This week in the news | 21 Oct 23

News from the past week, and a few other things.

Brian Rendell

Oct 21, 2023

👋 Hello Reader, I hope you had a great week. Below are the items that stood out to me in the news.

Updates on Israel, Hamas, and Gaza (Middle East)
Some concerning charts on teen social media use (4.8hrs per day!) in Cyber
Mortgage interest rates rose again this week. To help you decipher the resulting difference in mortgage payments, I built some charts in excel—you’ll find them, as well as the excel document itself, in the Real Estate section.
And, I’m super excited to hear that Nate Bargatze is going to host SNL on October 28th…and Foo Fighters will be the feature band. Nate Bargatze’s clean, deadpan humor leaves me in stitches.
Also, in the fun arena, I’ve included two cool videos—one describing the history of the metric and Imperial systems of measurement, and one on a cinematographer who films while on roller blades.
Plus you’ll find a lot more less-fun news items too…

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THE QUICK SHOT 🚀

A lock icon (🔒) indicates articles behind a paywall, and a chart icon (📊) indicates an informative chart/graphic in “Slow Brew.”

WORLD

North America

Latin America

Europe

Middle East

Africa

Sudan conflict: Ethnic cleansing committed in Darfur, UK says (BBC)

Asia-Pacific

MI5 head warns of 'epic scale' of Chinese espionage (BBC)
'Lives Are at Risk': Pentagon Declassifies Hundreds of Dangerous Chinese Intercepts of US Planes (Air and Space Forces)
DOD’s New China Report Details CCP’s Growing Military Arsenal (Air and Space Forces)
China's Q3 GDP growth shows economic recovery gaining traction (Reuters) 📊
How China’s Belt and Road Initiative is changing after a decade of big projects and big debts (AP)
Putin praises Belt and Road as Xi charts way forward (BBC)
Powerful Earthquakes Hit Afghanistan for the Fourth Time in Just Over a Week (NYT🔒)

GOVERNMENT & DEFENSE

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

Treasury Yields Climb as Hot Data Fuel Fed Wagers: Markets Wrap (Bloomberg🔒) 📊
Choice Hotels Makes Hostile Takeover Bid For Wyndham At $7.8 Billion Valuation (Forbes🔒)
New Playground, New Court, New Classroom? Thank Ozempic. (WSJ🔒)
Young Indonesian Entrepreneur Parlays Digital Tool For Fish Breeders Into A Rare Unicorn (Forbes🔒)
Why the U.S. Government Has $5 Billion in Bitcoin (WSJ🔒)
The Crypto Exchange Moving Money for Criminal Gangs, Rich Russians and a Hamas-Linked Terror Group (WSJ🔒)
Gas Prices Fueled Summer Inflation. That Is About to Change. (WSJ🔒) 📊
Ford Recalls 238,000 Explorers Over Defect That Could Cause Them to Roll Away (NYT🔒)
Tesla to recall nearly 55,000 Model X vehicles, auto regulator says (Reuters)

Real Estate

Home Sales on Track for Slowest Year Since Housing Bust (WSJ🔒) 📊
U.S. Home-Seller Profits Continue Rising As Home Values Hit New Highs In Third Quarter (Attom) 📊
Mortgage Rates Approach Eight Percent (Freddie Mac) 📊
Mortgage rate comparison charts 📊

Personal Finance

Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) (Fed Reserve) 📊
US Treasuries at 5% Are a Buy, Says Morgan Stanley Investment (Bloomberg🔒) 📊

TECH & CYBER

US to Tighten Rules Aimed at Keeping Advanced Chips Out of China (Bloomberg🔒)
America’s ‘Gold Standard’ GPS Risks Falling Behind Rival Systems (WSJ🔒) 📊
Teens Spend Average of 4.8 Hours on Social Media Per Day (Gallup) 📊
China's Baidu unveils new Ernie AI version to rival GPT-4 (Reuters)
Behind the AI magic that lets Amazon’s Prime Vision show the NFL like never before (The Athletic)

LIFE

Media Confidence in U.S. Matches 2016 Record Low (Gallup) 📊
Duolingo Adds Math, Music Courses to Educational App (GovTech)
F.D.A. Plans to Ban Hair Straighteners With Formaldehyde (NYT🔒)
Nestlé Is Developing Products To Accompany Drugs Like Ozempic— Amid Fears They’ll Eat Into Food Sales (Forbes🔒)

FOR FUN

Travel

Entertainment

It’s Getting Too Expensive to Have Fun (WSJ🔒) 📊
Why films have become so ridiculously long (Economist🔒) 📊
'Wait, Netflix Has Games?' Streaming Giant Plans New Videogames Based on Its Hit Shows (WSJ🔒)
Netflix raises prices for its premium plan (NPR) 📊
The Top-Earning Summer Concert Tours Of 2023 (Forbes🔒)

Sports

For Fun

Nate Bargatze to Host October 28 Episode of SNL, Foo Fighters to Perform (NBC) 📊
What’s killing the jump scare? (WP🔒) 📊
Halloween Spending to Reach Record $12.2 Billion as Participation Exceeds Pre-Pandemic Levels (National Retail Federation) 📊
Why I will NEVER use the Metric System (YouTube) 📊
John Lyke Blade Cam (YouTube) 📊

Share Curated Compositions

THE SLOW BREW ☕

A more relaxed approach to news summaries.

North America

Legal Settlement Bars U.S. From Separating Migrant Families (WSJ🔒)

The U.S. government won’t be allowed to return to a policy of separating migrant families at the southern border for at least the next eight years under a legal settlement reached between the American Civil Liberties Union and the Biden administration on Monday. That policy, formally implemented in May 2018, resulted in the separation of thousands of families crossing the southern border before Trump was forced to call it off under intense political pressure. The government also didn’t keep proper records on which children belonged to which parents, and the Biden administration is still searching for some deported parents to this day. Under the settlement, affected families will be allowed to apply for asylum again—even if they were previously rejected or even deported. Officers reviewing their cases will be instructed to view the trauma they faced as a factor in favor of approving them. Families are eligible if they were separated at any point under the Trump administration, even when a formal, national policy didn’t exist. They will also be given temporary housing and medical benefits.

189 decomposing bodies found at funeral home offering green burials (WP🔒)

Nearly 200 decomposed bodies have been removed from a Colorado funeral home that offers green burial services, authorities said Tuesday, as more remains have been discovered weeks after a report of “an abhorrent smell” coming from the property initially led investigators to the decayed remains of more than 100 people. Teams removed the remains of at least 189 people from the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colo., and transported them to the El Paso County Coroner’s Office, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. All of the remains found at the funeral home, about 100 miles south of Denver, were removed as of Friday, but authorities stressed that the body count could change as they continue to identify the decedents.

Canada withdraws 41 diplomats from India (BBC)

Forty-one Canadian diplomats have recently left India amid a rift over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil. India asked Canada two weeks ago to withdraw dozens of its diplomatic staff and threatened to remove their immunity if they remained. Canadian officials called the threat a "violation of international law". Relations have been tense after Canada accused India of being behind the 18 June killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has denied the allegations, calling them "absurd".

Latin America

Mexican Sinaloa Cartel’s Message to Members: Stop Making Fentanyl or Die (WSJ🔒)

The Sinaloa cartel, the leading exporter of fentanyl to the U.S., is prohibiting the production and trafficking of the illegal opioid in its territory after coming under increasing pressure from U.S. law enforcement, cartel members say. The order comes from the “Chapitos,” the group led by the four sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who transformed the Sinaloa cartel into a global empire managing the supply of narcotics, from Mexican heroin to Colombian cocaine and fentanyl made with precursors from Asia. The directive from the most powerful faction within the criminal group aims to evade pressure from U.S. law enforcement, operatives say, though some U.S. officials are skeptical that the ban will endure.

Daniel Noboa, Scion of a Banana Empire, Wins Ecuador’s Presidency (NYT🔒)

Daniel Noboa, the 35-year-old heir to a banana empire, won Ecuador’s presidential election on Sunday, in a high-stakes campaign driven by an electorate frustrated with the country’s surging violence and ailing economy. The center-right political outsider defeated Luisa González, a leftist handpicked by former President Rafael Correa who ran on a pledge of returning to a time of prosperity and low homicide rates under the Correa government. The vote signaled a desire for change in a nation of more than 17 million on South America’s western coast that has seen a wave of violence from international criminal groups and local gangs that have turned Ecuador into a key player in the global drug trade and sent tens of thousands of Ecuadoreans fleeing to the U.S.-Mexico border.

U.S. Eases Oil And Gas Sanctions Against Venezuela After Maduro Strikes Election Deal (Forbes🔒)

The Biden Administration announced it would ease sanctions against Venezuela's oil and gas sector, a move that could shore up global supply after the country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, reached a deal with opposition political leaders for the country’s presidential elections in 2024 that the U.S. described as a step towards “democratic order.” The Treasury Department said it issued a six-month license enabling transactions involving Venezuela’s oil and gas sector—including exports and investments. The license will be renewed after six months if Venezuela’s government meets its commitments, including the unrestricted participation of opposition leaders in next year’s elections and the release of “wrongfully detained” Americans and political prisoners. In addition to oil and gas, the deal also lifts a ban on trade involving the state-owned gold mining company Minerven, along with the secondary trading of some Venezuelan sovereign bonds.

Europe

Ukraine uses US-provided long-range ATACMS missiles against Russian forces for the first time (AP)

The United States has quietly delivered a small number of long-range ballistic missiles that Ukraine said it urgently needed and that President Joe Biden promised last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Tuesday, saying they were used on the battlefield against Russia and “executed very accurately.” ”Today I express special gratitude to the United States,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address, adding that the missiles “have proven themselves.” The U.S. has refused to discuss the delivery publicly, but officials familiar with the move also confirmed it earlier in the day. Fewer than a dozen of the missiles got into Ukraine within the last few days, said officials. Their arrival at the warfront gives Ukraine a critical ability to strike Russian targets that are farther away, allowing Ukrainian forces to stay safely out of range.

All 31 Abrams Tanks in Ukraine, US Military Confirms to VOA (VOA)

All 31 U.S.-made M1A1 Abrams tanks promised to Kyiv by the Biden administration have arrived in Ukraine, according to the U.S. military. Col. Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for U.S. Army Europe and Africa, told VOA that all of the Ukrainians who trained on the tanks with U.S. forces in Germany have also returned to Ukraine, along with ammunition and spare tank parts.

Finland’s 2024 defense budget targets arms restocking, border security (Defense News)

Finland’s 2024 defense budget is primed to include funds meant to strengthen the country’s 830-mile-long border with Russia as well as replenish military equipment and weapons supplied to Ukraine over the last two years. The budget, which is on course to be ratified by the end of October, puts defense spending at about €6.2 billion (U.S. $6.6 billion) — a nearly 5% rise from 2023. The Defence Ministry approved the draft budget with amendments in September.

Maltese plan for 16-year-old mayors gets more derision than support (Reuters)

Maltese government plans to allow 16-year-olds to serve as mayors have drawn humour, revulsion and little apparent support on the Mediterranean island. The plans were announced on Wednesday by local government minister Owen Bonnici. Electoral law already allows candidates as young as 16 to stand for local council elections, but mayors to date needed to be at least 18. Malta, which has the smallest population among European Union countries, will become the first to allow council members aged 16 or 17 to serve as mayors and deputy mayors, Bonnici told reporters.

Middle East

Two American Hostages Released as U.S. Pressures Israel to Delay Gaza Invasion (WSJ🔒)

Hamas released two U.S. citizens taken hostage in the Gaza Strip, amid rising pressure on Israel to put off a planned invasion on the enclave to allow time for diplomacy. The release was the first time Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the enclave, set free any of the roughly 200 hostages taken by militants during a raid on Oct. 7 that killed more than 1,400 Israelis. Israel identified the freed hostages as Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie, who had been visiting family in Nahal Oz, a kibbutz, at the time of the attack. The women are from Evanston, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.

Biden declares Israel and Ukraine support is vital for US security, will ask Congress for billions (AP)

Declaring that U.S. leadership “holds the world together,” President Joe Biden told Americans on Thursday night the country must deepen its support of Ukraine and Israel in the middle of two vastly different, unpredictable and bloody wars. Acknowledging that “these conflicts can seem far away,” Biden insisted in a rare Oval Office address that they remain “vital for America’s national security” as he prepared to ask Congress for billions of dollars in military assistance for both countries. Biden’s speech reflected an expansive view of U.S. obligations overseas at a time when he faces political resistance at home to additional funding. He’s expected to ask for $105 billion on Friday, including $60 billion for Ukraine, much of which would replenish U.S. weapons stockpiles provided earlier. There’s also $14 billion for Israel, $10 billion for unspecified humanitarian efforts, $14 billion for managing the U.S.-Mexico border and fighting fentanyl trafficking and $7 billion for the Indo-Pacific region, which includes Taiwan. The proposal was described by three people familiar with the details who insisted on anonymity before the official announcement.

Biden, in Israel, says hospital blast caused by militants (Reuters)

U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday pledging solidarity in its war against Hamas and backing its account that a blast that killed huge numbers of Palestinians at a Gaza hospital had been caused by militants. The fireball that engulfed the Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital delivered some of the most harrowing images yet from a 12-day war, and wrecked White House plans for Biden's emergency diplomatic mission to the Middle East, with Arab leaders calling off their planned summit with the U.S. president. Palestinian officials blamed an Israeli air strike for the blast, which it said had killed as many as 500 people. Israel said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied blame. Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden said: "I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion of the hospital in Gaza yesterday, and based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you."

Biden Scraps Plans to Visit Jordan After Summit Canceled (Bloomberg🔒)

President Joe Biden will not visit Jordan after the country canceled plans for a summit with Egyptian and Palestinian leaders, according to a White House official, a blow to diplomatic efforts to contain a war between Israel and Hamas that threatens to engulf the region. The decision was made after consulting with King Abdullah II of Jordan and in light of the days of mourning that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced following an explosion at a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds, the official said.

King of Jordan tells Olaf Scholz: We won’t take refugees from Gaza (Politico)

The king of Jordan poured cold water on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s hopes that neighboring Arab countries could take in Palestinian refugees who are fleeing the Gaza Strip ahead of an anticipated ground offensive by the Israeli army. The rebuff by King Abdullah II was made Tuesday morning at a press conference with Scholz following a meeting in the chancellery in Berlin, which Scholz also used to issue a warning to Iran and to Hezbollah against intervening in the Israel-Hamas conflict. “I think I can speak here on behalf of Jordan … but also our friends in Egypt: This is a red line … no refugees to Jordan and also no refugees to Egypt,” King Abdullah said at the press conference.

Sunak follows Biden to Israel to show support as bombs hit Gaza (Reuters)

Israel pounded Gaza with more air strikes on Thursday, as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak followed U.S. President Joe Biden on visits to demonstrate support for the war against Hamas while urging Israel to ease the plight of besieged Gazans. Biden flew home on Wednesday night after an eight-hour trip having pledged to assist Israel's defence and consoled survivors of the Oct. 7 raid by Hamas gunmen who rampaged through southern Israel, killing 1,400 people. But he appeared to have only limited success in his other mission, to persuade Israel to ease the plight of 2.3 million Gazans under a total siege. Biden said he had secured an offer from Egypt to allow 20 aid trucks to reach Gaza in coming days, though a fraction of the 100 per day that U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council were needed. Sunak landed in Tel Aviv hours after Biden left, carrying similar messages of support and condolence for Israelis. "Above all, I'm here to express my solidarity with the Israeli people. You have suffered an unspeakable, horrific act of terrorism and I want you to know that the United Kingdom and I stand with you," Sunak told Israeli reporters after landing.

US Navy warship near Yemen intercepted projectiles, Pentagon says (Reuters)

A U.S. Navy warship on Thursday intercepted three cruise missiles and several drones launched by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement from Yemen potentially toward Israel, the Pentagon said. Washington is on heightened alert for activity by Iran-backed groups as regional tensions soar during the Israel-Hamas war. The Pentagon said the destroyer USS Carney was operating in the northern Red Sea on Thursday when it brought down the projectiles and there were no injuries. "We cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting, but they were launched from Yemen heading north along the Red Sea, potentially towards targets in Israel," Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters.

China’s Xi Urges End to Israel-Hamas Conflict Through Two-State Solution (VOA)

Chinese leader Xi Jinping made his first public comment about the Israel-Hamas conflict Thursday, calling for a cease-fire and reiterating that establishing “an independent state of Palestine” through a two-state solution is the “fundamental way out of” the conflict. "The top priority is to stop the fighting as soon as possible, prevent the conflict from spreading or even getting out of control and causing a severe humanitarian crisis," Xi said during his meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly in Beijing. Some analysts say Xi’s remarks are consistent with Beijing’s decadeslong position on issues related to the Palestinians. "The statements that have come out [from Beijing] since October 8 are consistent with views that China has been expressing all the way back to at least 1997," Dawn Murphy, an associate professor of national security strategy at the U.S. National War College, told VOA by phone.

Dozens of Countries Scramble to Identify More Than 150 Citizens Held Hostage in Gaza (WSJ🔒) 📊

A week after Hamas militants launched their deadly attack on southern Israel, world leaders and their intelligence agencies are scrambling through regional backchannels to contend with a hostage crisis of seemingly unprecedented global dimensions. They are still trying to answer the basic question: Which citizens, from which countries, are being held captive in a tunnel network under the Gaza Strip? The U.S. and several of its allies are asking Qatar to use its contacts inside Hamas, as they try to cross-reference names and conditions of more than 150 people from around 30 nations not seen for nine days. Each day, estimates of the quantity of people kidnapped have changed and the number of nations involved is in dispute. Many, if not most, of the hostages may have dual nationalities including Israeli. Several people thought to have been kidnapped have subsequently been identified among the dead.

NOTE: The above is only a partial list (the top 10 countries).

Hamas seeks Palestinian prisoners' release, calls non-Israeli captives 'guests' (Reuters)

A top Hamas leader said on Monday the group "has what it needs" to free all Palestinians in Israel's jails, indicating the militant group may try to use the Israelis it kidnapped as bargaining chips to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas tunnels under Gaza will be a key battlefield for Israel (Economist🔒)

Israel's military is evacuating 28 communities near the northern border with Lebanon because of escalating hostilities with Hezbollah militants. An Israeli civilian and a soldier were killed on Sunday, when anti-tank missiles fired from Lebanon hit one of the villages and a military post. The military said it struck Hezbollah military sites in response. It also accused the group's backer, Iran, of ordering attacks in an effort to distract Israel from the Gaza war. Iran meanwhile warned Israel of the risk of a regional conflict if it continued attacking the Palestinian territory in retaliation for the deadly assault by the militant group Hamas earlier this month. Hezbollah is Lebanon's most powerful military force and has long-range rockets at its disposal that could strike deep into Israeli territory. It fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006.

Israel evacuates communities near Lebanon border amid fears of escalation (BBC)

Africa

Sudan conflict: Ethnic cleansing committed in Darfur, UK says (BBC)

The BBC has seen new evidence of the brutal ethnic violence that has swept western Sudan since fighting broke out between two rival military factions in April. Analysis of satellite and social media data reveals at least 68 villages in Darfur have been set on fire by armed militias since the civil war began.

Asia-Pacific

MI5 head warns of 'epic scale' of Chinese espionage (BBC)

More than 20,000 people in the UK have now been approached covertly online by Chinese spies, the head of MI5 said. It comes amid a new warning to tens of thousands of British businesses of the risk of having their innovation stolen. Ken McCallum was speaking to the BBC at an unprecedented public appearance of the security chiefs of the Five Eyes alliance in California. The heads of US, UK, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand security agencies appeared together. They did so for the first time to warn of commercial secrets being obtained by China. Stanford University in California was chosen as the venue for the first public meeting because it lies in the heart of Silicon Valley. In both public statements and a closed session with entrepreneurs and investors, security chiefs warned that cutting-edge research is being stolen.

'Lives Are at Risk': Pentagon Declassifies Hundreds of Dangerous Chinese Intercepts of US Planes (Air and Space Forces)

Chinese aircraft have engaged in many more risky intercepts of U.S. planes over the past two years than was previously publicly known, the Pentagon said Oct. 17. There have been more than 180 dangerous incidents over the South and East China Seas during that period, according to newly declassified information released by the Pentagon. That is more than the previous decade combined. The incidents are part of a “centralized and concerted campaign to perform these risky behaviors in order to coerce a change in lawful U.S. operational activity and that of U.S. allies and partners,” Ely Ratner, the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said Oct. 17.

DOD’s New China Report Details CCP’s Growing Military Arsenal (Air and Space Forces)

China’s military continues to expand its reach around the globe, building up strategic and tactical capabilities, especially its missile programs, according to a Pentagon report released Oct. 19. The updated annual China Military Power Report says the People’s Liberation Army is developing: Air-to-air missiles that can strike from beyond visual range; Conventionally-armed intercontinental missile systems; Increased numbers of nuclear warheads. While China’s nuclear capabilities grow, it is also updating its air fleet. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force”. The Pentagon report noted that “the PLAAF, “in particular, has received repeated calls from its leadership to become a truly ‘strategic’ air force, able to project power at long distances to advance and defend the PRC’s global interests.”

China's Q3 GDP growth shows economic recovery gaining traction (Reuters) 📊

China's economy grew at a faster-than-expected clip in the third quarter, while consumption and industrial activity in September also surprised on the upside, suggesting the recent flurry of policy measures is helping to bolster a tentative recovery. Rapidly weakening growth in the world's second-biggest economy since the second quarter prompted authorities to step up their support steps, with Wednesday's batch of data indicating the stimulus is starting to gain traction although a property crisis and other headwinds continue to pose risks to the outlook.

How China’s Belt and Road Initiative is changing after a decade of big projects and big debts (AP)

China’s Belt and Road Initiative looks to become smaller and greener after a decade of big projects that boosted trade but left big debts and raised environmental concerns. The shift comes as leaders from across the developing world descend on Beijing this week for a government-organized forum on what is known as BRI for short. The initiative has built power plants, roads, railroads and ports around the world and deepened China’s relations with Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Mideast. It is a major part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s push for China to play a larger role in global affairs. Chinese development banks provided money for the BRI projects as loans, and some governments have been unable to pay them back. That has led to allegations by the U.S., India and others that China was engaging in “debt trap” diplomacy: Making loans they knew governments would default on, allowing Chinese interests to take control of the assets. An oft-cited example is a Sri Lankan port that the government ended up leasing to a Chinese company for 99 years. Many economists say that China did not make the bad loans intentionally. Now, having learned the hard way through defaults, China development banks are pulling back. Chinese development loans have already plummeted in recent years as the banks have become more cautious about lending and many recipient countries are less able to borrow, given their already high levels of debt. Chinese loans have been a major contributor to the huge debt burdens that are weighing on economies in countries such as Zambia and Pakistan. Sri Lanka said last week that it had reached an agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China on key terms and principles for restructuring its debt as it tries to emerge from an economic crisis that toppled the government last year.

Putin praises Belt and Road as Xi charts way forward (BBC)

Here's a summary of events: Xi Jinping delivered the keynote address where he positioned the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as an alternative to Western-led globalization. The BRI 'transcends differences between cultures, civilisations and stages of development', he said. Vladimir Putin heaped praise on the BRI, saying "our Chinese friends did it". Putin was on a rare trip abroad, and in a country where he did not risk getting arrested for alleged war crimes due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. By sharing the spotlight with Putin at a global summit, Xi affirmed his support for the Russian leader. Putin and Xi held a bilateral meeting after the BRI summit ceremonies at the Great Hall of the People. Xi hosted several world leaders who are part of the BRI, spanning Asia, Africa, Europe and South America. UN chief Antonio Guterres also spoke at the summit and called for measures to prevent developing countries from accumulating unsustainable debt. Countries like Sri Lanka and Zambia have struggled to pay debt owed to Chinese builders

Powerful Earthquakes Hit Afghanistan for the Fourth Time in Just Over a Week (NYT🔒)

Two powerful earthquakes struck Herat Province in northwestern Afghanistan early on Sunday, jolting a region already hit by three major quakes over the past eight days that have killed more than 1,000 people. The magnitude-6.3 and magnitude-5.4 temblors struck the province just after 8 a.m. local time at a depth of about six miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter of the quakes was around 20 miles northwest of Herat City, the provincial capital and a major economic hub near the country’s border with Iran. At least two people died and more than 150 people were injured in Sunday’s quakes, according to Masoud Danish, the director of the Herat governor’s office.

GOV’T & DEFENSE

Government

GOP Reboots Speaker Search After Jim Jordan Bid Collapses (WSJ🔒)

Rep. Jim Jordan withdrew his bid to become House speaker after the fiery conservative lost both a public and private vote Friday, sending divided House Republicans back to the starting line in their weekslong quest to elect a leader and pass urgent legislation. Jordan’s defeat marked the latest fallout from the ouster earlier this month of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.), with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R., La.) and now Jordan winning the party’s nod only to fall short of the gavel because of internal GOP opposition. The impasse has left the House frozen and unable to consider legislative initiatives, including the expiration of the government’s current funding next month and assistance for Israel or Ukraine.

Defense

About 2,000 U.S. troops told to prepare for deployment in response to Israel-Hamas war (NBC)

About 2,000 U.S. troops have been put on prepare-to-deploy orders for possible support to Israel, according to a defense official. The troops are not being sent anywhere yet, nor would they necessarily go to Israel or Gaza. If they were deployed, they would go to a nearby country to be prepared to support Israel in the war against Hamas, the official said. These who received the orders were already on 96-hour prepare-to-deploy status, which has now been shortened to 24 hours.

Pentagon releases footage of hundreds of ‘highly concerning’ aircraft intercepts by Chinese planes (AP)

The Pentagon has released footage of some of the more than 180 intercepts of U.S. warplanes by Chinese aircraft that have occurred in the last two years — more than the total amount over the previous decade and part of a trend U.S. military officials called concerning. The photos and video were released in advance of a soon-to-be issued annual report by the Pentagon on the China’s military power and the security threats it may pose to partners in the Indo-Pacific.

Nearly 70% of active service members are overweight, report finds (Military Times)

More than two-thirds of active duty service members are within the overweight or obese ranges of the body mass index, according to a report by the American Security Project released Thursday. Defense Department data shows that the obesity rate, calculated using a person’s age, height and weight, has more than doubled over the past decade, from 10% to roughly 21%. At the same time, more than half of young Americans now qualify as obese, and it’s the no. 1 disqualifier for recruiting prospects.

U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force Struggle for Recruits. The Marines Have Plenty. (NYT🔒)

These are dark days for military recruiting. The Army, Navy and Air Force have tried almost everything in their power to bring in new people. They’ve relaxed enlistment standards, set up remedial schools for recruits who can’t pass entry tests, and offered signing bonuses worth up to $75,000. Still, this year the three services together fell short by more than 25,000 recruits. Military leaders say there are so few Americans who are willing and able to serve, and so many civilian employers competing for them, that getting enough people into uniform is nearly impossible. Tell that to the Marines. The Marine Corps ended the recruiting year on Sept. 30 having met 100 percent of its goal, with hundreds of contracts already signed for the next year. The corps did it while keeping enlistment standards tight and offering next to no perks. When asked earlier this year about whether the Marines would offer extra money to attract recruits, the commandant of the Marine Corps replied: “Your bonus is that you get to call yourself a Marine. That’s your bonus.”

Exclusive: US Army charges Private Travis King with desertion over dash into North Korea (Reuters)

The U.S. Army has charged Private Travis King with crimes ranging from desertion for running into North Korea in July to assault against fellow soldiers and solicitation of child pornography, according to documents obtained by Reuters.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

Economy

Treasury Yields Climb as Hot Data Fuel Fed Wagers: Markets Wrap (Bloomberg🔒) 📊

Treasury yields climbed and stocks struggled after solid economic reports reinforced the case for the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer. Two-year US yields hit the highest since 2006, while those on 10-year notes jumped 13 basis points to 4.83%.

Business

Choice Hotels Makes Hostile Takeover Bid For Wyndham At $7.8 Billion Valuation (Forbes🔒)

On Tuesday, Choice Hotels announced its hostile bid to acquire all the outstanding shares of competitor Wyndham Hotels & Resorts at a price of $90 a share. The cash and stock deal assumes a $7.8 billion valuation for Wyndham. Including assumed debt, the deal value would climb to around $9.8 billion. The offer is significantly higher than the $80-per-share offer Wyndham rejected in April. In mid-May, Choice upped its offer to $85 per share before proposing a “best and final” offer of $90 per share in August. A successful acquisition would be a massive merger in the budget hotel chain space, combining the fifth- and sixth-largest hotel groups in North America to create the continent’s largest budget hotel franchisor.

New Playground, New Court, New Classroom? Thank Ozempic. (WSJ🔒)

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum just got $20 million to build a high-tech classroom for visiting students. The source: weight-loss drug wealth. Two nonprofit foundations are large shareholders of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, the companies selling the drugs Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro popularly used to reduce weight. Thanks to the drugs’ skyrocketing sales, the foundations’ stakes have surged in value, creating windfalls that are reshaping charitable giving. The philanthropies are now among the biggest in the world, with the Novo Nordisk Foundation counting $114 billion in assets and Lilly Endowment quadrupling in value to $40 billion. The Lilly Endowment is the second largest U.S. foundation, behind the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—and its $53 billion in assets—but ahead of the Ford Foundation and the J. Paul Getty Trust, according to FoundationMark data provider. With their newfound anti-obesity riches, the foundations have been expanding their ranks and increasing their donations by hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Young Indonesian Entrepreneur Parlays Digital Tool For Fish Breeders Into A Rare Unicorn (Forbes🔒)

Gibran Huzaifah’s path from startup to unicorn is strikingly different from those taken by other Indonesians. Instead of developing applications for the marketplace where customers are mainly in cities, he works in rural areas and has tapped an unlikely, easily ignored resource: catfish. The 33-year-old literally learned aquaculture from the bottom up. He built his own fishponds to support himself while studying at a state university. After graduation, he launched a business to work with breeders, providing them with an Internet of Things device that automatically fed their fish and cut their costs. It was a decade ago that Huzaifah cofounded Multidaya Teknologi Nusantara, which is known to its 70,000 fish and shrimp breeding customers as eFishery. In July, unlisted eFishery became what appears to be the world’s first aquaculture unicorn and Southeast Asia’s first agritech unicorn. It did that thanks to a $200 million series D fundraising led by Abu Dhabi’s 42XFund. Aside from putting the value at more than $1 billion, that fundraising was completed at a time money for the tech sector was getting hard to secure and many companies were cutting costs and employee numbers.

Crypto

Why the U.S. Government Has $5 Billion in Bitcoin (WSJ🔒)

The U.S. government is one of the world’s biggest holders of bitcoin, but unlike other crypto whales, it doesn’t care if the digital currency goes up or down in value. That is because Uncle Sam’s stash of some 200,000 bitcoin was seized from cybercriminals and darknet markets. It is primarily offline in encrypted, password-protected storage devices known as hardware wallets that are controlled by the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service or another agency. What the federal government does with its bitcoin has long been a topic of interest among crypto traders because any sale could potentially swing prices or cause other ripple effects in the $1 trillion digital-asset market.

The Crypto Exchange Moving Money for Criminal Gangs, Rich Russians and a Hamas-Linked Terror Group (WSJ🔒)

The U.S. last year sanctioned a Moscow-based crypto exchange to stymie Russian efforts to evade the financial blockade imposed after the invasion of Ukraine. A year on, the exchange is booming. Despite its place on the U.S. blacklist, which restricts transactions with sanctioned entities, Garantex has become a major channel through which Russians move funds into and out of the country, according to trading data and people familiar with the firm. It has also been a vehicle for Russian cybercriminals to launder their earnings, U.S. authorities say. Garantex’s growing role as a global conduit for illicit funds was underscored this month by evidence that Palestinian militants in part financed their operations through crypto in the lead-up to the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. Digital wallets controlled by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which joined Hamas in the attacks, received a portion of $93 million via Garantex, according to analysis by researcher Elliptic, which said Hamas also used a similar financing strategy.

Energy

Gas Prices Fueled Summer Inflation. That Is About to Change. (WSJ🔒) 📊

Gasoline markets have shifted into reverse. Wholesale costs have slid in recent weeks, undoing a late-summer run-up that sparked fears of an inflationary shock while promising relief to drivers and the Federal Reserve. Already, gas stations around the U.S. are cutting prices at the pump, a trend that traders on Wall Street suggest will continue in the coming weeks. The about-face has hammered fuel makers’ margins, slimming the profits they make from gasoline to their lowest levels since late 2020, according to FactSet. Investors have tapped the brakes and, at least momentarily, halted a yearslong ascent in refiner stocks to record or near-record highs.

Auto

Ford Recalls 238,000 Explorers Over Defect That Could Cause Them to Roll Away (NYT🔒)

Ford Motor has recalled about 238,000 Explorers because of a defect that poses a risk of the sport utility vehicles rolling away if the parking brake is not engaged. The affected models, from 2020 through 2022, have been discontinued.

Tesla to recall nearly 55,000 Model X vehicles, auto regulator says (Reuters)

The U.S. auto regulator on Tuesday said Tesla (TSLA.O) will recall 54,676 Model X vehicles manufactured between 2021-2023, as the vehicle controller is likely to fail to detect low brake fluid and not display a warning light. Tesla has released an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge, to fix the issue, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said.

Real Estate

Home Sales on Track for Slowest Year Since Housing Bust (WSJ🔒) 📊

The highest mortgage rates in 23 years are dragging down home sales to their lowest levels since the subprime crisis period. Sales of previously owned homes in 2023 are expected to dwindle to a rate not seen since at least 2011, when the U.S. population was smaller and the country was still recovering from one of the worst housing crises ever, according to many economist forecasts. Chen Zhao, economics research lead at real-estate brokerage Redfin, estimated that total existing-home sales in 2023 would amount to around 4.1 million, which would mark the smallest number of sales since about 2008, the year that Lehman Brothers collapsed and sparked the global financial crisis. Zhao said sales are unlikely to pick up much next year, with mortgage rates likely to remain at elevated levels.

U.S. Home-Seller Profits Continue Rising As Home Values Hit New Highs In Third Quarter (Attom) 📊

ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property and real estate data, today released its third-quarter 2023 U.S. Home Sales Report, which shows that profit margins on median-priced single-family home and condo sales in the United States increased to 59 percent in the third quarter – the second straight quarterly increase following several declines. The improvement in typical profit margins, from 56.6 percent in the second quarter of 2023, came amid a continued rebound in the U.S. housing market that pushed the median nationwide home price up 2 percent to a new high of $350,000. Both the nationwide profit margin and median home price have increased since an unusual decline from the middle of 2022 to the early part of 2023 that had threatened to reverse a decade-long market boom.

Mortgage Rates Approach Eight Percent (Freddie Mac) 📊

Mortgage rates continued to approach eight percent this week, further impacting affordability. In this environment, it’s important that borrowers shop around with multiple lenders for the best mortgage rate. With research showing down payment is the single largest barrier to first-time homebuyers attaining homeownership, borrowers should also ask their lender about down payment assistance. Launched this week, Freddie Mac’s DPA One® tool helps lenders and homebuyers identify and take advantage of down payment assistance programs nationwide. Not only are homebuyers feeling the impact of rising rates, but home builders are as well. Incoming data shows that the construction of new homes rebounded in September but as rates keep rising, home builders appear to be losing confidence. As a result, construction could trend down in the short-term.

Mortgage rate comparison charts 📊

Below are some charts I made in excel to show the difference in mortgage payments of a 30 year fixed mortgage at different loan amounts and interest rates. Keep in mind that the charts only principle & interest on the loan, they do not include property taxes and insurance (you can read more about PITI here).

And here are some charts that compare the total interest paid over the life of a 30 year mortgage at different interest rates and loan amounts.

Lastly, here’s the excel document itself. It also includes a tab for you to compare two different loans and see the mortgage payments and total interest paid over the life of the loan. Keep in mind these are very basic and do not take into account closing costs, loan points that you might pay, or other loan fees.

Mortgage Calculations

31.5KB ∙ XLSX file

Download

Personal Finance

Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) (Fed Reserve)📊

According to the latest edition of a triennial survey from the Federal Reserve, the median net worth of US households has soared some 37% from 2019-22 to reach ~$193k.

US Treasuries at 5% Are a Buy, Says Morgan Stanley Investment (Bloomberg🔒)

If 10-year US Treasury yields hit 5% or higher, that’s a good entry point for investors, according to Morgan Stanley Investment Management. “Those will be great levels to get longer in your portfolio from a duration perspective” under current conditions, said Vishal Khanduja, money manager and co-head of the broad markets fixed-income team in Boston. Benchmark US yields are fast closing in on the 5% mark, fueling debate about how much further they can rise as Federal Reserve officials pledge to keep interest rates higher for longer. Traders trying to time an entry into the market have to weigh opposing factors, as the conflict in the Middle East fuels haven bids while a swelling US deficit boosts the supply of securities.

4. TECH & CYBER

Technology

US to Tighten Rules Aimed at Keeping Advanced Chips Out of China (Bloomberg🔒)

The Biden administration is refining rules aimed at keeping advanced chips and manufacturing gear out of China, seeking to close loopholes that might help its geopolitical rival gain cutting-edge technologies. The latest regulations are an attempt to streamline export curbs announced last October, according to people familiar with the matter. The new rules will strengthen controls on selling graphics chips for artificial intelligence applications and advanced chipmaking equipment to Chinese firms, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t yet public.

America’s ‘Gold Standard’ GPS Risks Falling Behind Rival Systems (WSJ🔒) 📊

early 50 years since its founding, the U.S. Global Positioning System is in danger of losing its cachet as the world’s gold-standard location service. The U.S. military, which runs GPS, is upgrading the system with more-modern satellites that can give nonmilitary devices more-precise coordinates in more indoor and hard-to-reach spaces. But the next-generation GPS service for civilians isn’t expected to go live for several years. While academics and national-security officials caution that the delayed upgrades don’t mean that GPS is failing, they say that other countries’ more modern systems could give them influence over global commerce at Washington’s expense. China, for instance, uses its advanced-satellite service as a selling point for business and research partnerships in presentations to officials from African and Asian countries. In an extreme case, a government could feed inaccurate data to rival countries, making smartphones and vehicles that depend on their signals unusable during a conflict.

Cyber

Teens Spend Average of 4.8 Hours on Social Media Per Day (Gallup) 📊

ust over half of U.S. teenagers (51%) report spending at least four hours per day using a variety of social media apps such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), a Gallup survey of more than 1,500 adolescents finds. This use amounts to 4.8 hours per day for the average U.S. teen across seven social media platforms tested in the survey. Across age groups, the average time spent on social media ranges from as low as 4.1 hours per day for 13-year-olds to as high as 5.8 hours per day for 17-year-olds. Girls spend nearly an hour more on social media than boys (5.3 vs. 4.4 hours, respectively).

Artificial Intelligence

China's Baidu unveils new Ernie AI version to rival GPT-4 (Reuters)

Chinese technology giant Baidu on Tuesday unveiled the newest version of its generative artificial intelligence (AI) model, Ernie 4.0, saying its capabilities were on par with those of ChatGPT maker OpenAI's pioneering GPT-4 model. CEO Robin Li introduced Ernie 4.0 at an event in Beijing, focusing on what he described as the model's memory capabilities and showing it writing a martial arts novel in real-time. He also showed Ernie 4.0 creating advertising posters and videos.

Behind the AI magic that lets Amazon’s Prime Vision show the NFL like never before (The Athletic)

Some viewers of Amazon Prime’s “Thursday Night Football” matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos got a special experience: seeing what was going to happen on a play before it actually happened. Viewers who watched the game in Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats, one of Amazon’s three broadcast options, saw the unveiling of a feature called Defensive Alert that is powered by artificial intelligence to identify potential blitzes before the snap. The model highlights players it believes have a high probability of blitzing (crossing the line of scrimmage to rush the passer) with a red circle that appears under them.

LIFE

Education

Media Confidence in U.S. Matches 2016 Record Low (Gallup)

Americans’ confidence in the mass media to report the news fully, fairly and accurately is at its lowest point since 2016, when Republicans’ trust fell sharply. This low confidence reading for the fourth estate comes at a time when trust in each of the three branches of the federal government is also low. In addition, Gallup in June found confidence readings in both TV news and newspapers that were near their historical lows and last December found a record-low-tying rating of the honesty and ethics of journalists. Although partisans remain sharply divided in their views of the media, Democrats’ trust fell significantly this year. Still, a majority of Democrats but few Republicans continue to have confidence in the mass media. Republicans’ low confidence in the media has little room to worsen, but Democrats’ could still deteriorate and bring the overall national confidence reading down further.

Duolingo Adds Math, Music Courses to Educational App (GovTech)

In addition to adding math and music courses, the Pennsylvania-based education software company is also using artificial intelligence to build user profiles and offer more targeted lessons.

Health

F.D.A. Plans to Ban Hair Straighteners With Formaldehyde (NYT🔒)

The Food and Drug Administration has proposed banning hair-straightening products that contain or emit formaldehyde, more than a decade after the cosmetic industry’s own experts declared the products unsafe. Frequent use of chemical hair straighteners has been linked to a possible increase in the risk of developing cancer of the uterus, which is also called endometrial cancer. Women who use the products often face more than twice the risk of those who do not. Other studies have linked hair straighteners and dyes to breast and ovarian cancer. The agency’s scientists deemed formaldehyde to be a human carcinogen seven years ago, and its lawyers started drafting a proposed ban then.

Food & Drink

Nestlé Is Developing Products To Accompany Drugs Like Ozempic— Amid Fears They’ll Eat Into Food Sales (Forbes🔒)

Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider said in an earnings briefing that the company is working on a number of health aids targeted toward the growing number of people using drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy (while both drugs are prescribed widely for obesity, only Wegovy has been approved for weight loss by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration). The treatments, which were initially developed to treat Type 2 diabetes, dampen peoples’ desire to eat by mimicking an appetite-regulating gut hormone. With people eating less, Schneider said there is an opening for products like supplements to support weight loss and ensure people get the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients they need but may no longer be getting from food.

FOR FUN

Travel

How United Airlines Is Changing Its Boarding Process for Economy Passengers (WSJ🔒)

United Airlines has a plan to fix one of the most annoying parts of travel: boarding. Next week, United will bring back a boarding method for economy passengers that it says is more efficient, hoping to shave up to two minutes off what is often a cumbersome, often contentious process. It sounds simple: window, middle, aisle, or “Wilma.” When economy passengers board, those sitting in the window seat will go first, followed by middle seats, then aisles. Groups traveling on the same reservation will still board together.

Art

Fewer people are going to movies, theater and museums, NEA study shows (WP🔒)

Research released Wednesday by the National Endowment for the Arts found that significantly fewer American adults are attending cultural activities such as classical music concerts, theater productions and movies than they did before the coronavirus pandemic. Just 48 percent of adults reported attending at least one arts event from July 2021 to July 2022, according to the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, which has been administered by the Census Bureau roughly every five years since 1982. That number represents a six-point drop from the most recent survey in 2017, amplifying alarm bells that the arts community is struggling to regain its pre-shutdown audience.

Entertainment

It’s Getting Too Expensive to Have Fun (WSJ🔒) 📊

The rising cost of fun is becoming a drag. Ticket prices for live entertainment events, from Taylor Swift concerts to National Football League games and high-season Disney

theme-park visits, rose at a startling rate this year, triggering a phenomenon that analysts have dubbed “funflation.” Families coughed up large sums saved during the pandemic to attend live events and parks this year. Friends treated themselves to memorable performances. Mothers took their daughters to stadiums packed with friendship-bracelet-clad concertgoers to see Swift’s Eras Tour. Now, some Americans are feeling tapped out.

Why films have become so ridiculously long (Economist🔒) 📊

The Economist analysed over 100,000 feature films released internationally since the 1930s, the start of Hollywood’s golden age, using data from IMDb, a movie database. The average length of productions has crept up by around 24%, from one hour and 21 minutes in the 1930s to one hour and 47 minutes in 2022 (see chart). Blockbusters are the worst offenders. For the ten most-popular titles (measured by how many reviewers rated the films on IMDb) average lengths stretched to around two and a half hours in 2022, nearly 50% higher than in the 1930s.

'Wait, Netflix Has Games?' Streaming Giant Plans New Videogames Based on Its Hit Shows (WSJ🔒)

Though Netflix has up to now focused on mobile games—which appeal to casual gamers and can be downloaded on a smartphone or tablet—it is taking steps to expand into higher-end games that can be streamed from TVs or PCs. That approach would put it up against giants such as Sony and Microsoft, which just closed its $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and would bring some significant technical challenges. Over the next several months, Netflix subscribers will be able to play games on their mobile devices based on hits such as Korean thriller “Squid Game” and supernatural comedy “Wednesday,” according to people familiar with the situation. Similarly, Netflix is discussing games based on “Extraction,” its Sherlock Holmes series and its “Black Mirror” series, the people said.

Netflix raises prices for its premium plan (NPR)

Netflix on Wednesday disclosed summertime subscriber gains that surpassed industry analysts' projections, signaling the video streaming service's crackdown on password sharing is converting former freeloaders into paying customers. In an effort to bring in even more revenue, Netflix also announced it's raising the price for its most expensive streaming service by $2 to $23 per month in the U.S. — a 10% increase — and its lowest-priced, ad-free streaming plan to $12 — another $2 bump. The $15.50 per month price for Netflix's most popular streaming option in the U.S. will remain unchanged, as will a $7 monthly plan that includes intermittent commercials. In an apparent effort to rebuild its library of original programming after everyone returns to work, Netflix said it expects to spend about $17 billion on TV series and films next year. Netflix's decision to abandon its long-established practice of allowing subscribers to share their account passwords with friends and family outside their households has prompted more viewers who had been watching the video service for free to sign up for their own accounts.

The Top-Earning Summer Concert Tours Of 2023 (Forbes🔒)

Beginning in March and ending in August, Swift played 56 stadium shows across 20 U.S. cities and Mexico City, grossing more than an estimated $780 million and earning the 33-year-old pop queen an estimated $305 million. Spanning nearly two decades and 10 albums, the Eras Tour is more than a retrospective of Swift’s career, it’s also a financial phenomenon. Because of the tremendous economic impact concert tours have on cities, Swift and Beyoncé–who pocked an estimated $145 million from her record-breaking Renaissance World Tour this summer—were credited by Morgan Stanley for adding $5.4 billion to the U.S. economy in the third quarter.

Sports

Las Vegas Aces Defeat New York Liberty In WNBA Finals, Secure Back-To-Back Championships (Yahoo)

The Las Vegas Aces are back on top of the WNBA. The defending champions defeated the New York Liberty in Game 4 of the 2023 WNBA Finals to secure back-to-back rings.

Why Austin’s Grand Prix Is America’s Biggest F1 Race — By A Mile (Forbes🔒)

The debut of the Miami Grand Prix last year set a Formula 1 record in the United States with an average viewership of 2.6 million. This year, all eyes are on another American addition to the F1 calendar, the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will hit the Strip next month and become—in the words of one series executive—“the home of Formula 1 in the U.S.” Lost in the shuffle has been the race that, in many ways, is sitting in pole position, with ten more years of history, a far larger crowd and claim to the name “U.S. Grand Prix.” That would be the series’ stop in Austin, Texas, which had a rocky few years financially after coming onto the scene in 2012 but is expected to draw three-day attendance this weekend in line with last year’s 440,000—about 60% better than Miami this year and about 40% more than Las Vegas’ projections.

For Fun

Nate Bargatze to Host October 28 Episode of SNL, Foo Fighters to Perform (NBC)

You might've seen Bargatze on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he's appeared 13 times—most recently on the October 9, 2023 episode. Bargatze has two Netflix comedy specials, The Greatest Average American and The Tennessee Kid. In January 2023, Bargatze released the standup special Hello World on Amazon Prime; in April, it became the streamer's most-streamed comedy special ever.

Nate Bargatze’s hilarious, clean, deadpan comedy puts me in tears. I saw him in person a couple of years ago and walked out with my stomach muscles aching I was laughing so long and hard. So, I’m hopeful that his SNL episode will be just as good.
One of his more famous sketches is of a trip to the Cape Fear Serpentarium Below is an audio-only version of that sketch (it starts at 19:24).

Halloween Spending to Reach Record $12.2 Billion as Participation Exceeds Pre-Pandemic Levels (National Retail Federation) 📊

Total Halloween spending is expected to reach a record $12.2 billion, exceeding last year’s record of $10.6 billion, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. A record number of people (73%) will participate in Halloween-related activities this year, up from 69% in 2022.

What’s killing the jump scare? (WP🔒)

As Halloween approaches, it’s getting scary out there. But, surprisingly, it’s not as jump-scary as it used to be. Since 2014, the number of jump scares cranked out by Hollywood has fallen precipitously, according to Where’s The Jump, a remarkable website that documents the time stamps of jump scares in more than 1,000 movies.

Why I will NEVER use the Metric System (YouTube)

A fun video describing the history of Metric and Imperial systems of measurement.

John Lyke Blade Cam (YouTube)

Behind the Scenes videos of Rollerblade Camera Operator John Lyke

Have a great weekend!

The Curator

Have a great weekend!

The Curator

Share Curated Compositions

Two resources to help you be a more discerning reader:

AllSides - https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news

Media Bias Chart - https://www.adfontesmedia.com/

Caveat: Even these resources/charts are biased. Who says that the system they use to describe news sources is accurate? Still, hopefully you find them useful as a basic guide or for comparison.