Government

Biden drops out of presidential race

We should’ve known after this astrologer on X predicted the exact day he would step down. After weeks of rumors and speculation, Joe Biden officially announced he will not seek reelection on Sunday, marking the first time in 50 years that a major party nominee will be selected outside of the democratic process of primaries and caucuses.

The announcement concludes a pressure campaign by democratic leaders and political advisors of the president, after the meager presidential debate against Donald Trump raised further questions about Biden’s mental acuity and electability.

Biden and other democrats, most notably former president Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton (but not the Obamas), endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to receive the nomination when the Democratic National Convention (DNC) occurs in late August.

What about the nomination process?

A presidential candidate hasn’t been picked outside of a party convention since before 1968. What happens now?

Well, there isn’t a definitive answer (which one would think there would be for a presidential selection process), but there are two likely ways forward:

• The Democratic nominee for president could be determined via a virtual roll call vote scheduled for early August (Zoom meeting!).

• Or, by reviving the open convention method from 1968 when the DNC convenes on August 19.

What do political leaders think? Many democratic party leaders are worried that having the convention delegates, who were mostly in favor of Biden, select the nominee could appear undemocratic and illegitimate, since American voters will now have no say (no wonder).

• Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said letting the convention pick the new nominee is “unlawful” and “wrong”.

Courts could weigh in on the switch: Republicans have maintained that in some states, the Democrats' decision to put forward a different nominee would go to court. Speaker Mike Johnson stated, "Every state has its own system, and in some of these, it's not possible to simply just switch out a candidate," on ABC's The Week.

Unprecedented times

The president’s announcement allows nearly 3,900 delegates—many of whom are party members and individuals who made pledges to Biden during state primary elections—to support a different candidate.

With Bidens withdrawal, it remains to be seen exactly what steps will be taken in selecting a new nominee, and if they will have lasting and widespread consequences for the political process (besides the American people not having a say).

Technology

What was up with the worldwide tech outage?

Chaos ravaged the world after a global IT outage disrupted all industries. An update gone wrong by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike (which is used by over half of Fortune 500 companies) caused what some are calling the largest IT outage in history.

In case you were off the grid…

…here’s what happened. On Friday, CrowdStrike performed a routine software update on Microsoft systems worldwide. But there was one problem: a defect in the update crashed Microsoft's Windows, triggering its infamous "blue screen of death" for those using the operating system.

• The outage caused “Thank you Microsoft for an early vacation” to trend on Weibo in China.

The crash disrupted airlines, government services, hospital systems, emergency services, and other businesses.

The full extent of the damage

As of Monday, CrowdStrike said a ‘significant number’ of devices are back online, but CNN reported that hundreds of flights are still delayed. Here’s everything that the outage affected:

• Banks: One senior trader, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Financial Times that the some traders at JPMorgan Chase, UBS, Bloomberg, and other financial institutions were unable to execute orders and that the disruption was "the biggest upset in years."

• Travel: Early Friday morning, United, Delta, and American halted flights. According to FlightAware statistics, by 5pm, approximately 9,200 flights in or out of the US were delayed. 38,000 were grounded worldwide, and around 2,650 US flights were canceled out of 4,200 internationally (see graphics).

  • A few airlines were forced to write flight information and boarding permits by hand.

  • The United Parcel Service and FedEx also reported issues.

• Government: Foreign ministries in the UAE and the Netherlands both reported IT disruptions. Downed computer systems in the US caused hours-long delays to trials (including Harvey Weinstein's), interfered with customs procedures, and momentarily stopped some 911 services.

• Heathcare: The majority of UK general practitioners' internet portals crashed, and countless hospitals, including many of the biggest in the world, had to cancel all walk-ins, regular appointments, and scheduled surgeries.

• Other news: The Disneyland guests' hotel rooms were locked, some Times Square billboards went black, and Krispy Kreme distributed complimentary doughnuts to make up for the disruption (see overview).

The IT outage, according to Microsoft, impacted over 8.5 million Windows devices around the world, and is being described as the single worst tech disruption in history.

• CrowdStrike saw its share price drop 11% on Friday, and is down around 23% as of writing.

"We understand the profound impact this has had on everyone. We know our customers, partners and their IT teams are working tirelessly and we’re profoundly grateful," CrowdStrike said in a LinkedIn post.

Law

WSJ journalist sentenced to prison in Russia

As if people didn’t have a enough things to hate Russia for right now. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was found guilty of espionage during a three-day private trial in which the charges were mostly dismissed as baseless. As a result, a Russian court sentenced him to 16 years in jail.

The espionage conviction is the first of its kind in Russia (since the Soviet Era). The 32-year-old American has been held in prison since March of 2023, in what the US calls a wrongful conviction.

How did it come to this?

Gershkovich was covering Russia during the war in Ukraine in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in spring 2023 when he was indicted on accusations of gathering intel about a Russian defense contractor for the CIA.

International media NGOs have accused Russia of suppressing freedom of expression and geopolitical hostage-taking, the US State Department has declared that he has been unjustly detained.

• Gershkovich's espionage trial was not made public and has been considered politically motivated.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed that his security agent Vadim Krasikov, who is incarcerated in Germany for a life sentence for murder, could be exchanged for another prisoner.

A prisoner exchange is more likely now than before, as Russian officials said that a prisoner swap could only take place after Gershkovitch was sentenced.

Grab Bag

The expense of being a homeowner is rising

When buying a home the price tag isn’t the only thing you should be worried about. In addition to mortgage payments, the cost of home ownership soared over the last four years, as per a recent report by Bankrate.

Why is that?

The median price to purchase a home in the US reached $420,800 in the first quarter of 2024 (and is only increasing). But even if you have a Heisenberg level of cash on hand to pay that off, you’re still facing a plethora of other costs:

• The average annual cost of home insurance, property taxes, upkeep, and renter-paid utilities including energy, cable, and internet for a single-family home owner is over $18,000.

  • Compared to 2020, that number rose over 26%.

However, annual homeownership expenses change based on state: Kentucky ($11.6k), Arkansas ($11.7k), and Mississippi ($11.9k) have the lowest annual homeownership costs, while Hawaii ($29k), California ($28.8k), and Massachusetts ($26.3k) have the highest.

According to Bankrate analyst Jeff Ostrowski, rising property maintenance costs and insurance premiums are the primary causes of the rising cost of homeownership.

These are keeping the movie industry alive

While there have been a lot of flops, (looking at you Rebel Moon: Part II) some sequels are putting people in theatre seats. After bad reviews and lackluster ticket sales of sequels, many thought they were killing the industry, but now, they’re reviving it.

What are people watching?

The sequel to the 1996 film Twister, Twisters, made history this weekend by taking home an astounding $80.5 million at the North American box office. This comes after Hollywood had its worst Memorial Day weekend in forty-three years just two months prior.

Inside Out 2 grossed over $1.4 billion since its release early this summer, the highest ever made by an animated movie outside of The Lion King (2019). In addition, since its release three weeks ago, Despicable Me 4 has brought in $574 million globally.

Clearly, people are still hungry for familiar storylines, they just have to be good enough to get movie-goers in the theatre. This is evident by the poor showings from the fifth Indiana Jones, the third Ant-Man, and the seventh Mission Impossible.

Be on the lookout: Some sequels sure to garner some cash this year are Gladiator 2, Beetlejuice 2, Joker 2, Alien: Romulus, and Deadpool & Wolverine, which is coming this Friday (and already broke presale records).

Fast Facts

Brood Bunny: Speed-dating appears to make bunnies happier, according to the WSJ. Owners allowed their bunnies to select their own partners in a speed-dating process, which had a positive effect on the animals' mood.

Bargain Bucket: For $80, Costco is now selling an “Emergency Food Bucket” of 150 freeze-dried meals, including rice, pudding, pasta, and, best of all, potato pot pie.

Bad Break: Over the weekend, the Secret Service reportedly admitted to denying requests for additional personnel for Trump’s security team for two years, a reversal from a statement given shortly after the failed assassination. 

Beard Barrier: JD Vance is the first major party nominee with facial hair in 75 years.

Bat Buyers: Scientists are urging people to stop buying taxidermied bats on sites like Etsy and eBay. Why? I have no idea.