Tuesday, July 6, 2021

ON THIS DAY WITH BREW




July 06
John Paul Jones
FEATURED BIOGRAPHY

John Paul Jones

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Anne Frank
FEATURED EVENT
1942
Anne Frank forced into hiding

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MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY
Serena Williams
2002: American tennis player Serena Williams defeated her sister Venus to win her first Wimbledon singles title. [ Test your knowledge of tennis.]
Black Sunday
2002: John Frankenheimer—who was considered one of the most creatively gifted directors of the 1950s and '60s, especially noted for such classic movies as The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)—died in Los Angeles. [How well do you know the history of cinema?]
Srebrenica massacre
1995: Bosnian Serb forces began an attack on Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, ultimately killing more than 7,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) boys and men; the massacre was the worst episode of mass murder within Europe since World War II. [ Take our quiz about European history.]
Malawi
1964: Nyasaland broke from British rule and became the independent country of Malawi within the Commonwealth of Nations. [Sort fact from fiction in our Africa quiz.]
the Beatles
1957: Paul McCartney met John Lennon for the first time, at a church event in Liverpool, England, where the latter's band was performing; the duo would later form the Beatles, perhaps the most influential band in history. [How much do you know about the Fab Four?]
Althea Gibson
1957: With her defeat of Darlene Hard, American Althea Gibson became the first black tennis player to win the Wimbledon singles championship. [ Take our quiz about Wimbledon.]
SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY

Daily Brew

TOGETHER WITH

The Wall Street Journal

Good morningPSA: Fight the urge to start your emails with "Happy Monday!" today. 

MARKETS: YEAR-TO-DATE


Nasdaq

14,639.33

S&P

4,352.34

Dow

34,786.35

Bitcoin

$33,963.62

10-Year

1.444%

Oil

$76.78

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 10:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean.

  • Energy: OPEC and its allies left their tense meeting without a deal, meaning no production increase is currently on the table. Oil prices are expected to keep pushing higher if producers don’t boost their output to meet greater demand.
  • Nation: The search for victims in the Surfside, FL, building collapse resumed after crews demolished what remained of the structure late Sunday night. The death toll rose to 28, and 112 people remain unaccounted for.

C-SUITE

What's Next for Jeff Bezos?

SEATTLE, WA - JUNE 18: Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos presents th...

David Ryder/Getty Images

As of yesterday, Jeff Bezos is no longer the CEO of Amazon, the company he founded as an online book retailer in Seattle in 1994. 

Bezos left the CEO position as the richest person in the world, having amassed a $199 billion fortune. And though he just bought a $500+ million superyacht, all signs point to him not spending much time on it. 

Let’s look at some of Bezos’s side hustles that could become main hustles.

Space

Bezos’s interest in space dates back to his teenage days, when the high school valedictorian told the Miami Herald he wanted to “build space hotels, amusement parks, and colonies for 2 million or 3 million people who would be in orbit.” 

Fast forward to 2000, when Bezos founded his rocket company Blue Origin two years before Elon Musk would start SpaceX. The amusement park idea may still be decades out, but the company has shorter-term ambitions in space tourism, satellite launches, and lunar landers. 

In 2016, Bezos was spending one day a week working at Blue Origin—expect that to jump.

Philanthropy

Bezos has pledged $10 billion to climate-focused initiatives through the Bezos Earth Fund and gave $2 billion to increase access to education and address homelessness through the Bezos Day One Fund. But his philanthropic endeavors have been overshadowed by generous donations made by his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, and Bezos hasn’t signed the Giving Pledge, a commitment by the ultra-wealthy to give away at least half of their fortune.

The other stuff

When Mark Cuban sold his audio streaming company to Yahoo for $5.6 billion in 1999, he bought the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks the next year. Will Bezos also buy a sports team? Perhaps—he reportedly has expressed interest in owning an NFL franchise.

When he’s not busy with all of the above, Bezos owns the Washington Post, is building a 10,000-year clock in remote West Texas, and will certainly keep a close eye on Amazon as executive chairman. 

        

TECH

China Cancels Didi's Ride

Last week, Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing went public in one of the largest US IPOs of the past decade. This weekend, Chinese regulators stopped new users from signing up and ordered its removal from app stores. Its stock has plunged more than 20% in pre-market trading.

What’s going on? Regulators think Didi’s trove of data could land in the wrong hands. A 2015 article making the rounds on Monday showed why that could be a problem: It analyzed how many Didi rides went to and from government departments in one day and estimated how much overtime their employees work. 

Didi’s not the only one caught in Beijing’s dragnet. Yesterday, China’s Cyberspace Administration announced it was reviewing three other domestic companies (the parent companies of which recently listed shares in the US) and halted new user signups for their platforms. 

Zoom out: China has become increasingly wary of its tech giants and is starting to curb their power, which had gone largely unchecked until the past year. In April, the Chinese government blocked the IPO of the world’s largest fintech company, Ant Group, and forced it to restructure.

        

Giphy

This sounds like a sci-fi plot but it happened this weekend: A cybercrime organization claims to have infected 1 million systems across 17 countries. Now, it’s demanding $70 million in bitcoin in exchange for a "universal decryptor" that will return users’ access. 

Hackers targeted the US IT firm Kaseya, then used that company’s software to slip into the victims’ systems, which they’re now holding hostage. They also appeared to time the attack for Fourth of July weekend intentionally, knowing US office workers would be OOO. 

Most of the victims were public agencies and small businesses—like Swedish grocery chain Coop, which had to close most of its 800 stores all weekend. 

A worse sequel than Anchorman 2

This is the Russia-based REvil Group’s second widespread attack of the year. Last month, it extorted $11 million from meat supplier JBS after forcing it to shut down its plants.

Looking ahead...Biden has “directed the full resources of the government to investigate this incident” and suggested that the US is prepared to respond if it turns out the Russian government was involved.

        

SPONSORED BY THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Informed Decisions > Regular Decisions

The Wall Street Journal

Going from regular old snap decisions to informed ones is a game-changer. That’s the difference you get when you read the Wall Street Journal. Whatever decision is in front of you—from a potential job change to a portfolio tweak—you’ll have all the reliable info you need at your fingertips. 

With the WSJ’s accurate reporting and insight, you’ll get the confidence and peace of mind provided by the knowledge that your choices aren’t without reason, but backed by the journalism you need to trust your decisions.
 

GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Joey Chestnut C celebrates after defending his men's championship title ...

Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images

Quote: “The roar of his assault will sunder the dome of Heaven to reach the ears of God himself.”

In one of the most epic sports intros of all time, Major League Eating’s George Shea introduced competitive eater Joey Chestnut before Chestnut downed 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes at the Nathan’s Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest. That topped his own record of 75 dogs last year. 

Stat: Only 1.1% of Africa’s ~1.3 billion people are fully vaccinated, and at least 21 of its 54 countries are experiencing Covid surges. The highly contagious Delta variant is causing fresh lockdowns and rising deaths in lower-income countries across the globe, including Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Uganda.

Read: Britney Spears’s conservatorship nightmare, by Ronan Farrow and Jia Tolentino. (New Yorker)

        

CALENDAR

The Short Week Ahead

Sun Valley, ID

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Sun Valley: After a one-year hiatus, Allen & Co.’s hyper-exclusive conference, aka the “summer camp for billionaires,” returns to the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho this week with a guest list including Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, and other people who don’t feel guilty with over-$40 DoorDash orders.

Economic data: In April, there were a record 9.3 million job openings in the US; we’ll find out on Wednesday whether employers were able to fill those positions in May. Also on Wednesday, the Fed will release the minutes from its June meeting. Investors will be looking for more details on the central bank’s plan to cut back its bond-buying ways. 

A sports bonanza: The Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns tip off in Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight. The semifinal matches for the Euros are today and tomorrow. The Stanley Cup finals are going to a Game 5. Wimbledon continues through this week. And the National Spelling Bee (def a sport) final will be televised Thursday after getting canceled last year.

Everything else:

  • A Gossip Girl reboot comes to HBO Max on Thursday.
  • Marvel’s Black Widow arrives Friday.
  • Richard Branson will fly in a Virgin Galactic test flight to space on Sunday.
        

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

  • British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said all distancing and mask requirements for Covid-19 will end on July 19.
  • Retail investors bought nearly $28 billion of stocks and ETFs on a net basis in June, even more than during the height of meme stock mania in January.
  • Tyson is recalling almost 8.5 million pounds of chicken products over Listeria contamination concerns.
  • BoltBus is shutting down operations. Did anyone reading this ever snag one of those $1 tickets? 

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Tech Tip Tuesday: We’re cheating a bit today and replacing a tech tip with grilling tips. Here’s your complete guide to cleaning hacks, grill recs, recipes, and more. Plus, some inspiration for dressing up your hot dogs.

Dive back into the week: 

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GAMES

The Puzzle Section

Brew Mini: Another week, another spicy Mini puzzle for you to challenge your friends with. Play it here

Decode the map

What is unique about the population of the states shaded black? Hint: Yes, it has to do with agriculture. 

Map showing states where the cattle population is greater than the human population

Reddit user toddrjones

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ANSWER

In those states, the cattle population is greater than the human population. 

2. Trump lie hits '22
People riding Trump train


Spotted at yesterday's parade in Millville, Pa. Photo: Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

 

At least one-third of the nearly 700 Republicans who have filed to run for House or Senate next year have embraced Donald Trump’s false election claims, the WashPost's Amy Gardner reports.

  • "Across the country, ... Republican candidates for state and federal offices are increasingly focused on the last election."
  • "Dozens of candidates promoting the baseless notion that the election was rigged are seeking powerful statewide offices — such as governor, attorney general and secretary of state, which would give them authority over the administration of elections."

BLM Murals Get a Makeover – The Media’s Reaction Says EVERYTHING

Will You Help Trump Take America Back in 2024? (sponsor)

Shaq Drops the HAMMER on Crybaby LeBron

Huge Leak out of Kamala Harris’ Office – Staffers Blow the Whistle!

DeSantis Signs New Law that Will Make Parents Cheer!

 

Poll: Americans Reject Defunding the Police

Reagan McCarthy


‘They Saw the Polling’: Top Democrat Comes Out in Favor of Voter ID Requirement

Matt Vespa


After Last Year’s Record Low, American Pride Sees An Uptick in 2021

Madeline Leesman


Political Cartoons
Bearing Arms
Tuscon's Second Amendment Sanctuary Opposition Really Just About Local Gun Control | Tom Knighton

Defeat Of Nevada Gun Control Bill May Provide Roadmap Forward | Tom Knighton

Bill To Remove Short Barreled Shotguns From NFA | John Petrolino

The Scaremongering Over "Unlicensed Dealers" | Tom Knighton

Why Second Amendment Groups Look To Courts For Help | Tom Knighton
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Those Of You About To Rock (Probably For The Last Time), We Salute You

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A Nation No More

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The American General Store is a Symbol of Enterprise and Exceptionalism

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Donald Trump: Founder And First President Of Covidstan

Scott Morefield


New Poll Reveals Bipartisan Disapproval for the PRO Act

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Whatever Happened to Property Rights?

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Trump, Impeachments and Presidential Legacies

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July 4, 1776: Sacrificing for Freedom

Oliver North



Tipsheet
Taxpayers Could Be on the Hook for Billions in Damages to Canadian Firm Over Biden's Cancellation of Keystone

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Stay Classy, Ladies: Did Some Members of the USWNT Turn Their Backs on a 98-Year-Old WWII Veteran?

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Terry McAuliffe's Extreme Stance on Abortion is Something Which Must Be Addressed

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Foreign Tensions with China Are Impacting What Netflix Air Where

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Offensive Tweets to Potential Future Protests: Revelations Come In About Olympian Activist Gwen Berry

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WaPo Promotes Children Being Exposed to 'Kink at Pride' in What May Be Its Most Horrifying Piece Yet

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Disney World Continues to Get More Woke

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A Leftist War on Common Sense

Terry Paulson


With New Appointments, Iran's Human Rights Atrocities Continue

Cyrus Yaqubi


This is the Dangerous LGBTQ+ Trajectory That We Have Been Warning About

Michael Brown


Review of 'The Cost of My Faith' by Jack Phillips

Kevin McVicker


Battle Over Critical Race Theory Will Determine the Future of the American Republic

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China to fill the Vacuum in Afghanistan with US Departure?

Bill Wenger


Did Hobby Lobby Really Go ‘Full Dominionism’?

Michael Brown


Let's Declare Our Independence Again

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My Best 25 Works of History

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Sorry Leftists, You Haven’t Destroyed Trump’s Popularity

Rachel Alexander




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