Juan Guaidó, Brexit, Corn Syrup, 100-Year Game, Maroon 5, Tom Brady

Caracal Global Daily
February 4, 2019
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross

Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia 

Caracal Global Daily  = News + Analysis at the Intersection of Globalization + Disruption + Politics

TOP FIVE

✔️ EU nations recognize Guaidó as Venezuela’s president

✔️ Maduro warns of civil war in Venezuela

✔️ Is Brexit to blame as Japan says sayonara?

✔️ Bud Light = America’s corn farmers are disappointed in you

✔️ Patriots wrecked this Super Bowl, and that’s meant as a compliment

ROSS RANT

Super Bulletin LIII

Buying a silk scarf from a farmers' market vendor, even if the quality and design are high, isn’t as satisfying as walking into Hermes, walking up to a well-appointed saleswoman, asking for a scarf, and paying a premium for the one in the center of well-lit, French-designed showroom, and walking out of the shop with an orange box. 

That is some highly functioning behavioral communications.

Read more here: http://bit.ly/2Txl1T3
 

GLOBALIZATION

NYT: Dashing around Caracas, Guaidó steers Venezuela to a perilous crossroads

Juan Guaidó, the young lawmaker leading an effort to topple Venezuela’s authoritarian government, has spent long days working to shore up his support.

Mr. Guaidó’s success is far from certain, but the number of ordinary Venezuelans and foreign powers taking his side over President Nicolás Maduro is growing.

EU nations recognize Guaidó as Venezuela’s president: WSJ reports, a raft of European nations recognized Venezuela’s opposition leader as interim president, pressuring Nicolás Maduro as the EU pushes for fresh presidential elections. 

Spain, France, Germany and UK back opposition leader after Maduro fails to call elections.

The Times: Maduro warns of civil war in Venezuela

Is Brexit to blame as Japan says sayonara? The Times reports, Sony, Hitachi and now Nissan. Regardless of how much blame you attach to Brexit it is clear that Britain’s long-term close economic relationship with Japan is under strain. Sony’s decision to relocate its European headquarters to the Netherlands is perhaps most closely attributable to Britain’s departure from the European Union.

Queen to be evacuated if Brexit turns ugly – reports.

Cold war plans revived to move royals to safe locations away from London if unrest follows no deal.

Cheap vegetables for Germany? No-deal Brexit could cut prices of veg in Germany as Dutch producers unload their stuff there.

Huawei spying alert 6 years ago ‘wholly ignored’: The Times reports, UK ministers were warned six years ago about the grave risks of Chinese infiltration of national infrastructure in a report citing Huawei’s involvement in UK telecoms.

Huawei staff expelled from Denmark after work permit inspection.

Huawei sting offers rare glimpse of the US targeting a Chinese giant: Bloomberg reports, the inventor of diamond glass says the FBI enlisted him after Huawei tried to steal his secrets.

China: Financial markets close for Chinese New Year Eve.

SCMP: Xi Jinping and Donald Trump ‘may meet in Da Nang, Vietnam’ at the end of February

Source familiar with discussions says the two sides are considering a meeting in the coastal city on February 27 and 28.

Taiwan takes dig at China's lack of democracy in new year message: Reuters reports, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen took a dig at China's lack of freedom in a message to mark Tuesday's start of the Lunar New Year, saying she hoped ethnic Chinese all over the world could experience the "blessing" of democracy.

DISRUPTION

Warby Parker’s new app combines AR and face mapping so you can try on virtual glasses.

AR > VR

Lidl is offering cars to its customers: The chain has 1,000 Fiats to lease from €89 a month.
 
Popular Mechanics: Prisons are building giant biometric databases of prisoners' voices

It's likely over 200,000 prisoners have been pressured into adding themselves.

Autonomous ocean drone: DARPA is looking for someone to develop a new autonomous underwater drone that can manipulate objects on the seabed floor, all without input from a human operator. The so-called "Angler" drone could be useful for all sorts of tasks, from tapping underwater communications cables to salvaging missile debris.

POLITICS

Executive time is for executives: In recent months, 60% of Trump's schedule is "Executive Time."

Election 2020: Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) officially launched her candidacy in Hawaii, where she has served as a congresswoman since 2013. A Samoan-American, she was the first Hindu elected to Congress.

Gabbard is a fourth tier candidate.

Bloomberg: Bud Light gets earful from angry corn lobby after Super Bowl ad

@NationalCorn: @BudLight America’s corn farmers are disappointed in you. Our office is right down the road! We would love to discuss with you the many benefits of corn! Thanks @MillerLight and @CoorsLite for supporting our industry.

@marcaross: It's over for corn syrup. 

Bud is “now brewed with wind power.

Gideon Rachman: The Trump era could last 30 years: But the populist movement is going to need more than electoral success.

COMMERCE

USA Today 2019 ad meter results:

1. NFL: The 100-year game
2. Amazon Alexa: Not everything makes the cut
3. Microsoft: We all win
4.Hyunsai: The elevator
5. Verizon: The coach who wouldn't be here
6. M&M's: Bad passengers
7.Bubly: Michael Buble vs bubly
8. Bud: Wind never felt so good
9. Google: 100 billion words
10. Audi: Cashew
58: Burger King: #EatLikeAndy

The Washington Post honored the murdered journalists Marie Colvin and Jamal Khashoggi in its first Super Bowl ad.

Wall St set for $1bn fee bonanza from pharma mega-deal: FT reports, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celgene $90bn merger ranks among most lucrative for banks.

@marcaross:  = Why I have TMobile

More ‘hate speech’ being removed from social media: FT reports, nearly nine out of 10 posts assessed by platforms within 24 hours of being reported.

Setting the table: The United Nations has designated 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements (www.iypt2019.org) and, with it, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. The organizing committee declared that “The Periodic Table of Chemical Elements is one of the most significant achievements in science, capturing the essence not only of chemistry but also of physics and biology.”

CULTURE

NYT: Maroon 5 was joined by the rappers Travis Scott and Big Boi for a toothless halftime show free of politics and barely worth a shrug

LAT: Maroon 5’s Super Bowl halftime show tasted like fear

From the surgeon to the Spice Girl: how people in high-pressure jobs cope with stress http://bit.ly/2S5Egqp

Mattel announced in a statement on Thursday that it would be partnering with National Geographic to create a line of Barbie dolls focused on occupations that women are underrepresented in—like science, exploration, and research.

SPORT

New England Patriots and Tom Brady win sixth Super Bowl: WSJ reports, the Patriots, a dynasty of nearly two decades that has revolutionized football as much as they have changed with it, beat the L.A. Rams 13-3 in the lowest-scoring game in Super Bowl history.

Rams far from Super in 13-3 loss to Patriots: LAT reports, the Rams' high-powered offense never got going and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady engineered 10 fourth-quarter points.

The Patriots wrecked this Super Bowl, and that’s meant as a compliment: WP reports, New England beat the Los Angeles Rams, 13-3, in the same way the team has done things all year, so strangely ungreat and then suddenly great and better than anyone gave them credit for.

@franceintheus: We hear today is the world's most important football game, but we're pretty sure we already won it? ️#AllezLesBleus #FranceChampions

America's most handsome suburban dad superhero and America's best-organized team won.

Wonderful to see Tom Brady and the Patriots secure the Lombardi Trophy at ATL's MBS discothèque last night.