A million pants on fire and a billion Pinocchios won't be enough
One year and six months. It’s been that long since it was first suggested by the likes of Sen. Tom Cotton that it is possible for Covid-19 to have come from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. For all this time, the media intentionally downplayed this theory and smeared everyone who mentioned about it with the labels of “racist,” and “xenophobe.” And oh, what about Fauci? At this point, no matter where you stand on the issue of masks, lockdowns, Covid origins, you would’ve, at least once, been in agreement with Fauci - the guy has been all over the map - from discouraging the use of masks to encouraging the frickin’ stupid double-masking, from saying kids are safe from Covid to making them wear masks and socially distance, from completely disparaging Trump’s calls for investigating the Wuhan Lab theory to now saying that the virus may very well have originated from that lab, which, mind you, has been receiving funding from the NIH for years, at Fauci’s approval. Crazy world!
The big stories
Media clowns do a sudden reversal on the Lab Leak theory. Oh, the whiplash! This explicit reversal exposes the ridiculousness of the media's assertion that they represent facts, truth and science, and aren't emotionally blinded by Trump hatred. It also exposes the “independent fact-checkers” and their clients such as Facebook who squashed this theory just because they couldn’t see Trump being right on anything.
“In light of ongoing investigations into the origin of Covid and in consultation with public health experts, we will no longer remove the claim that Covid is man-made or manufactured from our apps,” Facebook said in a statement on its website Wednesday.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that three researchers from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick enough in November 2019 that they sought hospital care, according to a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report.
Justice finally got served, but CNN, AP, Daily Beast headlines refer to illegal immigrant convicted in Mollie Tibbetts murder as ‘farm worker’ - Details
Belarus ‘flight hijacking’ drama continues. Now a bipartisan group of senators will travel to Eastern Europe as Biden announces new crackdowns against Belarus. Details
And the Venezuela-fication of America continues as Biden proposes $6T budget, yes, S.I.X TTTRRRIIILLLIIIOOONNN, that will keep deficits near record highs. The proposal will push debt levels held by the public to the highest levels since World War II by 2024. Details
Business news
Amazon to acquire MGM Studios for $8.45B, including debt. MGM is home to several blockbuster franchises, including James Bond. The deal is Amazon’s second-largest acquisition ever behind the $13.7B Whole Foods deal in 2017. Details
Peloton will open its first American factory in northern Ohio in 2023. Details
D.C. files antitrust lawsuit against Amazon alleging the e-commerce giant’s anticompetitive pricing practices result in higher costs for consumers and less choice in the online retail market. Details
Bowery Farming Secures $300M in Series C Funding. The round, led by Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, values the company at $2.3B. Details
Google strikes deal with hospital chain, HCA, to develop healthcare algorithms. Details
SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund 2 has led a $775M investment in Perch, a technology firm that buys and operates third-party brands that sell their products on Amazon. Details
Fintech startup Acorns to go public in $2B SPAC deal. Combination with Pioneer Merger Corp. to bring Acorns more than $450M. Details
OpenAI is setting up a $100M startup fund in partnership with Microsoft. Details
Andreessen Horowitz is targeting $2B for its third crypto fund. Details
Amazon to hold Prime Day 2021 on June 21 and 22. Details
“Personally, I’d rather have bitcoin than a bond” - Ray Dalio. Details
Digital health startup Noom raises $540M in Silver Lake-led funding round. Details
Breeze Airways launches with focus on domestic leisure travel destinations. Details
TechCrunch founder’s apartment to be sold as NFT through blockchain platform Propy. Details
This week in woke and cancel-culture lunacy
If I were the reporter, I’d punch that green t-shirt nincompoop right in the face - watch woke college students’ thoughts on Memorial Day. Students sign fake petition to cancel Memorial Day.
This just makes my blood boil - Watch the media fawn over Biden getting ice cream like a bunch of fangirls.
Lockheed’s white male executives attended a three-day seminar in order to learn how to be less white and less male. Details
Fired Space Force commander’s Marxist warning is completely true - Watch
LA is gone. City councilman attempting to make California worse - Watch
Watch major weenie John ‘Xina’ apologize to the CCP. Utterly pathetic!
Science & Technology
Making chainsaw robot, carving logs - Watch
FDA approves Amgen drug for lung cancer with specific mutation. Details
Fashion, food, and entertainment
Verizon is offering customers free Apple Arcade or Google Play Pass for up to a year. Details
You can now hide like counts on Instagram and Facebook. Details
Instagram releases ‘Drops,’ a dedicated section where brands can release new products via Instagram Shopping
Coca-Cola Japan releases freeze-dried green tea and coffee cubes for instant brews. Details
What’s gaining popularity
Google Search topics with big percentage jumps in search interest last week. Courtesy: Exploding Topics
‘Lab grown diamonds’ - physically and chemically identical to natural diamonds, but because they’re created with a repeatable industrial process, they’re sold for significantly less.
‘ImgPlay’ - mobile app for creating animated GIFs out of photos or videos.
‘Lion’s mane’ - a type of mushroom that’s used as a natural nootropic.
Chart of the week
Next week calendar
Monday, May 31 - Memorial Day 🇺🇸
Tuesday, June 1 - Int’l Dinosaur Day. World Milk Day. Flip a Coin Day. HBO Max will expand to 39 more countries.
Wednesday, June 2 - Global Running Day. Leave the Office Early Day.
Thursday, June 3 - NASA SpaceX CRS-22 Mission. National Egg Day. World Bicycle Day. Tesla Model S Plaid Delivery Event.
Friday, June 4 - National Doughnut Day. National Cheese Day.
Saturday, June 5 - World Environment Day.
Sunday, June 6 - Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Logan Paul. National Cancer Survivors Day.
Let’s foment a controversy
This week’s topic - Taiwan. Should the U.S. be 100% willing to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty at ALL costs? Let me know where you stand - how far should the U.S. go if China makes a move?
Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next week!