Saturday, July 19
Headlines
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Chevron closes $53b Hess deal after vanquishing Exxon’s legal challenge. Big Oil got a little bit bigger yesterday when Chevron closed its acquisition of its smaller rival Hess, securing access to coveted oil reserves off the shore of Guyana. Chevron and Hess struck the deal back in 2023, but Exxon brought a legal challenge to block it in the biggest oil feud since somebody shot JR. Exxon claimed Hess was contractually obligated to offer to sell Exxon its stake in a Guyana development the companies operate in partnership with the China National Offshore Oil Corp. before making another deal, but yesterday arbitrators from the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris denied that claim. Chevron quickly wrapped up the deal with Hess a few hours later.
Netflix used generative AI in one of its shows for the first time. Will the next Squid Game be made by a bot? Probably not, but tucked into Netflix’s earnings announcement this week was the nugget that the streaming giant has seemingly picked the pro-AI side in Hollywood’s battle over the tech. Netflix said the Argentine sci-fi show The Eternaut was the first show it had produced that used fully AI-generated shots. The tech enabled a sequence that included the collapse of a building in Buenos Aires, which would have otherwise been outside the show’s budget. “We remain convinced that AI represents an incredible opportunity to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper,” Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos told analysts.
The GENIUS Act is the law of the land. President Trump signed the bill into law yesterday, setting up a framework for regulating stablecoins—digital currency pegged to traditional assets—that are linked to the US dollar. It’s a big win for the crypto industry, and Trump said it was a “giant step to cement American dominance of global finance and crypto technology.” The law could help push stablecoins into the mainstream, and major companies like Walmart and Amazon have been said to be considering launching their own.—AR
Robert Reich
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| landmark’s Nuart Theater in Los Angeles, California |
Extended Run!
The Last Class film is also spreading to more theaters
Friends,
I’m delighted to tell you that The Last Class film, about my final semester teaching my 800-student undergraduate course at UC Berkeley, is now playing in 46 theaters in 20 states (and the film team is adding more screenings to the list each day).
Due to all of you showing up to see it, seven theaters in six states have just extended their run of the film for another week:
Ciné Athens in Athens, GA, now thru Thurs, July 24
Rialto Cinemas Elmwood in Berkeley, CA now thru Thurs, July 24
The Quad Cinema in Greenwich Village, NY, now thru Thurs, July 24
Kentucky Theatre in Lexington, KY, now thru Thurs, July 24
Salem Cinema in Salem, OR, now thru Thurs, July 24
The Grand Cinema in Tacoma, WA, now thru Thurs, July 24
Landmark’s Nuart Theatre in West Los Angeles, CA now thru Thurs, July 24
People tell me it’s an uplifting and optimistic film at a very dark time in our history. It’s about the next generation — their energy, excitement, and enthusiasm — and their hopes for the future.
Should you wish to have a look, here’s the trailer.
At A Glance
Bookkeeping
> $245,300: How much Fyre Festival sold the rights to its brand for on eBay.
> 749 miles: Longest journey by an EV on a single charge, set by Lucid Motors.
> 40: The number of birthday freebies a man secured on his 38th birthday.
Browse
> Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner of Welsh soccer team.
> Legacy of the Appalachian Trail’s first female solo hiker.
> UNESCO just added 26 new World Heritage sites.
> Neanderthals may have had family recipes.
> Inside a movement to help nature through music.
Listen
> Journaling as a strategy to unlock creativity.
> How AI is shaking up the legal industry.
Watch
> The entire history of English in 22 minutes.
> Explaining the golden ratio.
> Why AriZona iced tea is always 99 cents.
Long Read
> Marriage is about learning to braid the bitter with the sweet.
> How a hunter-gatherer community in Central Africa raises parents.
Best of the Week: Girl's note to home residents found on empty toilet paper roll.
Historybook: Inventor and businessman Samuel Colt born (1814); First US women’s rights convention held (1848); Maurice Garin becomes first winner of Tour de France (1903); Sports journalist Stuart Scott born (1965); First GPS signal transmitted (1977).
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> CBS will cancel "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," retiring the franchise in May 2026, citing financial reasons; the program is the most-watched late night franchise on US broadcast television (More)
> Connie Francis, singer of "Stupid Cupid" and viral TikTok song "Pretty Little Baby," dies at age 87; Francis became the first woman in history to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1960 (More) | Bryan Braman, former Super Bowl-winning linebacker, dies of cancer at age 38 (More)
> The 2025 WNBA All-Star festivities kick off tonight with the three-point contest and skills challenge (8 pm ET, ESPN), followed by tomorrow's All-Star Game (8:30 pm ET, ABC); star Caitlin Clark will miss weekend with injury (More)
Science & Technology
> OpenAI debuts ChatGPT Agent that can control multiple applications on a user's computer to carry out complex tasks such as making purchases, planning trips, creating slide decks, and more (More)
> Surgeons perform world's first pediatric heart transplant using a technique that restarts the heart outside the donor's body; procedure saved the life of a 3-month-old patient, could increase organ donor pool by 20% (More)
> Researchers discover unique electrical patterns that occur as the brain transitions from sleeping to being awake; findings may help lead to new treatments for sleep disorders (More) | Breaking down the different stages of sleep (1440 Topics)
Business & Markets
> US House passes bill regulating dollar-pegged stablecoins, which now heads to President Donald Trump for signing; two House-passed bills governing regulatory oversight of digital assets and barring Federal Reserve from creating its own digital currency head to the Senate (More) | See previous write-up (More)
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.5%, Dow +0.5%, Nasdaq +0.7%); S&P 500 and Nasdaq rise to records (More) | Mark Zuckerberg and Meta Platforms investors settle shareholder claims seeking $8B in damages over alleged Facebook privacy violations (More)
> Newsletter publisher Substack raises $100M at $1.1B valuation, achieving unicorn status (More) | AI coding startup Lovable also reaches unicorn status after raising $200M at a valuation of $1.8B (More) | What are unicorn startups? (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> President Donald Trump has been diagnosed with benign condition known as chronic venous insufficiency, White House press secretary reveals; the condition occurs when blood pools in the vein, restricting flow to the heart (More) | Department of Homeland Security reaches deal with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to get access to data on 79 million Medicaid enrollees (More)
> House of Representatives slated to vote today on Senate bill to reduce $9B in federal spending on foreign aid and public broadcasting (More) | Republicans advance judicial nomination for former Trump lawyer, Democrats walk out (More)
> Israeli strike on Gaza church kills at least three people, wounds 10 others, including the priest; Israel says the strike was a mistake (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
World War III
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- Is this a possibility?
- Is this a good possibility??
There are organizations in the USA that have hired a group of experts, many of which are former military personnel, war historians, and those who study global politics... WHO INTENTIONALLY STUDY AND PREDICT THE POSSIBILITY OF WAR THROUGHOUT THE WORLD and where are conflicts likely to occur.
WHY???
- So that our country can be prepared.
- So that our companies can be prepared.
Where would WWIII break out?
- Europe - because of the Russia/Ukraine war
- Middle East - because of the Israel/Iran (now Syria war
- South China Sea - because of China desire to control Taiwan
Currently:
- NATO is preparing for war
- China/Russia are preparing for war
- USA is preparing for war
WHAT WILL HAPPEN DOMESTICALLY?
- Increase in price of gasoline
- Increase in the price of electricity
- Political blame game
- increased polarization
- Congress must declare war
- Supply shortages (food, building materials, computer chips)
- Heightened terrorist alerts
- Tourists' flights stopped to Europe, etc.
- Possibly a national draft again
It is doubtful, at this point in time, that nuclear weapons will be used but that is always a possibility. If nuclear is used, long term survival can only take place underground.
Who would be taken underground to perpetuate the human race?
Humanoid Robots would be able to survive a nuclear holocaust...
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 to Support Health Studies for Deep Space Travel
The crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission sit inside a Dragon training spacecraft at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California. Pictured from left: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena
Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui (Credit: SpaceX).
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission is set to launch a four-person crew to the International Space Station later this summer. Some of the crew have volunteered to participate in a series of experiments to address health challenges astronauts may face on deep space missions during NASA’s Artemis campaign and future human expeditions to Mars.
The research during Crew-11 includes simulated lunar landings, tactics to safeguard vision, and other human physiology studies led by NASA’s Human Research Program.
Select crew members will participate in a series of simulated Moon landings, before, during, and after their flight. Using a handheld controller and multiple screens, the astronauts will fly through simulated scenarios created to resemble the lunar South Pole region that Artemis crews plan to visit. This experiment allows researchers to evaluate how different gravitational forces may disorient astronauts and affect their ability to pilot a spacecraft, like a lunar lander.
Friday, July 18
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