Lobster in the Red

Shrimp Isn't Endless, Damaging Hail

Look, there's no way to sugarcoat this. There's no way to bread and deep-fry it either. You ate too much shrimp. Like, a lot too much. In a much-anticipated move, Red Lobster has filed for bankruptcy. And yes, you played a (lobster) role in its troubles. Last summer, Red Lobster turned its limited-time offer of endless shrimp into a permanent menu item, a move that cost the company $11 million. That's a lot of bread(ing). But wait. As is usually the case with big brand bankruptcies, there's more to the story. It has to do with strong competition, management churn (Red Lobster has had five CEOs since 2021), and ownership directives. In this case, the trouble started when a company called Thai Union became Red Lobster's largest shareholder. Thai Union also happens to be in the shrimp selling business. "Under a CEO appointed at the direction of Thai Union, Red Lobster eliminated two of its breaded shrimp suppliers, leaving Thai Union with an exclusive deal to provide shrimp for the chain." Less than a decade after a mention in a Beyoncé song sent Red Lobster sales to the moon, new ownership drove them back to the bottom of the sea. How Red Lobster’s misguided endless shrimp promotion drove it into bankruptcy.

+ More from Bloomberg (Gift Article) on the situation Thai Union found itself in. "You have two relationships to the restaurant chain: You own the equity, and you also supply the shrimp. Not much you can do with the equity: There’s a lot of debt, the creditors rank ahead of you, and they are unlikely to let you take any cash out as a dividend. But, as the equity owner, you also control the board of directors and get to appoint the chief executive officer. The CEO decides how much shrimp to buy. What if he decided to buy a lot of shrimp?" The Endless Shrimp Investigation. When things go this poorly, blame is a lot like shrimp at a Red Lobster: there's an endless supply. But don't blame me for this one. When it comes to all you can eat, I've always been a Sizzler guy.

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Minnesota Mining and (Truth) Manufacturing

"Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people’s bodies. Her bosses halted her work. As the EPA now forces the removal of the chemicals from drinking water, she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world." An investigative piece from The New Yorker and ProPublica that pieces together how big corporations can bury inconvenient truths. Toxic Gaslighting: How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe.

+ Of course, 3M isn't alone in this behavior. That explains why chemicals and microplastics can be found in our every nook and cranny. And I mean every... Microplastics found in every human testicle in study.

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STFU About OpenAI

"Building smarter-than-human machines is an inherently dangerous endeavor ... But over the past years, safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products." OpenAI created a team to control ‘superintelligent’ AI — then let it wither. (Now more than ever, self-regulation is no way to regulate big tech.)

+ OpenAI pulls its Scarlett Johansson-like voice for ChatGPT. But she's not the only one who's not talking...

+ ... "Questions arose immediately: Were they forced out? Is this delayed fallout of Altman’s brief firing last fall? Are they resigning in protest of some secret and dangerous new OpenAI project? Speculation filled the void because no one who had once worked at OpenAI was talking. It turns out there’s a very clear reason for that. I have seen the extremely restrictive off-boarding agreement that contains nondisclosure and non-disparagement provisions former OpenAI employees are subject to. It forbids them, for the rest of their lives, from criticizing their former employer. Even acknowledging that the NDA exists is a violation of it." Vox: ChatGPT can talk, but OpenAI employees sure can’t.

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Hail Wary

"In 2023, a year that set all sorts of weather records, not only were there 19 storms in the US that topped $1 billion in damage, there was an uptick in storms globally. Damages topped $64 billion, according to Swiss Re, the international reinsurance giant. And that’s insured damages only — not all damage is insured. High winds and heavy rains both play their parts in severe storm damage." But the most damaging impact from major storms was something else. Giant blocks of ice falling from the sky. Bloomberg (Gift Article): Giant Hail Is the Weather Threat Keeping Insurers Up at Night.

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Extra, Extra

Iranian Helicopter Crash: "Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the country’s foreign minister were found dead Monday hours after their helicopter crashed in fog, leaving the Islamic Republic without two key leaders as extraordinary tensions grip the wider Middle East." Arash Azizi in The Atlantic (Gift Article) on Who Would Benefit From Ebrahim Raisi’s Death? "For Khamenei, what mattered was that Raisi could be counted on to toe the regime’s line. Although competition is tight, Raisi may have more blood on his hands than any other living official of the Islamic Republic." And from Time: Why Some Iranians Refuse to Mourn President Ebrahim Raisi. (The nickname the butcher of Tehran provides some clues.)

+ Gunning for Bibi: "While Netanyahu and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, do not face imminent arrest, the announcement by the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor was a symbolic blow that deepened Israel’s isolation over the war in Gaza." War crimes prosecutor seeks arrest of Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Netanyahu. "President Biden said the effort to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant over the war in Gaza was 'outrageous,' adding 'whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.'"

+ Riddled America: Columbus, OH, is "a city considered so typically American that fast-food chains use it as a test market." It's also typically American when it comes to gun violence numbers. That wasn't always the case. NYT (Gift Article): How Gun Violence Spread Across One American City. (Spoiler alert: Policies matter.)

+ Diddy Said, She Said: "Combs’ most recent statement is more about himself than the many people he has hurt. When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday." Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs says he is ‘truly sorry’ for physically assaulting Cassie Ventura in 2016. The apology only came after the leak of a horrific assault.

+ The Upside Down "The sheer pettiness of these gripes—the fact that these men continue to filter justice through their small, round, grudge-colored glasses—is what is breathtaking here ... Apparently the life-altering principle of self-soothing your small injuries matters above all things." Dahlia Lithwick in Slate on Alito's upside down flag. The Smallest Justice Who Ever Lived. This story is a big deal. Don't miss my coverage from Friday. We're living in the upside down: Danger Things.

+ Mike Drop: Michael Cohen is off the witness stand and the prosecution has rested in the Trump hush money case. The defense has called their first witness. Here's the latest from CNNand NBC. Whatever the verdict, we already know a group of winners in the Trump trial. Professional line-standers.

+ A Chart Apart: "With a mix of prolific artistic output and relentless business savvy, plus cultural dominance as a celebrity, Swift, 34, has created such a swell of momentum that she is probably more popular — more omnipresent — 19 years into her professional music career than she ever has been. That is not normal. But just how big is Taylor Swift, in terms of the all-time pop pantheon?" NYT (Gift Article) with an interesting look at the music stats of the biggest artists ever. How Big Is Taylor Swift? (In my car during the commute to and from my daughter's school ... BIG.)

+ Taking the Long Way: "More than 60 years after he was denied an opportunity to become America's first Black astronaut, Ed Dwight finally traveled into space Sunday with five other passengers on a 10-minute flight inside a Blue Origin capsule."

6

Bottom of the News

"Joining the ranks of the screen goddess Brigitte Bardot and the Eiffel Tower, another French treasure is being celebrated with its own postage stamp: the baguette. And this one is scratch-and-sniff." NYT (Gift Article): France Issues Scratch-and-Sniff Baguette Postage Stamps. (I wonder if these would set off my glucose monitor alarm?)

+ "The Rubyglow pineapple was created in Costa Rica after 16 years of research and only a few thousand are produced each year." California’s $395 pineapple highlights spike in luxury fruit market.