Good morning. According to a recently released report from Morning Consult, the #8 fastest-growing brand across all US adults is… Great Value Cream Cheese.

Now look, we love great prices and the timeless collab behind cream cheese (milk x cream), but #8? Of all the brands? Hmmm.

And SOMEhow – against all odds – a certain Austin-based news organization with nonpartisan tendencies and killer wit didn’t make the cut. Morning Consult people, if you’re reading this, you have some explaining to do. Either that or we have some growing to do. To-ma-to, to-mah-to.

In today’s edition:

• 🚫 Indonesia outlaws sex outside of marriage
• ⚡️📈 Renewable energy is on the rise
• ✈️ Say goodbye to the Boeing 747

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 3.64 minutes to read.

“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.”

–Jim Rohn (1930-2009)

The Supreme Court will hear arguments later today in a case that will determine whether federal election laws and redistricting maps passed by state legislatures should continue to be subject to judicial review in state courts. Fair warning: this story is fairly dense, so buckle up – but it could fundamentally change how federal elections are conducted in America.

🗳️ Background: In late 2021, North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature approved a new voting map that would favor the GOP in 10 of the state’s 14 districts, prompting legal challenges by Democratic groups.

• NC’s Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in February that the map violated the state constitution due to its partisan nature, prompting NC Republicans to appeal the case to the US Supreme Court.

🗣️ The arguments… ​​This specific case centers around the Constitution’s elections clause, which states the rules for federal elections “shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof” (unless overridden by Congress).

The main focus of the Supreme Court is how to interpret “Legislature” – does the word refer only to a state’s elected legislative body, or instead to its broader lawmaking system, which includes state courts?

• NC Republicans are arguing that state courts exceeded their authority by overruling the legislature. A ruling in their favor would ensure elected representatives, not judges or administrators, are the ones creating voting rules, they say.
• On the other side, NC officials and the Biden administration contend that a GOP-favored ruling would upend centuries of legal tradition, and potentially invalidate thousands of election policies and laws that weren’t adopted directly by a state legislature (including those enacted via ballot initiatives).

👀 Looking ahead… The final decision in this case is expected by next May or June.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, should federal election laws and policies passed by state legislatures be subject to review by state courts?

Yes

No

Unsure/other

🇪🇺 Hungary blocked the EU from approving a ~$19 billion aid package for Ukraine yesterday. The move came a week after the European Commission recommended freezing ~$8 billion in economic development funds intended for Hungary over corruption risks, though Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán said the two events weren’t related. EU officials said they’re working on a new solution to fund Ukraine via a process that works around Hungary’s veto.

🇺🇦 In other Ukraine news, local farmers said a Russian oligarch has seized control of 400,000 acres within the country. The farmland, covering an area more than twice the size of NYC, previously belonged to three of Ukraine’s biggest farming operations before the war began. These firms recently told the WSJ that shortly after Moscow invaded in February, the family company of a former Russian agriculture minister took control of the land and instantly became one of largest farm operators in Ukraine.

🇮🇩 Indonesia passed a new criminal code yesterday outlawing sex outside of marriage. Under the new code, which takes effect in three years, premarital sex will carry a jail term of up to one year for all residents and foreigners. Another new measure criminalizes unmarried couples who live together, making it punishable by up to six months in jail. For prosecutions to start in either scenario, a complaint must be filed by the children, parents, or spouse of the accused couple.

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Shhhhh, did you hear that? The winds of energy change are blowing.

According to a new International Energy Agency report published yesterday, more than 90% of all global electricity expansion over the next five years is expected to come from renewables. Which, per the agency, keeps alive the possibility of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels – otherwise known as the goal set by the Paris Accords.

• The IEA is now projecting global renewable energy capacity will increase by 2,400 gigawatts over the next five years, an amount equal to the entire capacity of China today. That’s a 30% increase over the IEA’s forecast a year ago.
• The agency now also projects that renewables will surpass coal as the largest source of global power generation by 2025.

🌳📈 Driving the trend: An ongoing global energy crisis (thanks, Russia), plus ever-advancing technology, means renewable energy is becoming a less expensive alternative than fossil fuels. Per the World Economic Forum, large-scale solar and wind farms are now the cheapest ways to generate electricity across a majority of the world.

💬 Quoted…​​ “Theft is an issue. It’s higher than what it has historically been.”

In a CNBC interview given yesterday, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said a recent uptick in shoplifting could lead to higher prices and closed stores – if the problem persists.

• It’s not alone either. Last month, fellow retail giant Target reported a 50% annual increase in shoplifting, leading to $400+ million in lost profits this year.

🍽️ Stat of the Day: The US wastes an estimated 108 billion pounds of food each year, per nonprofit Feeding America – an amount equal to ~40% of the food made in America each year.

🤯 Did You Know?... Gatorade was first invented at the University of Florida, and is named after their mascot, the Gators (Gator-aid).

📖 Worth a Read: So You Want To Be a TikTok Star → (The New Yorker)

• ☝️ After 53 years and more than 1,570 planes, the last Boeing 747 rolled off the company's assembly line in Washington state yesterday; the iconic plane has slowly been replaced over the past 15 years by more fuel-efficient models.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📉 US stocks fell across the board yesterday, with the S&P closing lower for the fourth straight day. (Dow: -1.0% | S&P: -1.4% | Nasdaq: -2%)
• 👕🏀 Fanatics raised a $700 million funding round valuing it at $31 billion, per the WSJ; the sports-merch company said it’ll use the funds to continue expansion into collectibles (it bought Topps for $500 million in January) and launch a sports gambling operation in 2023.
• 📰 GE became the first advertiser to buy out an entire print edition of The New York Times.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🙏🍻 Kirstie Alley, Emmy-winning star of Cheers, died from recently diagnosed colon cancer, her children announced yesterday; she was 71.
• 📺 HBO Max is returning to Amazon Prime Video as a $14.99/month add-on, reversing a Sept 2021 move by then-owner AT&T to pull HBO Max from Amazon; in the quarter following this decision HBO Max lost 5 million subscribers (Q3 of last year).
• ⚽ The World Cup is down to its final eight teams; Morocco beat heavily-favored Spain in penalty kicks yesterday, while Portugal eliminated Switzerland 6-1. (See full bracket here.)

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🧠 Neuralink is under federal investigation by the USDA for potential animal-welfare violations, Reuters reported yesterday.
• 🔥​​ A primitive human relative known as Homo naledi used fire to cook food as early as 250,000 years ago, per new research from South African scientists that has yet to be peer-reviewed.
• 🪙 The Ethereum blockchain network’s total energy demand fell by more than 99% after the Merge, per a peer-reviewed opinion paper published yesterday in the journal Patterns. (Background)

EVERYTHING ELSE

• 🌬️ The first-ever US auction for leases to build offshore wind farms took place in California yesterday.
• ⚖️ Two Trump Organization entities were convicted of tax fraud yesterday by a NY jury; the companies provided off-the-books compensation – like leased Benzes and paid-for apartments – to some execs; the entities faces criminal penalties of up to $1.6 million. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)
• 🗳️ Incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock narrowly defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in yesterday's Senate runoff election in Georgia, per the AP, handing Dems their 51st seat in the chamber. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 💊 Doctors are fascinated by a man who took 40,000 ecstasy pills and experienced years of terrible symptoms.

Rapper Yung Gravy is collecting as many bras as possible from fans while on tour... for a good cause.

😎👏 Rockstar level charity: The rapper, best known for hits like "Mr. Clean" and "Betty," shared that every bra thrown on stage during his tour will be donated to women's shelters around the country. 

• "I'll match the final value with a donation to breast cancer charities," he also added.
• So far, he's collected over 675 bras for women in need.

Can you decode the following band names written with emojis?

1. 🏖️👦👦
2. 🏜️🏜️🏝️🏜️🏜️
3. 🧚🧚‍♂️🧚‍♀️

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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