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Tom Wharton

The Weekly Wrap for Saturday, 6 August 2022

The Question

"What to do with £3m"?

Talking Points

  1. Pelosi's trip to Taiwan sent tensions soaring
  2. Sri Lankan athletes escaped the Commonwealth Games
  3. A ceasefire was renewed in Yemen
  4. Kansas voted to retain abortion rights
  5. The SEC charged 11 for a crypto Ponzi scheme
  6. It wasn't the only Ponzi scheme of the week
  7. Warner Brothers killed Batgirl
  8. Visa, Mastercard cut ties to Pornhub
  9. Trekkies mourned Lt. Uhura
  10. Icelanders marvelled at a very close volcano

Deep Dive

The echo chamber. PHOTO: Briana Sanchez / Reuters

Finally. Some information that Alex Jones can't go to war against.

American psycho

For those too young to recall it (and those for whom the horror has been dulled by incessant mass shootings in America), Sandy Hook was the one that left 20 children dead. And half a dozen staff. And the gunman's mother, and the gunman himself. It was an unutterable act that ripped open Newtown, Connecticut. And an attack that in many ways marked a breaking point. For one thing, it revealed that twenty child-sized coffins were not sufficient sacrifice at the altar of US gun worship. It also highlighted the crevasse of existential doubt running through modern America. A small but growing number of Americans — fed by conspiracy peddlers like Alex Jones — believed (some probably still do) that the heinous tragedy was a hoax.

For years, a devoted audience faithfully tuned in to watch Infowars on YouTube. Its members were thrilled by Jones' mix of obscene language, violent iconoclasm, and unhinged odes to American freedom. This was rugged, ruthless, broadcasting - for those who felt their country had gone soft. When Jones turned his gaze to Sandy Hook he saw (or at least claimed to see) a readymade hoax. A feint by Obama's people to steal away that solitary potent totem of American masculinity: the gun. With beet-red cheeks Jones went to work whipping up suspicion and intrigue. Any minor inconsistency in the official narrative suddenly became undeniable proof that nefarious forces were at work. And with unfathomable cruelty, Jones saved his special venom for the parents of the victims. Them he accused of being "crisis actors" The bereaved few were besieged, threatened, and tormented by Jones' flock.

You might think such actions to be the work of a raving lunatic, yelling down the barrel of a mic in a bunker. Bu you'd be wrong. Alex Jones is a consummate professional who had already spent more than a decade honing his craft. A tweaked-out talkback host who didn't have to answer to anyone, including the FCC. And on a bloody good wicket, bringing in an estimated $10m a year by 2013. But, inevitably, the tension between the character Jones inhabited and the real world, overcame him. In 2017, he was fighting a losing battle to retain custody of his children. During proceedings, the court heard duelling descriptions of Jones: he was either an unstable paranoid narcissist, or a "performance artist". Jones sought to settle the matter, by flatly contradicting his lawyers, saying "I 110-percent believe what I stand for." He lost custody.

Martyrdom and Chapter 11

A lot has changed since 2012. For the tinfoil-hatted Jones, Trump's administration was both a blessing and a curse. Sure, Trump was quick to lean into wild conjecture and conspiracy with a knowing wink. But when you have an ally in such a high place, it's hard to keep your outsider cred. Suddenly, Jones was no longer in opposition, but rather in league with the state. Then, he got a dose of market forces: the medium changed, and Jones lost relevance. QAnon emerged. And with it brought something new and interactive: choose-your-own-conspiracy. America's Facebook-addled uncles could now actively participate in the fantasy. The crowd-sourced mayhem gained momentum, sapping Jones' audience and advertising revenue. And by 2018, even YouTube and Facebook had finally got around to kicking Infowars off their platforms.

Meanwhile, out in the real world, Sandy Hook stayed in the public eye. Parents doggedly pursued cases against the gun-maker Remington, and against Jones himself. The former ended with a $73m settlement — marking the only time the federal laws shielding gun manufacturers was breached. The latter, the case against Jones himself, has transfixed America for the past two weeks. In an Austin courtroom, lawyers acting for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis , parents of a slain six-year-old, brought a $150m defamation action against Jones. Under the glare of the national spotlight the firebrand sputtered and spluttered.

"Do you understand now that it was absolutely irresponsible of you to do that?"

"It was, especially since I've met the parents and, uh, it's, it's a 100% real."

With that clipped statement, an agitated Alex Jones finally admitted in court that the massacre was real . It had only taken a decade to squeeze that basic fact out of him. And barely a breath later he was back to castigating the media for lying — grasping attempts to save face by a man who had no chance of doing so. It has been a disastrous case: Jones's lawyer accidentally (or 'accidentally') sent the prosecutors a copy of every text Jones had sent in the last two years. Texts which revealed that Jones had perjured himself. Incredibly, his lawyers also failed to have their catastrophic revelation ruled inadmissible.

On Thursday, the jury awarded Jesse Lewis's parents $4.1m in compensatory damages . And they may yet award many multiples of that in punitive damages. His demand for a retrial has also been brushed aside. And his attempt to shield Infowars by subverting Chapter 11 bankruptcy provisions will likely come apart.

Alex Jones is toast.

Worldlywise

Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. PHOTO: Reuters

Death from above

Ayman al-Zawahiri was a man of routine: each morning he'd enjoy some solitary reading. On Sunday morning, he was sitting on a balcony in Baghdad's upmarket Sherpur neighbourhood when a US drone launched two missiles at him. It was the only end that the al-Qaeda leader could have hoped for, although one that he managed to delay for quite a few years. The location of his demise has proven quite embarrassing for Afghanistan's new rulers.

Much has been written about how al-Zawahiri became one of the most wanted men in the world. His biographers ink the story of a studious young surgeon from a well-heeled and politically connected family. As the star of secular pan-Arabism fell (swiftly after the disaster of the Six-Day War) al-Zawahiri sought salvation in political Islam. In 1980, he travelled to Pakistan to treat the wounds of the Mujahideen — an experience that cemented his belief in the transformational power of violence. When Anwar Sadat was assassinated, al-Zawahiri was among the Egyptian islamists detained and tortured. When he finally emerged, it was to leave Egypt for good.

In 1986, he met Osama bin Laden in Peshawar. And the rest is bloody history. The Luxor massacre. The Nairobi and Dar es Salaam embassy bombings. The USS Cole. The extent of his role in planning 9/11 is disputed, but his position with al-Qaeda is not. After Pakistan's intelligence service finally gave up Osama bin Laden, it was al-Zawahiri who took over. Under his notably uncharismatic leadership, the organisation survived but never regained its potency . He expanded its footprint in Yemen and south Asia but suffered defections in Iraq and Syria to the radical splinter group ISIS. Al-Zawahiri remained deeply tied to the Taliban from his hideouts in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was even rumoured to have been consulting them during the 2020 peace talks. Now he's gone. One more name struck off in the War on Terror, now ambling along into its 21st year.

Dry season. PHOTO: Bloomberg

Rhinefall

It’s a rare thing to be able to measure impending crises with precision. But we can say with confidence that right now Europe is 30 centimeters away from significant economic pain. The Rhine stretches from Switzerland to the North Sea and has been used as a trade route for as long as Europeans have been trading. Today, barges carry goods and raw materials for much of its 1,200km. But all that commerce requires water — the one thing the Rhine is currently lacking . To the west of Frankfurt lies Kaub, a chokepoint in the river which happens to be quite shallow. Europe’s blistering summer has reduced the water level here to 77cm. History tells us that it will continue dropping until mid-October. If it loses another 30cm it will effectively preclude navigation by heavily laden barges. This is already of significant concern for the coal-fired power stations along the Rhine. Uniper SE has warned that its massive Staudiner-5 plant will suffer “irregular operations” as coal barges are lightened to make the journey. It could not come at a worse time as Germany tries to stave off an impending Russia-driven gas shortage. Elsewhere in Western Europe the story is grim. Some French nuclear power plants are producing less electricity because the ambient water temperature of the Rhone is too high to properly cool their facilities.

The Best Of Times

Conserving our past and their future. PHOTO: AFP

Gibbon and lichen

The thousand-year-old Khmer temple complex at Angkor Wat is being treated to a painstaking restoration. The jungle which burst through seemingly solid stone is both the stuff of dreams, and a conservation hazard. A combined team of German and Japanese archaeologists is removing lichen with bamboo and toothbrushes (the chemicals used in years gone by proved to damage the stonework). Above, the song of pileated gibbons once again fills the ruins. A breeding program for these exceedingly rare creatures has succeeded.

A native revegetation delight

Here's one for all the magnolia heads in the room (you know who you are). The breathtaking Magnolia emarginata was lost to science nearly a century ago. Science had only given it a lazy look. Now it has reemerged from deep in Haiti's mountains. It is a huge boost for those seeking to rewild the denuded landscape.


The Worst Of Times

Advantage, Russia. PHOTO: The Independent

You gotta hand it to them...

Russia is hellbent on disproving the cliche: all's fair in love and war. The invading army captured Europe's largest nuclear power plant early in the war. Two of the six reactors at Zaporizhzhia remain operational. In recent weeks Russia moved long-range artillery into the site and began shelling Ukrainian-controlled Nikopol on the opposite bank of the Dnipro. Counter-battery artillery fire is obviously an impossibility so the defenders of Nikopol must simply grin and bear it.

Wheat, rice, what next?

India's carbohydrate crisis is really the world's. Just a few short months after scorching heat withered India's wheat fields, the rice crop has been depleted. Weaker-than-usual monsoon falls have failed to fill paddies from Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal. Planted areas are down 13% in this harvest cycle — a drop that will whiplash down the supply chain given India is by far the world's largest rice exporter.


Highlights

The Image

The Lionesses bring football home. The England women's national football team celebrate after Chloe Kelly puts them through in extra-time against Germany. Image supplied by The Guardian .

The Quote

"The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced."

– Beyoncé's flak-catchers were busy all week after the backlash against an ableist slur in her new track Heated. The inclusion of the word (a diminution of the medical condition spasticity) was sharply criticised by fans and disability advocates . The cultural acceptability of slurs in music has shifted dramatically in recent years — Heated will be re-cut.

The Numbers

0.4% up, 49.8% down

- Chase Coleman's Tiger Global reported a meek gain in July. It's not much of a balm because the Tiger Cub is still down nearly 50% on the year due to a "portfolio composition" that was not well suited to inflation. A subsidiary fund that only takes long positions is faring even worse: down 62% in 2022. We'd call it a paper tiger but even that paper wouldn't be worth much now.

22 billion reasons to say goodbye

- Two decades ago Masayoshi Son led a round that raised $20m for Jack Ma's embryonic Alibaba. The deal made the pair, at one point, the richest men in their respective countries. Now, as Alibaba reports its first flat revenue ever , SoftBank is already well on the road to cashing out . The Japanese conglomerate has shed roughly half its holdings in the Chinese tech giant over the last year. This week: $22bn in cash from Mizuho, UBS, and Goldman with prepaid contract derivatives using Alibaba shares.

The Headlines

"Why Do Rich People Love Quiet?" The Atlantic

"Ivana Trump is buried at Donald Trump's New Jersey Golf Club. Could that mean a tax break for the former president?" The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Special Mention

The art of the deal was on full display this week with Donald Trump's intervention in the Missouri Senate primary. Faced with a choice between ex-Governor Eric Greitens and current State Attorney Eric Schmidt, Trump played a straight flush. He endorsed "Eric" . As the voters proved this week — he backed a winner.

The Best Long Reads

The Answer...

Buy limited edition Pokémon cards, eat exclusively at Michelin star restaurants, purchase a seat in the House of Lords. Whatever. But this story isn't about the answer, it's about where the question was asked . Two would-be burglars in the UK were foiled mid-heist and only later picked up by police. Their search history included the above query and several more: 'how to open a locked window', 'where to get a gun'. Just a quick tip for aspiring criminals out there: it's called 'incognito mode' for a reason.

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