New Year's Optimism Goes Up in Smoke |
It's January 3, Chedd-friends, and I'm afraid the news cycle is not exactly half full this morning. Meanwhile, Up in Smoke (as we all know) is a farmstead goat's milk cheese made by River's Edge Chevre in Oregon. The hand-crafted cheese is soft in texture and is misted with bourbon before being wrapped in smoked maple leaves. There are worse ways to spend your January, I think. That last story was included to cheer you up a bit, but still. —Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor P.S. A paralyzed student has walked during his graduation ceremony using an exoskeleton — on our 'gram. |
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"I'm looking for a man in finance. Six five. Trust fund. Blue eyes." — Megan Boni |
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1. 15 Confirmed Dead in New Orleans Attack |
14 people lost their lives and around 30 were injured when a driver in a white pickup truck sped down Bourbon Street on New Year's Eve. The attacker is also dead.
The FBI has identified the suspect as a 42-year-old Texas man, U.S. Citizen, and Army veteran. The FBI said the suspect, who was killed in a firefight with officers, had an ISIS flag in the vehicle at the time of the attack. The suspect made a series of video recordings before Wednesday's attack where he said he joined ISIS. The attacker was going through financial troubles following a divorce, and he also did about $10k of business development work for the consulting firm Deloitte.
The victims included Drew Dauphin, a recent Auburn University graduate and a supplier process engineer at American Honda Motor Company; Matthew Tenedorio, 25, an audiovisual technician who had just started his dream job; and Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, an aspiring nurse who was fondly remembered as a responsible, caring daughter. The New Orleans coroner was only releasing the names of the dead after notifying next of kin.
President-elect Donald Trump falsely blamed immigration for the attack, writing on X: "Biden's parting gift to America — migrant terrorists." Read More |
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2. Cybertruck Explodes at Trump Tower in Las Vegas |
A U.S. Army soldier, believed to be Matthew Livelsberger, 37, from Colorado, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound before causing an explosion outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel with a Tesla Cybertruck.
Officials said the vehicle —which had fireworks, a second firearm, and personal items inside — absorbed most of the explosion's force. The blast damaged primarily the truck's interior and did not affect the hotel's structure significantly.
Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said that Livelsberger had a highly decorated military career in the Green Berets, serving since 2006 with deployments in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia, and Congo. He was awarded numerous honors.
The FBI is investigating Livelsberger's home in Colorado Springs regarding the incident, which happened hours after the separate attack in New Orleans.
President Joe Biden said investigators were looking into whether the two incidents were linked, but "thus far, there is nothing to report." Seven people sustained minor injuries from the Tesla truck explosion.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk clarified on X that the cause was related to the items carried in the truck and not the vehicle itself.
"The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack," Musk wrote on X. "Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards. Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken."
Musk, who has recently become a part of Trump's inner circle after donating quarter of a billion dollars to his successful reelection campaign, was with Trump at a New Year's Eve party in South Florida during the incident. Musk also warned he'd consider suing media outlets over their coverage of the Cybertruck explosion if they framed the story to look like the Cybertruck exploded on its own.
In separate news, Tesla stock fell 6 percent yesterday after the company reported its first fall in yearly deliveries. Read More |
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| "Anything is possible." 💪
Khalil Watson was shot in 2016, leaving him paralyzed from a spinal cord injury. But after an incredible recovery, he recently defied the odds and walked across the graduation stage last year to receive his associate degree from Reynolds Community College — with the help of a robotic exoskeleton from Sheltering Arms Institute.
As Khalil said, "In life, you're going to experience ups and downs. We just have to keep going." |
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3. Turo-Rented Cars Were Involved in Both Deadly Incidents |
Both above incidents involved vehicles that were rented on Turo, a peer-to-peer car sharing company. Initially founded as RelayRides in 2010 before rebranding in 2015, the app has come under unwelcome scrutiny now.
Like Airbnb for cars, Turo helped 3.5 million users book vehicles this past year. Based in San Francisco and backed by significant venture capital including Google Ventures, Turo reported having made profits in recent years and was gearing up for a public offering on Wall Street.
The company issued a statement saying it is "devastated by these horrible incidents" and remains "dedicated to helping the authorities however we can." It also added that the individuals involved in renting the vehicles had no known criminal backgrounds that would flag them as security threats.
"It is with a heavy heart that we confirm that (Wednesday's) horrific attack in New Orleans and ... Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas both involved vehicles rented on Turo," the company said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families." Read More |
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4. World's Richest 500 People Surpass $10 Trillion in Wealth |
In 2024, the collective wealth of the world's 500 richest people surged, surpassing a staggering $10 trillion, as reported by Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. The remarkable increase was significantly driven by technology moguls including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, with Musk's wealth alone climbing above $400 billion partly due to the aftermath of Trump's election win.
The surge was fueled by a robust rally in U.S. technology stocks, significantly boosting the wealth of industry leaders such as Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Collectively, these eight technology giants saw their wealth increase by more than $600 billion over the year, accounting for 43% of the total $1.5 trillion rise observed among the Bloomberg Billionaires Index's top 500.
The year was markedly characterized by a tech-stock rally in the United States, highlighting a voracious investor appetite for companies at the forefront of innovation. The key drivers of the wealth surge include advancements in AI, blockchain, renewable energies, and space exploration, with tech tycoons pioneering developments.
In related news Marxist theory, developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, posits that the primary driver of historical change is class struggle, where the working class (proletariat) is exploited by the capitalist class (bourgeoisie) under a capitalist system, ultimately leading to a revolution where the proletariat will overthrow the capitalists and establish a classless communist society. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, income inequality in the United States has been rising for decades, with the incomes of the highest echelon of earners rapidly outpacing the rest of the population.
If you want to "read" a good "book" about rising inequality, Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century is worth it. He spends a lot of time describing characters from the novels of Honoré de Balzac and Jane Austen, who see inheriting money or marrying into it as the only path to a comfortable life. Or as Megan Boni's TikTok goes, "I'm looking for a man in finance. Six five. Trust fund. Blue eyes." Read More |
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5. Hole-y Matrimony: Couple Weds at Cheez-It Bowl |
I realize this has been a heavy newsletter with some depressing news in it, so it's an abrupt pivot here to end on a much lighter story. In Cheddar's defense this story does involve cheese and romance, two of everybody's favorite subjects. Still, I do want to note the change in tone and emphasize that the stuff up there at the top is all rather serious and upsetting.
Now. In an unconventional celebration, Erin Doolin and Erik Yates from Maryland got married during the 2024 Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, a collegiate football game between No. 14 South Carolina and No. 21 Illinois, in Florida on New Year's Eve.
Their ceremony took place during a commercial timeout in the first half and was officiated by none other than the Cheez-It mascot, Ched-Z (no relation). After exchanging vows on a towed flatbed truck, the newlyweds headed to their afterparty located in the end zone of the stadium.
Best of luck to them. Read More |
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