How Much Do You Want to Bethmale? |
Bethmale des Pyrenées, as we all know, is a French cheese dating back to the early Moorish occupations of France between the years 719 and 1197. It makes one wonder why many French are so Islamophobic these days when the cheese, born out of Muslim incursions, and which is solid in consistency and mild of taste, has such an impressive farmyard quality. In other words, it's just like this newsletter! And as we all know, the French love this newsletter. (They call it Faut-Savoir.) Betting, meanwhile, on the outcome of the election a week away, is a thing which is happening across America. In some cases, it's allowed. In other cases, it seems not to be allowed, although that doesn't mean it isn't happening — sorta like drinking during Prohibition. The cheddlines you Need2Know today: I'll give you five to one. —Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor P.S. We've got footage of the world's first bimanual robot on our 'gram. It's not quite ready for a Voight-Kampff test, but with a better haircut it could sorta look like Harrison Ford in Bladerunner, albeit minus his dreamy red-pupiled eyes. |
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"Not picking a horse is picking a horse." — Bill White |
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1. Biden to Musk: Didn't You Work Illegally Here, Too? |
Joe "Joe Biden" Biden slammed Elon "Elon Musk" Musk for hypocrisy on immigration this past weekend after a published report that the Tesla CEO once worked illegally in the United States. The South Africa–born Musk denies it, but the Washington "We Don't Endorse Presidential Candidates" Post reported that Musk worked illegally in the country while on a student visa.
The newspaper, citing company documents, former business associates and court documents (you can tell, reading the story, that it's been run past one or two lawyers, or perhaps even three or four hundred), said Musk arrived in Palo Alto, California, in 1995 for a graduate program at Stanford University "but never enrolled in courses, working instead on his startup."
"That wealthiest man in the world turned out to be an undocumented illegal worker getting a transgender operation in prison here," Biden said while campaigning on Saturday in Pittsburgh at a union hall. "He was supposed to be in school when he came on a student visa. He wasn't in school. He was violating the law. And he's talking about all these illegals coming our way?"
He did not add, "Not that there's anything wrong with that." But wouldn't it have been funny if he did?
It's almost as if politics is an art where you take the most persuasive argument against your opponent and hammer it home to the disregard of all others, even at the expense of Truth™. Some call that lying, although my gut tells me Donald Trump and Elon Musk are about to call it "winning." #NotFinancialAdvice In which case perhaps the Democrats underestimated their ability to do that, and yet again, I fear, that's on them. Because it's not enough to be right, in America. You still must persuade a majority of people you're worth voting for. Read More |
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2. Robinhood Lets You Bet on the Election, Which Is Apparently Legal Now |
Robinhood — a platform named after the English folk hero who, just like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, robbed from the rich to give to the poor — has announced a new trading option, where you can place bets on the presidential election (U.S. edition). Shares in the company rose 4% on the news and are up 200% this year, because who doesn't like gambling with our collective future?
Event derivatives trading involves buying and selling contracts to speculate on the outcome of specific events. Another word for this is "gambling," as in I buy a contract to speculate on a horse winning a race. Would you like to buy a contract to speculate on whether the New York Knicks will beat the Milwaukee Bucks on November 8? I'll give you 5:1 on the Bucks!
A federal judge ruled in September to allow derivatives for event betting, over the objections of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
If you bet $100 on Trump winning then at least, if you're a Democrat, you'll have something to cheer you up on the days after the election. And if you're a Republican, then send me $100. I am, after all, an immigrant, thus accustomed to free handouts. Read More |
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| What in the Westworld? Robotics company Clone has unveiled the world's first bimanual musculoskeletal torso.
This innovative design features a movable elbow, hands with 24 degrees of freedom, a cervical spine, and human-like shoulders with various joints. Instead of motors, it uses artificial muscles for smoother movement, mimicking how human muscles work.
Additionally, Clone has improved the internal structure by incorporating a valve matrix in the chest that controls the artificial muscles, similar to how lungs manage breathing. |
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3. Philadelphia D.A. Sues Elon Musk Over $1M 'Giveaway' |
Speaking of gambling, the Philadelphia D.A. is asking a state judge to shut down Elon Musk's $1 million giveaway to registered voters, calling it an "illegal lottery scheme."
Larry Krasner, who makes $179,000 a year, filed suit on Monday seeking to stop Musk, who makes $56 billion a year as head of Tesla, and billions more as the head of a bunch of other stuff, from awarding $1 million to registered voters in swing states.
The suit comes days after the Department of Justice warned America PAC that its $1 million daily sweepstakes might violate federal election law, and about a week after we reported on that fact here at N2K Cheddquarters, albeit moderately helped along by CNN doing the actual "reporting."
A court hearing is set for Friday morning before Tuesday's election, by which time Musk will have been getting away with the behavior for a couple of weeks.
"America PAC and Elon Musk are running an illegal lottery in Philadelphia (as well as throughout Pennsylvania)," the suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas says. Read More |
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4. Washington Post Controversy Swirls After Jeff Bezos Kills Harris Endorsement |
My mate Mr. X (whose name I have withheld as he relayed this to me in a hot tub, once, and certainly not for attribution) once worked alongside Jeff Bezos on Wall Street, where, Mr. X says, "if you'd told me that anyone on our floor would go on to be as successful as he was, every single person on the floor would have placed Jeff last on that list. He was just so uninspiring. None of us could figure out what he was even doing there."
And yet, the man who bought the Washington Post a dozen years ago, and appears to have been content to just let the paper quietly die on the vine ever since, may have finally revealed the true glint of a man who knows which way his bread is buttered.
Bezos's executives's from Blue Origin met with Trump on Friday, hours after the paper withheld its already written endorsement of Kamala Harris. Blue Origin is also, coincidentally, vying for billions of dollars in federal space contracts.
Washington Post editor-at-large and longtime columnist Robert Kagan resigned Friday. On Saturday, he told the Daily Beast that the meeting between the Blue Origin executives and Trump would not have taken place if the Post had endorsed the Democratic vice-president as planned.
"Trump waited to make sure that Bezos did what he said he was going to do — and then met with the Blue Origin people," Kagan said. "Which tells us that there was an actual deal made, meaning that Bezos communicated, or through his people, communicated directly with Trump, and they set up this quid pro quo."
Notable other furies about all this include Carl Woodward and Bob Bernstein, who brought down Richard Nixon. Trump's friends, meanwhile, are over the moon.
"Bezos not endorsing Kamala Harris — I think that's a $50 million endorsement for Trump. Not picking a horse is picking a horse," said Bill White, a Trump fundraiser, in a story published yesterday in the Post, titled, passive aggressively "Some billionaires, CEOs hedge bets as Trump vows retribution."
The first photo in the article shows the paper's owner sitting next to Trump at the White House in 2017 on a business panel. It must suck to think you work at a last bastion of democracy and then realize it's gone the way of every other bastion. Read More |
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5. Apple iPhone AI Has Arrived and It Sounds... Like AI |
Apple has finally unleashed its AI features on the iPhone 16 with a free software update for U.S.-based customers. The AI infusion will make Siri a bit better, the firm claims modestly. And there'll also be some automated writing and proofreading, as well as photo editing tools.
Most iPhones lack the computer chip needed for Apple's AI, so the company's stock price has gone up 18% since the firm introduced the new phones in June. The company is now worth about $500 billion, or just under two Elon Musks. Apple's Q3 results are due out on Thursday, and the open question is whether the firm's gradual release of more AI will prompt a Christmas splurge.
I'm not exactly bowled over by any of the promised new features, to be honest, and there's still no customized emojis! Most of these features are also already available on Google's Android-powered smartphones released earlier this year. Still, I assume I'll get in line and conform eventually because I love Big Brother. But is conformity really in the best spirit of Apple, as a historic company? Isn't it about Thinking Different? How Orwellian.
P.S. I just bought a new MacBook Air. Read More |
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