Holy Cow, This Election Is Close! |
As we all know, Holy Cow, a.k.a. Vache Sainte, is a pun-friendly cheese made in Louisiana at the Bittersweet Plantation Dairy, 20 miles from Baton Rouge. It has a strong and rich flavor and unlike this newsletter, it gets softer with age. Also Holy Cow, there's a lot of news you Need2Know this morning: Moooooooo. Amen. Out. —Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor P.S. We've got a pair of robot legs helping a man in a wheelchair stand and walk on our Instagram. |
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"Threats from promoters to cancel tickets unfairly target fans... such actions are clear examples of anti-consumer and retaliatory behaviour." — Viagogo |
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1. What A Difference A Day Makes As Trump's Truth Social Goes Up And Down A Lot |
For a brief, shining, glorious moment that lasted a day, Donald Trump's Truth Social platform was worth $10 billion, surpassing the value of Elon Musk's X at $9.4 billion. Then it fell by 22%.
The company saw a run-up in its shares to be valued at over $10 billion, more than quadruple their value since late September. But all came to an end yesterday. My editor's friend, who's a journalist too, not just some rando, has a theory that Tump's fans are manipulating the value of the stock to make it seem more likely that he might win.
The stock of Trump Media tends to move more with Trump's re-election odds than on its own profit prospects, which are generally recognized to be non-existent.
On Tuesday, the stock rose almost 9% to close at $51.51, on top of a 21.6% gain Monday. Then on Wednesday they fell 22% again. So if you're reading this, now, it sounds like you should have sold on Tuesday night! #NotFinancialAdvice
The stock had dropped to roughly $12 late last month. Trump created the company after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. He owns about 57% of the company but has no role in running it. Read More |
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2. USA Today Will Not Endorse a Presidential Candidate |
I once interviewed a Democratic candidate for an endorsement in a congressional seat at an alternative newspaper in Portland, Oregon, and he brought a gun along. It was at this moment that I thought, "Endorsement interviews are weird." Also: "Mummy."
In my native England, endorsements are often predictable and run along partisan editorial lines. But here in America, where the "press" are all desperately keen to pretend they're impartial, even though they're absolutely not, the idea that a supposedly objective set of people can endorse a candidate for high political office defies reason.
Still, it's a fading fashion. And given that everybody thinks Donald Trump might win, now, USA Today is the latest outlet to decline to endorse a candidate, following hot on the heels of the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.
The USA Today decision applies to its more than 200 publications across the country. Gannett will allow state and local endorsements at the discretion of individual publications. Gannett says America's future is decided "one local race at a time," which is not true, obviously. The Gannett network includes notable publications in swing states, such as the Arizona Republic and the Detroit Free Press. Read More |
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| This wearable robot lets wheelchair users stand and walk all on their own. Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have created a groundbreaking wearable robot designed for individuals with paraplegia.
The device can autonomously approach users, allowing them to put it on directly from their wheelchairs using a "frontal-docking method," all without needing assistance or getting out of their wheelchair. |
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3. Everybody Sees Their Doctor Over Zoom Now |
I'm talking to my doctor on Zoom tomorrow about my cholesterol levels. The total level is 108, but I'm on a statin, and we want to get it under 100 for the long term, so I expect I'll be hearing a load of nonsense about "diet" and "exercise" again. Another non-negotiable is that I have to eat a lot of cheese. For work.
Around 40% of telehealth appointments go through Zoom, and about 140,000 healthcare institutions around the world use the platform for telehealth. There's going to be even more of this in future, said Punit Singh, the CEO of Suki, an assistant for doctors that listens to a doctor-patient conversation and can automatically create a clinical note, extracting problems and diagnoses, putting them in the right place in the medical record system so the doctor can focus on being a doctor.
"There is a pre-Internet era and a post-Internet era, and it's led to a dramatic change in how everything around us used to be," he said. "In the future, all healthcare technology will be fundamentally different. How we deal with our own health will be very different."
Suki is used in 300 health systems and clinics across the country. "There's a Stanford study says 88% of all doctors would not recommend their own profession to their peers," Punit said. "It's products like Suki that go a big way to reducing clinical burnout and can help." Read More |
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4. The Oasis Dries Up As U.K. Band Cancels 50,000 Definitely Shady Tickets |
Thousands of Oasis concert tickets sold on resale platforms are set to be cancelled as the band prepares for their much-anticipated reunion tour. To counteract ticket touting and inflated prices on the secondary market, promoters Live Nation and SJM have announced they will invalidate over 50,000 UK tour tickets listed on secondary sites, intending to reissue them on Ticketmaster at face value.
The decision comes as a response to over 10 million fans from 158 countries rushing to secure tickets — my five mates and I all tried, and failed, to get even one ticket over the course of an entire day — resulting in significant secondary market reselling activity. (I.e., my mates and I had to consider "donating" our kidneys. For money.) Oasis and their promoters had initially made clear that tickets should only be purchased via Ticketmaster or their resale partner, Twickets, to avoid overpricing and ensure fairness. But who reads the instructions?
Despite efforts, 4% of tickets found their way onto resale sites, prompting the promoters to take action against those not adhering to the set terms and conditions. Ticket resale site Viagogo said: "Ticket resale in the UK is legal and we want to reassure fans buying tickets on Viagogo that we are fully compliant with the law and guidelines set out by relevant regulators. Threats from promoters to cancel tickets unfairly target fans who chose to buy on a secure, transparent, and highly regulated resale marketplace. Such actions are clear examples of anti-consumer and retaliatory behaviour. This reinforces our longstanding concerns about competition, abuse of dominant positions in the primary market and the resulting detrimental impact this has on fans across the UK."
Sounds like there's about to be a big fracas. Read More |
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5. Why Home Sales Are Worse Than Ever (Don't Worry: It's Not Your Fault) |
"It's just really unaffordable in this market right now," said Wall Street Journal finance reporter Gina Heeb. "You have home prices that have hovered near record highs for a lot of the year. You also have very high mortgage rates and that has kept people locked in place."
Tell us more!
"We had a very unusual period a couple of years ago where rates were really low and a lot of people were able to secure a 3% mortgage," she said. "And, you know, that's very hard to give up when rates are now at 6%. So, a lot of people are just staying put, not selling, and that's keeping inventory low and prices high as well."
The Federal Reserve recently cut rates, but since then, we've got some stronger than expected economic data and mortgage rates have risen to 6.5%. Gina thinks rates need to fall below 5% to thaw the market out. Until then, it's an election issue for both candidates.
Kamala Harris has said she wants to build more homes and help with down payments. Donald Trump has blamed immigrants for the housing crisis and said he'll cut some regulations and allow more home construction on federal lands.
"But it's really unclear, you know, what exactly those policies would look like should they be put in place," Gina said.
Although it's not Read More |
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