I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, hopefully blissfully free of cardboard turkey.
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Israel-Hamas "hostage deal"
Massive news. Not all that great but Israel has little choice at this point, especially if the US is pressuring them to do this. Israel should take every opportunity to use every intelligence source available to watch Hamas's movements and then go kill them after the ceasefire is over. (Obviously that's exactly their intent. It's not as if that's a brilliant insight on my part.)
Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital, hostage release talks (cnn.com)
Israel-Hamas war live updates: Israel approves hostage deal, fighting pause - The Washington Post
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Wow: Sam Altman back to OpenAI; Board that fired him is removed
Sam Altman is back as OpenAI CEO just days after being removed, along with a new board (msn.com)
1 big thing: Sam returns (Axios.com): https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-am-2117a1a8-1a7e-4c2b-93e1-eadde9bf7b77.html?chunk=0&utm_term=emshare#story0
Much of this was driven by the threat by most of OpenAI's employees (the vast majority of whom could get high-paying jobs elsewhere so they have a lot of leverage) to quit if Altman didn't return: Hundreds of OpenAI staff tell board to resign or they’ll join Altman at Microsoft (axios.com)
OpenAI’s Altman U-Turn: The Winners And The Losers (forbes.com)
Also, even though Microsoft hired Altman for a day or two, they have $13 BILLION invested in OpenAI so it's probably just as good, or better, for them if Altman returns.
Just One Thing: The Bright Side
As we head into Thanksgiving, I’m thinking about looking on the bright side so let me share two distantly related stories with you. First, Susan Sarandon, the Hamas Sue to a prior generation’s Hanoi Jane, said that Jews leaving in fear in America are “getting a taste of how it feels to be Muslim in America.” Of course, how would she know? But, here’s the bright side: Her Hollywood agency dumped her. And the reply to her by Asra Nomani is getting an incredible amount of attention, as it should. (See just below.) Second, we see so many news clips and stories about anti-Israel protests that you might think most of the country are basically Nazis. But a new poll shows that 80% of America supports Israel rather than terrorists. And that’s great and welcome news. Bad news and bad people generate clicks and views, but don’t let that make you think we’re not a nation of good people.
Most Americans support Israel, new poll finds (msn.com)
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Today's Guests
Daniel Raisbeck is a policy analyst on Latin America at the libertarian Cato Institute and in 2015 ran, as a libertarian, for mayor of Bogota, Colombia. We'll discuss the remarkable new president of Argentina, Javier Milei, who won in a blowout against an establishment center-left candidate.
Daniel Raisbeck | Cato Institute
This is by someone else, but interesting for econ nerds like me: A Response to Two Open Letters Opposing Dollarization in Argentina: News: The Independent Institute
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Mario Nicolais is an election law attorney representing the petitioners in the case aiming to bar (based on the 14th Amendment) former President Donald Trump from appearing on the ballot(s) in Colorado in 2024. Late last week, a state court judge ruled that while Trump "engaged in insurrection" on January 6, 2021, the 14th Amendment does not apply to a former president and that Trump can therefore remain on the ballot. The petitioners, via Mario and a Washington-based non-profit, have filed an appeal.
20231120-FINAL-CO-SCT-Opening-Petr-Brief_Redacted.pdf (citizensforethics.org)
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Matilda and her husband Kelly are the proprietors of Adventurist Backpacks here in Denver. A couple of things: First, they're doing great charitable work. Second, they're offering my listeners a discount for a limited time. Here's what you need to know:
Discount code for listeners $5 any purchase of $30 or more on backpacks, sling bags, and fanny packs using code 850KOA
Since our launch 5 years ago, we have been able to provide nearly 400,000 meals to families experiencing food insecurity across the country, with a goal of donating a half-million meals by the end of 2023.
This year, we will be skipping Black Friday in favor of an initiative we're calling "Give Back Friday", in which we are partnering with the Denver Public School Foundation to donate a backpack to a student in need (right here in Denver) for every backpack sold from Black Friday to Giving Tuesday (11/24 through 11/28)
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Morgan Pfiffner is a Researcher at Examine.com who has a masters degree in nutrition. As we head into Thanksgiving, we'll discuss the age-old question: Does eating turkey really make you sleepy?
Evidence-based Analysis on Supplements & Nutrition | Examine
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Other Stuff
I'm not sure how this is possible but I like it: This town in Colorado has a population of 0 | FOX31 Denver (kdvr.com)
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I know it's sometimes hard to conceive of the prices of some of these collectables but you gotta remember that they are not making more 1914 baseball cards. (Not real ones, anyway.) This Baseball Card Could Be Worth $10 Million. Or Much More. - WSJ
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Makes sense to me: Say Goodbye to Those Absurd Side-Effects Readouts in Drug Commercials (gizmodo.com)
(See video below)
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Who can blame them? House retirement flood (Axios.com) https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-sneak-peek-623ef567-0e6c-4c18-b80d-7c68abf3a95c.html?chunk=2&utm_term=emshare#story2
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Wait, there's crime in crypto? No way! Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Steps Down, Pleads Guilty - WSJ
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I hope a Republican administration ends this nonsense and gets rid of the threat of a $600 threshold: IRS delays tax-reporting rule on Venmo, PayPal payments over $600 for second time (foxbusiness.com)
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I owe you these from yesterday:
and
The Rolling Stones tour coming to Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado | FOX31 (kdvr.com) (this has a link to sign up for chance to get presale code to buy early)
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Today's Videos
For some reason, I love this video for Thanksgiving. It's thanks being given by humans and an old blind cow. It's a lovely story