. While government enforcement measures weren’t explicitly detailed, they instructed gaming companies to prevent children from playing outside these times.
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Tencent has already introduced countermeasures, including real-name registration and facial recognition to detect children skirting the rules.
The changes announced yesterday also require online games to "be linked to a state anti-addiction system," and government regulators "will ratchet up checks over how gaming firms carry out restrictions on things like playing time and in-game purchases," per Bloomberg. Some folks may still be tempted to circumvent the rules and sign up on a foreign server.
To be fair, this move isn’t exactly a major surprise… Just like Apple’s relationship with Android, the CCP’s never really been a fan of video games.
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Prior to this announcement, minors could only game online for a max of 1.5 hours most days, and never in the wee hours of the night.
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China banned the manufacture and sale of gaming consoles in 2000 but later fully reinstated them in 2015.
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In 2014, the government released a list of things that would prevent a game from being approved by the censors, including violence, drug use, obscenity, and "anything that harms public ethics or China's culture." Games like Call of Duty and Halo were not approved.
But all that hasn’t stopped China’s gaming industry… Chinese tech giant Tencent owns Honor of Kings (the world’s highest-grossing video game over the past two years) and League of Legends-maker Riot Games.
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NetEase, the second-largest gaming company in China behind Tencent, trades on the Nasdaq with a market cap of ~$60B.
The most recent changes shouldn’t affect either too much. With previous time and spending restrictions on minors, gaming companies put their focus on other demographics. Revenue from minors yields less than 3% of Tencent’s gross gaming receipts in China.
🤔 Zoom out: A few weeks ago, a state-run paper described online gaming as “opium for the mind.” Though the article was taken down and later republished with a new headline and references to “opium” removed, it spooked investors and caused Chinese gaming giant Tencent to lose billions off its market cap.
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As we’ve previously covered, China is in the midst of a wider tech regulation push over monopoly and data security concerns – and all eyes are on what comes next from regulators.
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International investors have lost more than $1 trillion this year as a result of China’s changing regulatory environment. Nine of the top 10 market value losers in July were Chinese firms, per Bloomberg.
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🍩 DONUT Holes…
Image:Josh Edelson/AFP
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☝️ Residents near Lake Tahoe in California have been ordered to evacuate due to the Caldor Fire, which has burned more than 177,000 acres since starting on August 14 (an area larger than Chicago); fire officials said the blaze was "more aggressive than anticipated" and is only 14% contained.
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🏫 The Department of Education is investigating potential civil rights violations in five GOP-led states that banned school mask mandates. (From the Left | From the Right)
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🇪🇺 The EU removed six countries, including the United States, from its COVID “safe list” of nations whose travelers do not need to be tested or quarantine; the recommendation is non-binding and ultimately up to the member states to decide whether or not to implement (many already require proof of vaccination or recent negative COVID test).
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🇺🇸🇦🇫 A U.S. military aircraft carried the last American troops out of Afghanistan, marking the formal end of the longest war in U.S. history. Hundreds of Americans reportedly remain; about 122,000 people, including 5,400 Americans, were airlifted out of Afghanistan since August 14. (From the Left | From the Right)
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🚁 A U.S. drone strike on Sunday targeting ISIS-K killed 10 Afghan civilians in addition to its militant targets, including seven children, a family member and a neighbor said. (From the Left | From the Right)
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⛽️ The UN’s environment office declared the “official end” to the use of leaded gasoline, a highly toxic fuel, in cars.
+Bonus: Season Three of “You” drops in October. Watch the official announcement trailer.
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🔥 The Hot Corner
💬 Heard Through the Grapevine… "I volunteered to come out here, this is what I do. I've done this for 40 years… 'Well, he's too old to be doing this.' Well, hey, guess what: Screw you! OK? And try to keep up! Keep up, OK? These young punks – I will come after them. I will drop them like a bag of dirt." –Weatherman Al Roker during an MSNBC appearance.
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He was responding to Twitter users who expressed concern the 67-year-old cancer survivor is too old to report live from dangerous conditions, such as Hurricane Ida.
🔢 Stat of the Day… The average U.S. adult spends three hours and 43 minutes on their phone per day — or nearly two months per year.
📖 Worth Your Time… These People Who Work From Home Have a Secret: They Have Two Jobs
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🗣👂 Dose of Discussion
🩸⚖️ The Theranos Trial
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Elizabeth Holmes speaks at the Fortune Global Forum in San Francisco; Image: Jeff Chiu/AP
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🎁 DONUT Headline: Jury selection in the criminal fraud trial of Elizabeth Holmes starts today, kicking off a legal showdown over one of the most high-profile Silicon Valley scandals in history.
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Federal prosecutors have charged Holmes and her former business partner and ex-boyfriend, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, with defrauding investors and patients of their blood-testing company Theranos.
📜 Background: A Stanford University dropout, Holmes founded Theranos in 2003 at age 19 after purportedly developing technology that could screen patients for hundreds of diseases with just a finger prick of blood.
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She grew to cultivate a persona that included a signature black turtleneck - like Apple founder Steve Jobs - and a deep baritone voice that former employees claim is not her actual speaking tone (but family members insist is legitimate).
Theranos eventually began to attract major investors and boardmembers, including media mogul Rupert Murdoch, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, resulting in a $9+ billion valuation by 2015.
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The company also signed nine-figure deals in 2012 and 2013 to supply Safeway and Walgreens with in-store blood tests – both of which ended up falling apart due to missed deadlines or breach of contract.
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In 2015, a series of articles by WSJ journalist John Carreyrou revealed Theranos was not using new, breakthrough equipment, as Holmes had claimed, but instead relied mostly on conventional blood-processing machines. It also uncovered a pattern of flaws and inaccuracies in patient results.
Theranos was subsequently sued by investors for fraud, had its blood-testing license revoked by the federal government, settled "massive fraud" charges with the SEC, and ultimately dissolved the business in September 2018.
👁️ Looking ahead… Based on court documents published Saturday, Holmes is expected to accuse her ex-boyfriend Balwani of engaging in psychological, emotional, and sexual abuse, claiming he controlled what she ate, when she slept, how she dressed, and with whom she spoke.
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Balwani, who is being tried separately from Holmes starting in January 2022, has denied any abuse.
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🛸🌄📲 Calling from the Future…
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🧱 ‘Bricking’ News
Image: YouTube
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🎁 DONUT Headline: A Swiss-based startup called Energy Vault raised $100 million to fund its new, outside-the-box method of energy storage.
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How it works: The company’s system uses a 35-story crane to lift, swing, and lower bricks weighing 35 metric tons apiece.
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When energy requirements are low, the bricks are raised by the crane using excess energy.
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When energy requirements are high, the bricks are dropped to the ground and the kinetic energy is captured in a generator that can be transferred to a strained power grid.
Energy Vault’s technology is designed to offer 80-85% efficiency in converting energy into electricity.
Keep reading.
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🤗 Daily Dose of Positive
🌊 Scouts’ Honor
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Image: CNN
A powerful storm swept through Columbia, Missouri, earlier this summer, causing severe flooding in the town’s streets and parks.
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As the storm came to a lull and the skies began to clear, two Boy Scouts were out for a bike ride when they heard a woman screaming for help from a basketball court nearby.
Dominic Viet and Joseph Diener immediately pulled over to locate the woman, and found the basketball court and playground covered in feet of water – enough to generate a fairly strong current.
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Both boys had received their swimming and lifesaving badges through the Boy Scouts and knew just what to do in case of a water emergency…
Keep reading.
+Correction: Yesterday, we misattributed the quote, “To those who much is given, much is expected” to J.F.K., when it actually came from the Bible (Luke 12:48).
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💡 Dose of Knowledge
🗺️ On The Border
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Which two countries share the longest international land border?
A) Chile & Argentina
B) Russia & Kazakhstan
C) The U.S. & Canada
D) China & Mongolia
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(keep scrolling for the answer) |
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🍩 Share The DONUT
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Access exclusive rewards and even an all-expenses-paid round trip to Austin, TX, just for sharing this newsletter.
Simply:
1. Copy your unique referral link.👇
2. Post said link on social media, drop it in your group chat, use it in a T-shirt design, etc.
3. Watch the rewards roll in.
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Ambassador Rewards and Progress → |
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💡 Dose of Knowledge Answer
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C) The U.S. & Canada
The land border between the United States and Canada is the longest in the world, stretching nearly 5,530 miles. (The rest of the Top 10.)
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That measurement includes the border between Alaska and northern Canada, which is 1,538 miles long on its own.
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🍩 Daily Sprinkle
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."
–Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
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