Good Housekeeping Volume 5

Hey,

I haven’t sent out a newsletter in a while because I’m migrating over to the Substack platform. This will allow me to maintain this email newsletter, but also add blogging capabilities and the potential for guest contributors. My current platform Revue is owned by Twitter, and as one of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting measures after acquiring the company, Revue will be shutting down by the end of the year. When one door closes, another door opens.

Having said all that, a lot has happened in the world so I feel the need to put out some abbreviated thoughts about current events. I may expound upon some of these items in future newsletters, but I’ll save those for when I get the Substack platform off the ground. The previous installment of this can be found here. Let’s get started.

• I have to begin this newsletter by talking about Reverend Raphael Warnock’s victory in the Georgia runoff election. I’m relieved by the outcome, as there were several points throughout Tuesday night where I felt like Herschel Walker might emerge victorious, but I’m more relieved I don’t have to see any political ads for the next two years. Over $80M was spent on political ads for this runoff election, which doesn’t count all of the ad dollars spent before the first election. There are so many other things that the state of Georgia could improve with $80M, but that’s the world that we live in. Also, I’m more than happy to have Walker as a guest contributor on my blog but I will only allow him to do movie reviews.
• I’ve written multiple newsletters about Brittney Griner’s detainment in Russia, so I’m happy to announce that she is back home safely in the United States after being part of a prisoner swap. I’m not here to debate whether we should be giving Russia back an arms dealer, or whether Paul Whelan should have been included in the deal. I’m only here to commend President Joe Biden for getting the deal over the finish line and getting Griner home during the holidays. It feels like a holiday film that was too dark for the Hallmark Channel and ended up on Netflix instead.
• Speaking of films, everyone needs to watch the movie “Barbarian” on HBO. I can’t say anything further without spoiling the film, but it’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.
• Online trading platform Robinhood has faced numerous issues related to causing “widespread and significant harm”. Last July, they were fined $70M by an independent organization authorized by Congress that oversees brokerage firms for misleading customers. Three months ago, they laid off a quarter of their staff due to future economic uncertainty. So it’s troubling to see that the new product that they’re bringing to market is individual retirement accounts. I can see this ending horribly for all parties involved, but especially retirees who may be misled by Robinhood’s promises.

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