Government

Xi visits San Fransico amid deteriorating US-China relations

The two leaders of the world’s biggest economies are coming together. But the summit isn’t just for them. Other world leaders have been preparing for the annual Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco this week.

This marks the first time President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have met in person for over a year, and they certainly have some catching up to do.

• When the two last met at the G20 summit in 2022, China’s economy was expected to show a massive post-Covid resurgence.

• Instead, the country has been bogged down by an aging population, a sputtering real estate market, an exodus of foreign investment, and the declining value of its currency.

So what’s actually happening?

China’s less-than-ideal economic situation could prove to be valuable for the US, as it may be more apt to repair its relationship with America. The two leaders are hoping to reestablish military communication and are announcing a deal for China to help lessen the illicit exports of fentanyl, which kills around 250,000 Americans each year.

There are also signs they want to ease economic tensions between nations. Biden said he would be willing to expand trade under certain stipulations, while Bejing recently ordered a bunch of American soybeans as a symbolic gesture of their commitment.

Though APEC rarely produces concrete outcomes, according to Bloomberg, companies in both countries are hoping that Xi and Biden rubbing elbows might reduce trade restrictions.

• US international corporations like Apple and Tesla, which rely on Chinese suppliers, producers, and customers, want China to tone down their regulation of foreign businesses.

• American execs, including Elon Musk and Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella, are attending the summit, with hopes of trying to pull Xi into their good graces.

APEC is huge for San Fransico. So much so, that in the lead-up to the summit, they cleaned the streets, bolstered law enforcement, and relocated homeless (which garnered a lot of negative attention).

The House narrowly avoids government shutdown… again

Congress just barely squeaked by a spending bill to keep the government afloat. At least for now. The US House of Representatives passed the bill with a two-thirds majority and bipartisan support on Wednesday, averting another possible government shutdown.

Both parties voted in favor of new Speaker Mike Johnson’s two-step plan to fund the government until mid-January. The legislation will now head to the Senate, where it has received support in advance from both parties.

• This is the first win of Johnson’s tenure as Speaker, carrying significant implications for his future in the position.

• After being elected only three weeks ago, this was a major test of Johnson’s ability after the weeks of chaos that ensued after then-Speaker McCarthy (Johnson’s predecessor) was ousted by his own party.

Johnson’s spending plan includes funding for certain federal programs like the Food and Drug Administration, military construction, veterans benefits, transportation, housing, urban development, agriculture, energy, and water programs which would be funded through Jan. 19. For everything else, Feb. 2 would the cutoff date.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said if the bill is passed through the House, he would work with Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnel (R-Ky) to “figure out the best way to get this done quickly”.

The US Senate almost turned into the WWE

Man, this would make for great TV. When Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) got out of bed on Tuesday morning, he probably didn’t think he’d be mediating a fight in the middle of a Senate hearing. Emphasis on probably.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Teamsters president Sean O’Brien got into a verbal scuffle which almost escalated into a physical altercation on the Senate floor. Sen. Mullin was responding to social media posts made by O’Brien that called him a “moron” and “full of s***”.

“This is the time, this is the place,” Mullin told O’Brien after reading a series of tweets O’Brien had posted. “If you want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here.”

Sen. Sanders, the chairman of the Senate meeting, then had to break up the commotion by reminding Mullin of his position.

The verbal insults continued for around six minutes, but the two men didn’t approach each other. Sanders repeatedly banged his gavel and attempted to cut them off, urging both sides to focus on the topic of the forum.

After the hearing members weighed in on the altercation. Sanders called the exchange “absurd”, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) added “It’s a dynamic place… we don’t wear the white wigs anymore,” alluding that the matter shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Much like the real WWE, if you ask me.

Business

Betting keeps getting better… for betters

ESPN is looking to entice the hungry following of sports betters and will use everything at its disposal to get to them. On Tuesday, ESPN launched its own betting service in 17 states, with a really ground-breaking, unique name: ESPN Bet.

ESPN joins the already crowded sports betting market, looking to capitalize off its massive platform and foundation of dedicated viewers. Its partner, Penn Entertainment, will pay ESPN $2 billion in cash and stock over the next decade to put ESPN branding on its online and in-store presence previously known as Barstool Sportsbook.

Penn is looking to recoup some of its losses with this new partnership after it ended a similar agreement with Barstool. The company left its Barstool partnership with nearly $1 billion in losses, according to information from the SEC.

How can Penn actually make money this time around?

Well, that’s a good question. DraftKings and Fanduel own the most market share, with 33% and 36% respectively. Everyone else is just looking to catch up… including ESPN Bet. It will acquire the 3% market share Barstool had and try to expand its reach from there.

However, the new partnership has a plan for how ESPN Bet can become the Worldwide Leader in sports betting:

• Using existing clients. ESPN has over 20 million fantasy sports users, and many of them (certainly not including myself) bet on a weekly if not daily basis.

• Empty the pockets. ESPN has the edge over other sports betting companies when it comes to cold, hard cash to spend. ESPN Bet will likely be advertised heavily using the sports network’s large purse.

• Content integration. On Monday night, we already saw the first ESPN Bet plug on the Monday Night Countdown pregame show. Get ready to see many more shameless plugs in the future.

Jay Snowden, Penn’s CEO, said he’d like to utilize Disney’s retail space too, so you can watch ESPN Bet ads while your children are getting photos with Mickey Mouse. Personally, I’d like to watch my parlay hit while I’m chilling with Darth Vader.

This AI pin might be the smartphone replacement

Could this product be the iPhone killer? Tech startup Humane is attempting to dethrone the smartphone with their innovative Ai Pin.

The Ai Pin is equally futuristic as it is prehistoric, which comes with a $699 price tag and requires a $24 monthly subscription. Humane is the first of many companies looking to pounce on a screenless alternative to smartphones that rely on voice prompts and uber-intelligent chatbots.

How does this thing work?

The pin uses a built-in camera and microphone to take in information to feed to the AI and spit out an appropriate response. It’s essentially a glorified search engine that attaches to your shirt and scares everyone who thinks you’re recording them. It does, however, lack a typical screen and keypad.

Unlike smartphones, you won’t be downloading any apps on the Ai Pin. The device is run by the AI-powered operating system Cosmos and essentially works by connecting various AIs and other tools as you need them, according to The Verge.

• The device has a laser projection system to display certain features, like the time, messages, or other information onto your hand.

If you think the purpose of the Ai Pin is unclear, you aren’t alone. Ars Technica described it as “if Google Glass had a baby with a pager from the 1990s,” and The Verge wrote, “It’s not yet entirely clear what you’re supposed to use it for.”

AI continues to seep into the “wearable sector”, as Meta has their Ray-Ban smartglasses, Rewind AI created the pendant that records your convos, and now Human released the Ai Pin. However, a future alternative could be getting it implanted in your head instead! Hurry up Elon…

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Grab Bag

Iceland faces risk of volcanic eruption, locals evacuate

Iceland is bracing for a volcanic eruption as warning signs start to add up. Iceland said there was a “considerable” risk of a volcanic eruption in the southwest part of the island in the coming days, following a series of earthquakes and the increased spread of magma underground.

Icelandic officials warned of an imminent eruption following tens of thousands of earthquakes since late October, including over 2,000 on Monday. A town of 3,000 people have been evacuated from the coastal town of Grindavík on the country’s southwest Reykjanes peninsula, where many of the earthquakes have occurred.

• Iceland is home to more than 100 volcanoes, 32 of which are active, and is among the most volcanically active places in the world, with about one eruption every five years.

• Despite this, The Reykjanes Peninsula had not experienced volcanic activity for 800 years before an eruption in 2021.

On Thursday, increased seismic activity resulted in the closure of the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, one of Iceland's most famous tourist attractions. While some towns may be evacuating, flights at the international airport (and in the general vicinity) are operating as usual.

Epic Games is hashing it out with Google

If there’s something Fortnite knows how to do, it stays in the news. Epic Games and Google kicked off a jury trial in San Francisco federal court yesterday over Epic’s antitrust lawsuit against the tech behemoth.

Epic wants to sell in-game items (like skins or battle passes) using microtransactions on Android devices without needing to pay fees to the Google Play Store. The lawsuit claims that Google:

• Hinders competitors to its Play Store, which charges developers 15%–30% on in-app purchases.

• Spent $1+ billion on contracts with phone developers, app makers, and video game companies that prevented them from creating their own app stores.

Google continues to claim its in-app purchase fees are fair and almost always below 15%. Another point it argues is that it must tightly control purchases to protect user security.

The trial will be anything but quick. It may last five weeks and include testimony from Alphabet CEO Pichai, plus representatives from Apple, Netflix, Motorola, Android, and AT&T.

Snippets

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Loon Lake: Check out some submissions for the new Minnesota state flag.

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