Brigadoon Daily
July 28, 2021
Brigadoon Daily | Exclusively for Brigadoon Members
The price of being a GOAT
Sponsored by | Caracal
TOP FIVE
1. Wall Street gets a Chinese education
2. The blockchain is starting to live up to its potential
3. White House exploring vaccine mandate for federal employees
4. 50 years ago, NASA put a car on the moon
5. Obama joins NBA Africa as minority owner
GLOBALIZATION + STATECRAFT
Today: US and Russian diplomats will hold the first round of nuclear arms control talks of the Biden administration in Geneva, Switzerland.
+ A Russian government news agency reports that Moscow is working on two so-called doomsday planes to carry the country’s senior military and political leadership in case of a nuclear attack.
China, Afghanistan top Blinken agenda on India, Kuwait trip: AP reports the State Department said Blinken will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi today before traveling to Kuwait City the next day.
‘We will not flinch’: Austin promises US will continue to bolster Taiwan’s self-defense: In Singapore, the defense secretary chides Beijing for “aggression...coercion...genocide” but says he wants a “constructive, stable relationship with China.”
DefenseOne
Today: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin continues his tour of Southeast Asia after visiting Singapore, with further stops in Vietnam and the Philippines.
A 2nd new nuclear missile base for China, and many questions about strategy: Is China scrapping its “minimum deterrent” strategy and joining an arms race? Or is it looking to create a negotiating card, in case it is drawn into arms control negotiations?
NYT
Analysis: US, China positions ossify at entrenched Tianjin talks
Reuters
House lawmakers push for diplomatic boycott of 2022 Winter Olympics in China: The lawmakers want to boycott the Beijing games over alleged human rights abuses.
ABC News
The China model: What the country’s tech crackdown is really about: After spending years emulating Silicon Valley, the world’s second-biggest economy is now officially charting its own course.
Bloomberg
Xi cracks down on China’s education sector to assert party supremacy: A fight for ideological control and concerns about social pressures underpin effort.
FT
Wall Street gets a Chinese education: Communist Party control always trumps the needs of investors.
WSJ - Editorial
America shouldn’t compete against China with one arm tied behind its back
Robert E. Lighthizer
Axios: North and South Korea restart hotline and pledge to improve ties
Grim aftermath of Ethiopian battle offers rare clues of brutal war
Reuters
+ England is poised to reopen its borders as soon as next week by allowing fully vaccinated travelers from the EU and US to enter without the need to quarantine.
+ Nicola Sturgeon said she hoped that Scotland would go ahead with unlocking on 9 August.
Westminster voting intention:
CON: 40% (-2)
LAB: 36% (+3)
LDEM: 9% (-1)
GRN: 6% (+1)
via @RedfieldWilton, 25 July | Changes with 19 July
DISRUPTION + INNOVATION
The blockchain is starting to live up to its potential: The digital database has moved beyond cryptocurrencies and is being used in everything from health care to elections.
Aaron Brown - Bloomberg
AMERICAN POLITICS
Biden says White House exploring vaccine mandate for federal employees: WP reports such a push would mark a significant expansion of effort to vaccinate Americans as delta variant spreads.
America’s vaccination woes cannot be blamed only on politics: Economist reports surging covid infections and slow vaccinations in some states are caused by health illiteracy, not just partisanship.
Today: Biden heads to Lower Macungie Township, PA., to speak about manufacturing, jobs, and buying American.
Jan. 6 hearings open with visceral accounts of Trump supporters’ assault on police: WP reports Four police officers testified about the physical and verbal abuse they endured defending the Capitol on Jan. 6 from a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump, as a House select committee holds its first hearing on the insurrection.
+ According to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll, 58% of American voters support a congressional commission to investigate the events of Jan. 6. But that support breaks down along party lines: It’s supported by 83% of Democratic voters but just 34% of Republicans (52% outright oppose it).
Likely California voters now almost evenly split on Newsom recall, poll finds: LAT reports the poll found that 47% of likely California voters supported recalling the Democratic governor, compared with 50% who opposed removing Newsom from office — a difference just shy of the survey’s margin of error.
A political bogeyman of Silicon Valley: Tech billionaire Peter Thiel is injecting huge sums into some crucial 2022 midterm contests — and drawing fire from Republicans eager to tie their rivals to the GOP's Silicon Valley bogeymen.
Axios
+ “Thiel's $10 million infusion into a super PAC supporting the Ohio Senate bid by 'Hillbilly Elegy' author JD Vance represented his first major foray into the 2022 cycle” while drawing criticism from one of Vance’s primary opponents, former state treasurer Josh Mandel.
Inflation has arrived, but Washington isn’t racing to limit price pops: Policymakers, now more attuned to the costs of choking off growth early, are sticking by a patient approach as prices rise.
NYT
+ President Joe Biden is expected to attend the 9/11 memorial in New York City to mark the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
COMMERCE
NBCU News Group is adding hundreds of jobs to its digital organization, led by a major investment in streaming as well as in its "TODAY" show brand, executives tell Axios.
FT: Apple profit nearly doubles as iPhone sales surge
Facebook announced it was forming a new Metaverse product group to advance its efforts to build a 3D social space using virtual and augmented reality tech.
Rise of digital yuan brings new challenges for China tech giants: Tencent and Ant Group spent a decade digitizing money and payment networks. Now the government wants a larger role.
Bloomberg
Groceries in 10 minutes: Delivery start-ups crowd city streets across globe: Venture capital’s newest darling is the online rapid grocery delivery industry. Getir, a six-year-old Turkish company, is trying to outpace its new competitors in a worldwide expansion.
NYT
SPACE + SCIENCE
50 years ago, NASA put a car on the moon: The lunar rovers of Apollo 15, 16, and 17 parked American automotive culture on the lunar surface and expanded the scientific range of the missions’ astronaut explorers.
NYT
CULTURE
Crisis PR firm tells Golden Globes group there’s only one way to save the show
LAT
What we’re never spending money on again
Maggie Lange
Is potato milk the ultimate vegan option? It’s white, milky, better for the planet – and even works in a cappuccino.
Guardian
SPORT
SBJ: Barack Obama joins NBA Africa as minority owner
How Cleveland’s ‘Guardians of Traffic’ made the big leagues: The Major League Baseball team looked to local infrastructure for inspiration, taking its new name from the sculptures on a nearby bridge. Here’s why.
Bloomberg
The ABC of ascents, bouldering, and climbing: Whether it’s summiting a local wall or conquering Alpine peaks, there’s no better way to get high.
FT
Men’s football is no longer a fit for it to remain in the Olympic Games: Strange mix of development competition and star vehicle leaves the public unsure of what it is watching.
Jonathan Liew
Simone Biles and the price of being a GOAT
Barry Svrluga
+ "The United States has produced the past four all-around champions: Carly Patterson in Athens, Nastia Liukin in Beijing, Gabby Douglas in London, and Biles in Rio de Janeiro. Notice a trend? Only Biles tried to repeat."
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
Curation and commentary by Marc A. Ross | Founder @ Brigadoon
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